Evangelizing Apple, then and now

I met Steve Jobs in the spring of 1976 when I was in the advertising business with Regis McKenna Advertising & Public Relations in Palo Alto, Calif., where I handled the Intel account. Steve and his partner Steve Wozniak had developed the Apple 1 computer, which they were selling at the local computer club for $666.66.

Steve called to say he liked the stuff we were doing for Intel and wanted us to be his agency. I drove over to his sister's house in Los Altos and met Jobs. He had on a pair of tattered jeans, a T-shirt and sandals, and his attempt at growing a beard was not going well. Steve showed me the computer, some drawings and some parts in the garage that he used to build the Apple 1.

After five minutes, it was obvious that this 21-year-old was smart, confident, a bit arrogant and most of all passionate about what he was about to do. We became Apple's first agency. Rob Janoff designed the logo that would eventually be recognized around the world.

One of our clients, a distributor, extended a $250,000 line of credit. And Mike Markkula, the former memory-product manager at Intel and a Fairchild alum, came out of early retirement, invested big bucks and helped Steve run the business. The Good Earth on Stevens Creek Boulevard was Jobs' restaurant of choice. You know the rest of the story.

Fast-forward 30 years to the spring of 2006. My buddy Dan, who was in our agency in the early Apple days, has become an Apple evangelist and is president of the local Apple club.

Dan left our agency for an opportunity to get his name on the door of what later became the largest high-tech agency in Silicon Valley. Dan cashed out a dozen years ago, retired and when asked, did some consulting and expert-witness stuff.

Now a young, active senior citizen, Dan applied for a part-time job at the local Apple store and was interviewed by two young Apple folks.

Although they didn't ask the question directly, they wondered if he'd have the stamina to work the floor. Are you kidding? He's in better shape than Bill Gates. Dan is now anxiously waiting for the "you're hired" call. Stay tuned.