Andy Hertzfeld
Andy Hertzfeld
Andy Hertzfeldis an American computer scientist and inventor who was a member of the original Apple Macintosh development team during the 1980s. After buying an Apple II in January 1978, he went to work for Apple Computer from August 1979 until March 1984, where he was a designer for the Macintosh system software. Since leaving Apple, he has co-founded three companies: Radius in 1986, General Magic in 1990 and Eazel in 1999. In 2002, he helped Mitch Kapor promote open...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionInventor
Date of Birth6 April 1953
CountryUnited States of America
Working long hours being single helps because your time is yours. Once you have a family your time isn't all yours anymore. Most of the Mac team, we were in our mid-20's, most of us were single, and we were able to essentially devote our lives to it.
I think Apple would be more of an ordinary company without him--it would be much less audacious, daring and artistic.
I started focusing all my time on being an Apple II hobbyist, dropped out of grad school to go to work for Apple in August of '79.
I published on the web about 60 anecdotes about the development of the Mac in time for the Mac's 20th birthday in 2004. And that led to a book.
I got bitten by the free software bug in February of 1998 around the time of the Mozilla announcement.
You show me a great program and I'll show you a passionate individual somewhere behind it.
I started working at Apple about 18 months after I bought my Apple II
But I think Steve's main contribution besides just the pure leadership is his passion for excellence. He's a perfectionist. Good enough isn't good enough. And also his creative spirit. You know he really, really wants to do something great.