Steve Jobs felt certain Apple would never have existed without making blue boxes

5 hours ago

Steve Jobs credited building illegal blue boxes with Steve Wozniak as a pivotal experience that built their confidence, taught them the power of ideas, and made them believe they could influence the world.
The blue boxes, which allowed free long-distance calls, cost about $100 in parts to build but demonstrated control over global telephone infrastructure, giving Jobs and Woz a sense of magic and capability.
Jobs believed that without the blue box experience, Apple might never have existed, as it provided the foundational confidence and realization that they could build and impact technology on a large scale.
The article includes Jobs' famous quote about connecting dots looking backward and trusting in the future, emphasizing how past experiences shape outcomes.
It also notes the irony that Apple, which started with hacking phone networks, now actively combats security circumventions like Hackintosh, and mentions Jobs' personal health decisions as a critique.

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