Bill Fernandez is a user-interface architect and innovator who was

Apple Computer Apple Inc. is an American multinational technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, United States. Apple is the largest technology company by revenue (totaling in 2021) and, as of June 2022, is the world's biggest company b ...

's first full time employee when they incorporated in 1977 and was issued badge number 4. He is the son of Jeryy Fernandez and Bambi Fernandez (both

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

graduates). He is credited with introducing fellow Homestead High School student

Steve Jobs Steven Paul Jobs (February 24, 1955 – October 5, 2011) was an American entrepreneur, industrial designer, media proprietor, and investor. He was the co-founder, chairman, and CEO of Apple; the chairman and majority shareholder of Pixar; a ...

to his friend (and Homestead alumn)

Steve Wozniak Stephen Gary Wozniak (; born August 11, 1950), also known by his nickname "Woz", is an American electronics engineer, computer programmer, philanthropist, inventor, and technology entrepreneur. In 1976, with business partner Steve Jobs, he c ...

and developing schematics for the

Apple II The Apple II (stylized as ) is an 8-bit home computer and one of the world's first highly successful mass-produced microcomputer products. It was designed primarily by Steve Wozniak; Jerry Manock developed the design of Apple II's foam-m ...

so the computer could be mass produced.

Career at Apple

Fernandez worked on the Cream Soda Computer with Steve Wozniak in 1971, the first computer designed by Wozniak and built using spare parts from Wozniak's job. He would later join Apple and work on both the

Apple I The Apple Computer 1, originally released as the Apple Computer and known later as the Apple I or Apple-1, is an 8-bit desktop computer released by the Apple Computer Company (now Apple Inc.) in 1976. It was designed by Steve Wozniak. The i ...

and

personal computer A personal computer (PC) is a multi-purpose microcomputer whose size, capabilities, and price make it feasible for individual use. Personal computers are intended to be operated directly by an end user, rather than by a computer expert or tec ...

s, and in the 1980s was a member of the

Apple Macintosh The Mac (known as Macintosh until 1999) is a family of personal computers designed and marketed by Apple Inc. Macs are known for their ease of use and minimalist designs, and are popular among students, creative professionals, and software en ...

development team. He contributed to several user interface aspects of the

classic Mac OS Mac OS (originally System Software; retronym: Classic Mac OS) is the series of operating systems developed for the Macintosh family of personal computers by Apple Computer from 1984 to 2001, starting with System 1 and ending with Mac OS 9. The ...

QuickTime QuickTime is an extensible multimedia framework developed by Apple Inc., capable of handling various formats of digital video, picture, sound, panoramic images, and interactivity. Created in 1991, the latest Mac version, QuickTime X, is avai ...

and

HyperCard HyperCard is a software application and development kit for Apple Macintosh and Apple IIGS computers. It is among the first successful hypermedia systems predating the World Wide Web. HyperCard combines a flat-file database with a graphical, fl ...

and owns a user interface patent granted in 1994. He was laid off from Apple in 1993.

Popular Culture

* Fernandez appeared in the 2011 documentary about Apple, One Last Thing. * Fernandez is portrayed by the actor

Victor Rasuk Victor Rasuk (born January 15, 1984) is an American actor. Early life Rasuk was born in New York City, to Dominican parents. His mother worked as a seamstress, and his father at an auto shop. He has one brother, actor Silvestre Rasuk, with whom ...

in the 2013 film ''

Jobs Jobs may refer to: * Job, an activity that people do for regular income gain People * Steve Jobs (1955–2011), co-founder and former CEO of Apple Inc ** Steve Jobs (disambiguation) * Laurene Powell Jobs (born 1963), widow of Steve Jobs * Lisa ...

''.

References

External links

Apple's First Employee: The Remarkable Odyssey of Bill Fernandez
by Jason Hiner Fernandez Bill n°4 Living people American computer businesspeople 21st-century American engineers Apple II family Year of birth missing (living people) {{compu-bio-stub