garage

The story of the computer industry is, at its heart, a story about a couple of kids in a garage. All of the big stories seem to have humble beginnings. Gates and Allen got their start writing BASIC for an unlikely hobbiest home computer. Wozniak and Jobs built a PC in a wooden case. The vast empires built by Apple and Microsoft didn't start with grandiose corporate visions and vast multinational leanings. They started as a good idea to fill a niche that most people didn't know existed.

The computer industry is, indeed, a market for individuals, an industry for underdogs. The availability of information and the neutrality of the medium with which to distribute it provide a nearly level playing field for all contestants.