It's been over four decades since Steve Wozniak left Apple, but as co-founder and creator of the firm's first computers, Woz still fully enjoys his place in history. Steve Wozniak was the brilliant engineer, Steve Jobs was the brilliant businessman, and Ronald Wayne was the third founder in 1976. Woz would have been happy giving away everything he made, dedicating his life to engineering.

Surprisingly, Woz says he's still on Apple's payroll, reportedly getting $50 a week. His engineering brilliance showed early: at 11 he earned an amateur radio license, and at UC Berkeley he designed the Blue Box for free long-distance calls. Jobs sold them, and later challenged Woz to design Breakout in four days using only 45 chips instead of 200.

At the Homebrew Computer Club, Woz designed the Apple I to impress friends, but Jobs saw a business opportunity. After HP rejected the Apple I five times, Mike Markkula incorporated Apple and demanded Woz quit HP. The Apple II became the real breakthrough, bringing color graphics, sound, and built-in BASIC. Woz later designed a revolutionary floppy drive controller in two weeks, creating the Integrated Woz Machine that drove Mac floppy drives until 1998.