Apple has never been stronger or more capable of surprising the world with its innovations
Playing a prank on April Fools' Day was not on the minds of friends Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak 30 years ago, when they founded Apple Computer in the home garage of Mr Jobs' parents.
From their humble work space, the two college dropouts helped to kick-start what the industry has since acknowledged as the personal computer revolution. Their Apple logo, more than any other corporate symbol in Silicon Valley, has become synonymous with a unique and consistent combination of panache and technological innovation which has defined how people use electronic information, at work or play.
Apple will mark its 30th anniversary on Saturday with the confidence it has learned from its hits and misses, its highs and lows, and the inspiring life of its iconic chief executive, Mr Jobs.
In his speech before the graduating students of Stanford University last year, Mr Jobs looked back fondly on his and Mr Wozniak's ascent at Apple.
'We worked hard, and in 10 years Apple had grown from just the two of us in a garage into a US$2 billion company with over 4,000 employees. We had just released our finest creation - the Macintosh - a year earlier, and I had just turned 30.'
It was also during that time that the expression 'reality distortion field' was coined by Macintosh developer Bud Tribble, now Apple's vice-president of software technology.