Steve Jobs' First Venture: Illegal Blue Boxes

Have you ever wondered what Steve Jobs started selling before he founded Apple? The illegal blue box was Steve Jobs and Wozniak's first venture.

This interview showed Steve's potential as an entrepreneur starting out his career. The blue box could be used to trick telecommunication systems at the time to make free calls internationally. Some of the more famous pranksters were Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs, founders of Apple Computer. 

On one occasion Wozniak dialed Vatican City and identified himself as Henry Kissinger (imitating Kissinger's German accent) and asked to speak to the Pope (who was sleeping at the time). Blue boxes were primarily the domain of "pranksters" and "explorers"; while others used blue boxes solely to make free phone calls. 'The power of an idea' in Steve Jobs' words. 
We also recommend watching: Steve Jobs: People Crazy Enough to Change the World

Steve Jobs' First Venture: Illegal Blue Boxes

The blue box is an electronic device that simulates a telephone operator's dialing console. It functions by replicating the tones used to switch long-distance calls and using them to route the user's own call, bypassing the normal switching mechanism. The most typical use of a blue box was to place free telephone calls - inversely, the Black Box enabled one to receive calls which were free to the caller.