What year was the first Apple computer released for sale?

Remember when computers were the size of refrigerators and had all the processing power of a potato clock? Yeah, neither do we. But there was a time when the idea of having a personal computer in your home was about as realistic as time travel.

Enter two shaggy-haired dudes named Steve. No, not your college roommate who perpetually smelled of Doritos and regret. We're talking Jobs and Wozniak, the dynamic duo who decided to shake up the tech world from the comfort of a suburban garage.

At HP, amid the hum of corporate machinery, fate played matchmaker. Wozniak, the engineering wizard who could probably build a spaceship out of paperclips and chewing gum, met Jobs, a guy with enough charisma to sell ice to polar bears. Back then, "personal computer" sounded about as plausible as "personal jet pack." But Woz's technical brilliance combined with Jobs' vision (and let's face it, his ability to make people believe the impossible) created a perfect storm of innovation. They didn't just think outside the box; they built a whole new box, soldered it together, and slapped an apple logo on it.

This little machine would set the stage for a company that would eventually be worth more than the GDP of most countries. It sparked a tech revolution, birthed a legion of copycats, and created a cult-like following that makes most rock stars jealous. Ever seen people camping outside a store to buy a slightly larger version of the phone in their pocket? You can thank these guys for that particular brand of madness.

Eventually they'd go on to change the world, spawning a tech empire that would eventually bring us such innovations as phones that can recognize your face, watches that can tell you you're not getting enough exercise (as if the flight of stairs didn't make that abundantly clear) and gadgets that change everything from how we work to how we avoid eye contact on public transportation.

But before all that, before the sleek designs, before the "i" everything, before turtleneck sweaters became the unofficial uniform of tech visionaries, there was just a computer. A computer that would launch Apple from a footnote into the biggest shoes in Silicon Valley that has more cash reserves than some small nations have... well, cash.

It's time to set your phone to "Do Not Disturb" and focus on a simple question. In what year did Apple release its first computer?