Kottke had access to LSD, and Jobs was an enthusiast. They would read, go on hikes and wander the rose gardens at Reed College. Jobs has been quoted as saying that LSD was one of the most profound experiences of his life, and the name for Apple came from his experience working on the apple farm of another fellow tripper from Reed.
Kottke moved to Palo Alto in 1976 to be one of the only staffers in the Apple Garage, working on the very first Apple I computer. He was not an engineer but developed a curiosity about how chips worked, spending his free time reading Byte magazine and the manual for the 6502 processor.