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114 Comments
- magicmarc, on 09/17/2009, -2/+160I never knew Steve Wozniak's middle name was WozniakSteve !
- deweyhewson, on 09/17/2009, -2/+125A few things, if you can stand to read through it. :)
1) Woz is not shy about sharing any of this. He wrote a book (iWoz, which I highly recommend to anyone interested in the history of computers and/or Apple), and has given multiple interviews on the subject, including his appearance on Triumph of the Nerds. He is, however, averse to being in the spotlight and so has kept a low profile ever since leaving Apple in the mid-80s (right around the time Jobs ego started to really explode).
2) Apple didn't steal the GUI or the mouse from Xerox. Xerox PARC had invented both, along with the beginnings of modern computer networking and a few other key things, but the Xerox heads had turned down capitalizing on any of them claiming they wouldn't go anywhere. They basically ordered PARC to give the Apple guys an all-access pass to the material, which Apple then legally acquired through some exchange of stock. It was an extremely fortunate exchange for Apple, and no theft was involved. In fact, if you want to claim theft you should refer to Bill Gates and the first version of Windows which they openly admitted (albeit privately) to lifting from Apple. And yes, I'm a Microsoft fan.
3) Woz did not invent the personal computer. What he did was invent the first REALISTIC personal computer. Yes, other machines such as the Altair came before, but there was almost nothing you could do with them beyond hobbyist tinkering. With the Apple I (and especially the Apple II) there was suddenly a machine that could fit on a desk, was easy (in the context of the time) to operate, and was practical. That is what was so exceptional about Woz's creation, not that it was the first overall.
4) Woz is one of the coolest geeks around. He was always in it for the technology itself, not the money. When Jobs lied to Woz about how much Woz would be paid to re-engineer the chips on an Atari board (Woz did all the work, Jobs kept most of the money), Woz wasn't upset and forgave Jobs for it. In fact, after Apple went public and Jobs essentially reserved all of the instant wealth for him and Woz, Woz didn't feel right about it and gave away a huge quantity of his personal stock in the company to other employees he felt deserved it. How many corporate executives would do that? He also has spent his time since leaving Apple teaching computers to school kids, providing huge endowments to schools for technological support, and basically being an all-around good guy. Whatever you may feel about Apple now, Woz is a great guy. - Chairboy, on 09/17/2009, -3/+104People who dismiss Jobs because he wasn't a soldering iron jedi miss the point that a business is more than just technical talent in the field, you need other skills and personality types too. The most successful businesses are often the ones that figure out what they're missing from their talent pool and bring in someone who has what they need. If you can do this at startup, then you're golden.
Steve Jobs isn't Jesus, he's just a dude. He happens, however, to have been an influential dude who did the right stuff at the right time to help make Apple a reality.
There's a middle ground between Messiah and Pond Scum, folks. - Lightstab, on 09/17/2009, -1/+81In Wozniak's book, which I have read by the way (a couple of years ago, this book is not "new"), Wozniak admits that Steve Jobs was actually instrumental in the start of Apple. Wozniak was on the verge of dropping out of Apple before it even started. Here's a quote from the book:
"A few day after that, venture capitalists Steve had contacted started to come by. One of them was Don Valentine at Sequoia... Well, he turned us down, but he did get us in touch with a guy named Mike Markkula... He was truly interested. He asked us who we were, what our backgrounds were, what our goals were with Apple, where we thought it might go. And he indicated some interest in financing us. He was talking about $250,000 or thereabouts to build 1,000 machines..."
"Well, after Mike agreed to do our business plan—after he started working on it—he asked to talk to me. He said, "Okay, Steve. You know you have to leave Hewlett-Packard... So I decided I wouldn't do Apple after all. I would stay at HP for my full-time job and design computers for fun. I went to the cabana—Mike had a cabana on his property—on ultimatum day and told Mike and Steve what I'd decided. I told them no. I'd thought about it, and I'd come to the conclusion that I wasn't going to leave HP. I remember Mike was very cool about it. He just shrugged and said, "Okay, Fine." He was really terse about it. It was like he thought, okay, fine, he would just get what Apple needed somewhere else. But Steve was upset. He felt strongly that the Apple II was the computer they should go with."
"Within a couple of days my phone started ringing. I started getting phone calls at work and home from my dad, my mom, my brother, and various friends. Just phone call after phone call. Every one of them told me I'd made the wrong decision. That I should go with Apple because, after all, $250,000 is a lot of money. It turned out that Steve had talked them all into calling me. Apparently he thought I needed an intervention." - catalysis, on 09/17/2009, -3/+56I'm on PCP
- RealmDown, on 09/17/2009, -3/+41I'm an NPC.
- digitalpencil, on 09/17/2009, -4/+39warning: huge flamewar about to envelop us all!
- Nirgaul, on 09/17/2009, -1/+28'soldering iron jedi' was great. thanks for that contribution
- freezerburn666, on 09/17/2009, -26/+51i'm a pc
- Interpol, on 09/17/2009, -1/+26I'm down with OPP.
- jmp478, on 09/17/2009, -0/+18The man so nice they named him twice.
- blsub6, on 09/17/2009, -1/+18Woz comes on at about 5:30 to let you guys know where to fast forward to...
- philz, on 09/17/2009, -1/+18"His new book, iWoz [..]" -- came out 3 years ago.
- Ediebriquette, on 09/17/2009, -0/+16They bought the right to use the ideas. They gave xerox a million dollars worth of stock to look at the GUI. There's no way anyone can say that Apple didn't pay for the usage, nor can anyone at Xerox be so dumb as to think Apple was giving them money just to "look" at the GUI.
- jbmcb, on 09/17/2009, -0/+13Step 0: Understand that Woz didn't work on the Mac that much, he was mostly an Apple I/II guy
Step 0.5: Understand that the first commercial product PARC produced with a GUI was the 8010 in 1981, and it was *far* from a personal computer. The Apple II predated it by 4 years.
You could argue that the Commodore PET predated the Apple II as a complete, easy to use home computer, but it had an awful interface, terrible hardware and was arguably too expensive to be considered a real home-oriented PC. - jbmcb, on 09/17/2009, -1/+14The PET, Apple II and TRS-80 were the first machines really targeted for home use. Ever see a 5100 in person? It's pretty friggin' far from a 'personal' computer.
- PurpleDee, on 09/17/2009, -0/+11Awesome. This is really worth a watch, Steve Wozniak is really quite a guy, he has a supreme intellect and the ability to speak brilliantly and honestly about his life.
- bill679, on 09/17/2009, -0/+11I agree that the Steve's didn't *invent* the personal computer, pioneers and futurists from the 60's had been thinking of the concept and working to overcome technical hurdles for many years prior to apple. But I disagree that the DIY 6502 "kits" were a non-assembled personal computer that Woz and Jobs simply snapped together, tweaked in a few improvements and put a logo on the case and called an Apple ][. The hardware was only a fraction of the concept; those kits were pretty much 100% hardware with zero appeal to anyone without a major amount of electrical engineering and other technical engineering knowledge and a healthy desire to tinker with circuits and the rest of the stuff that was sold in those old kits.
The idea from the beginning of apple was to ultimately, someday create a machine for the average Joe/Jane to come home from their average jobs to balance their checkbooks, write a novel or play a game. The software (i.e. GUI) wasn't there at first, but the vision was. Others before Steve and Steve had a similar vision of computers for the average Joe, but it took the engineering brains and creativity of Woz and the marketing and leadership skills of Jobs to bring it to the mainstream. - FearlessFreep, on 09/17/2009, -0/+11They've always given credit where due to the Xerox folks
- judicar, on 09/18/2009, -1/+12Those are better described as hobbyist systems, you had to write your own software. The Apple II was the first microcomputer targeted (and usable by) the general population.
- dn11, on 09/18/2009, -0/+10Apple I release date: 1976
Apple II release date: 1977
Which PC did Xerox invent before 1976 again? I think you're a bit confused. A GUI != a personal computer. - deweyhewson, on 09/17/2009, -0/+10Apple II:
"By the end of its production in 1993, somewhere between five and six million Apple II series computers (including approximately 1.25 million Apple IIGS models) had been produced."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_II_series
TRS-80:
"How Many: 200,000 (1977-1981)"
http://oldcomputers.net/trs80i.html
Hardly what I would call rare. - Subduction, on 09/17/2009, -1/+11So he's casting off the low profile that included "dating" Kathy Griffin and being on Dancing with the Stars?
- inactive, on 09/18/2009, -0/+10"Steve Wozniak" - Finally someone who actually did the work gets credit. Not the salesman who pitched it.
- orky7, on 09/17/2009, -2/+11good artists copy great artists steal-- Steve Jobs (originally quoted by Pablo Picasso)
- gwhenning, on 09/18/2009, -0/+8Yeah, the Microsoft people don't start to filter in until they get off from work. :P
/s - judicar, on 09/18/2009, -1/+9US Patent No. 4,136,359 - "Microcomputer for use with video display" for which he was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame.
Close enough? - Loonacy, on 09/17/2009, -4/+12Sorry, but Woz > God
- omgwtflawl, on 09/17/2009, -13/+20He invented the Personal Computer? What about all the other systems that came out well before his did?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_personal_c ... - yacks, on 09/17/2009, -0/+7yeah, you know me.
- bouche, on 09/18/2009, -0/+7That was a fun book to read.
- RentalCanoe, on 09/17/2009, -1/+8The Apple I didn't have a GUI. Or a mouse. And the Macintosh was Jobs' baby.
- gwhenning, on 09/18/2009, -0/+6@jbmcb -You could argue that, but you'd still have to contend with the Apple I computer.
- zephc, on 09/17/2009, -1/+7Did you even bother to watch any of the program?
- gwhenning, on 09/18/2009, -0/+6Woz invented much of the necessary parts for the Apple I. He hacked together the floppy drive controller, video card, etc. It was not a "kit" that was snapped together until he designed the kit. There may have been other machines out around that time, but Woz invented the machine that would launch Apple and it was the most popular personal computer back in the 70's.
- L0NER, on 09/17/2009, -1/+7So I was like, what if I attached a keyboard to the computer....
- borez, on 09/17/2009, -0/+6Absolutely fascinating.
- gr3yskull, on 09/17/2009, -0/+5All of you need to watch Triumph of the Nerds http://www.amazon.com/Triumph-Nerds-Bob-Cringely/d ...
- ddetina, on 09/17/2009, -1/+6What an enjoyable talk: full of passion, honesty, insight and playfulness. Woz is a national treasure. I could listen to him talk all day. He's an inspiration.
- icodebot, on 09/17/2009, -8/+12While he deserves a lot of credit, I don't think it's entirely accurate to say he "invented" the personal computer. From what I've read there were a lot of DIY 6502 based computer kits out there for computer enthusiasts. What Woz & Jobs did was offer what was essentially an improved & pre-assembled kit.
- theorymaster, on 09/18/2009, -0/+4++last Comment. I met him just last week, apparently he has a random joke generator in his brain:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/anirudhkoul/390708046 ... - touchinmyself, on 09/17/2009, -11/+15The Woz invented the PC while Al Gore was inventing the internet. I smell a conspiracy.
- Yage2006, on 09/18/2009, -2/+6Pirates of silicon valley is far superior.
- bouche, on 09/18/2009, -1/+5Are people disputing Steve Wozniak's role in creating an entirely new industry? Man, if Steve Wozniak wasn't involved, we wouldn't be seeing the computer technology that we are today.
- wondertwins, on 09/18/2009, -2/+6I am dissapoint
- lordmike, on 09/17/2009, -2/+6It's too bad that Woz still isn't an integral part of Apple... He was very big on open systems. Jobs hated that... told Wox that the Apple II should have only 2 expansion slots. Woz told Jobs to stick it where the sun don't shine... the Apple II would be an open system. They even handed out the schematics with the computer, and gave out source code for the "monitor" program they had (something like MS-DOS's Debug)... The Apple II was Apple's last open system. Everything that followed was as closed as possible following Jobs' orders. That legacy lives to this day.
- spacebuddy, on 09/17/2009, -1/+5Love this guy.
- LPfmAAF, on 09/18/2009, -0/+4So what you're saying is...
Imaginary ***** > Woz? No way
Woz > Imaginary ***** any day. - Langford, on 09/18/2009, -0/+3He has achieved the geek dream, to be successful in life via the hobbies that you already enjoy.
- inactive, on 09/18/2009, -3/+6Al Gore is starting to get ANGRY.
Al Gore invented the PC long before he invented light and sound. Then much later he invented the InterWeb.
After he's finished cooling the Earth he's going to kick some major geek ass! -
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