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Apr 12, 2001
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NWSource publishes an brief Q&A session with Steve Wozniak, one of the co-founders of Apple Computer.

"I didn't want to start this company," said Wozniak, known in Silicon Valley simply as "Woz." "My goal wasn't to make a ton of money. It was to build good computers. I only started the company when I realized I could be an engineer forever."

Wozniak reports that even he does not get a "heads-up" on upcoming Apple products and that he "would never ask" because he feels bad about "all the rumors and leaks from the inside." Woz also prefers to avoid the beta-hardware bugs and instead experience finished products like all the other consumers.

Woz also reveals he was only recognized once at an Apple store, and was given two 65-watt AC adapters for free.

According to the article, an autobiography entitled "I, Woz" will be published this fall.
 

sunfast

macrumors 68020
Oct 14, 2005
2,135
53
I can't believe he doesn't get the "heads up" about new stuff. That'd be one of the best bits of working there!
 

sushi

Moderator emeritus
Jul 19, 2002
15,639
3
キャンプスワ&#
Woz is a very a unique and talented person to say the least. His circuit design is legendary.

The Woz, so cool! :D

The two Steve's are definitely different, that is for sure.
 

johnbro23

macrumors 6502a
Apr 12, 2004
770
0
Pittsburgh, PA
Woz basically just slammed Boot Camp (the comment he made about beta software). I mean thats the most significant thing Apple has out thats in Beta, right?
 

mcadam

macrumors 6502a
Apr 3, 2004
593
0
københavn
2 AC adapters... is that it?! ... after all he's done!!

Edit - from woz.org:
Dear Woz,
When you call Apple to order stuff and you give them your name, do people recognize you and say "Hey, your that dude that created Apple!"

Woz: I order Apple stuff online. I doubt that any human ever sees the names. But once I ordered a gigabit ethernet option. Apple noticed two months later that only two of these had been ordered, both by me! I do get noticed every time I buy shareware, and that brings me a lot of T-shirts that I get good use out of.

... a few free t-shirts and he's happy. Cool guy. :)

A
 

timmillwood

macrumors 6502a
Apr 7, 2006
955
1
to be honest i wouldnt know him if i saw him and he IS apple, jobs just seems to be a marketing guy

I will be buying the book, and i think he should go back and work with apple!
 

fixyourthinking

macrumors 6502a
Oct 24, 2002
665
0
Greenville SC
Of course ... as usual

A report will come out 2-3 days from now with a clarification ...

I don't know why he does these interviews ... most people take him totally out of context or selectively word their interviews with loaded questions that may not have been worded that way to Woz.
 

Leoff

macrumors regular
Jun 8, 2004
140
0
sunfast said:
I can't believe he doesn't get the "heads up" about new stuff. That'd be one of the best bits of working there!

Woz doesn't work for Apple. He hasn't for a long time.
 

Leoff

macrumors regular
Jun 8, 2004
140
0
johnbro23 said:
Woz basically just slammed Boot Camp (the comment he made about beta software). I mean thats the most significant thing Apple has out thats in Beta, right?

How is not wanting to use beta software, software that you've had no hand in designing, "slamming" anything? He simply doesn't wish to test software out on his computers. I'd hardly call that a "slam."
 

MrCrowbar

macrumors 68020
Jan 12, 2006
2,232
519
Did you hear this 30 anniversary podcast? they had Woz among other early days apple guys on VOIP. Woz sounds really like a tech nerd/genius to me. Quite the opposite of Steve (Jobs).
 

Butler Trumpet

macrumors 6502a
May 26, 2004
511
364
Dekalb IL
pavetheforest said:
i just woke up when i read it, i thought it was me...haha, so i skipped that line, it made my head hurt

HAHA! I did the exact same thing... thought "Oh, I just cant read right now", and went on to the next line!

very nice
 

F14CRAZY

macrumors newbie
Mar 10, 2005
14
0
From what I've read, technically, he's still on the Apple payroll. He just isn't paid. And doesn't do anything. Just a symbolic thing.
 

Demon Hunter

macrumors 68020
Mar 30, 2004
2,284
39
That's really sad no one at the stores recognize him. It proves my theory that Apple retail hires a bunch of schmucks, who don't know Mac SE from Quadra. If they sell AppleCare, that's all that matters.

Personally, I would be ecstatic... hug him, get him to autograph my limbs, my PowerBook, etc. ;)
 

Chaszmyr

macrumors 601
Aug 9, 2002
4,267
86
timmillwood said:
to be honest i wouldnt know him if i saw him and he IS apple, jobs just seems to be a marketing guy

There is so much more to it than that, especially since 1997.
 

lukesb1982

macrumors newbie
Apr 11, 2006
1
0
Santa Barbara
Recognize

Woz is a cool guy, but he gets recognized more than he leads on. I worked at the Santa Clara Apple store for two years and saw him in there atleast once a month. Everytime he came in the entire store recognized him and he loved every minute of it. Even customers came up to him for autographs. Sometimes we had to keep them away so he could shop. I think I've sold him about 4 PowerBooks and he never accepts the discount unless it's an educational discount. Cool guy. He carries around a stack of two dollar bills and charges people $3 for two of them and then signs them. If you ever see him in public ask him for one
 

jubjub

macrumors member
May 11, 2005
31
0
Sweden
dferrara said:
That's really sad no one at the stores recognize him.

" I didn't say anything about who I was. And they bring them out. I say, "How much?" They say, "We are expensing it." I said, "Yeah, but how do I pay for it?" They said, "No, no, no — we are allowed to give gifts to special people.""
 

ChrisWB

macrumors 6502
Dec 28, 2004
254
1,358
Chicago
Leoff said:
Woz doesn't work for Apple. He hasn't for a long time.
Woz DOES work for Apple, and has the entire time. He never quit. They have him unoffically represent Apple at various events. Check out Woz.org for more info.
 

bankshot

macrumors 65816
Jan 23, 2003
1,367
416
Southern California
johnbro23 said:
Woz basically just slammed Boot Camp (the comment he made about beta software). I mean thats the most significant thing Apple has out thats in Beta, right?

Uhhhh, yeah. :rolleyes:

Woz said:
When I talk with reporters, I will talk about the pluses and minuses of an issue and, boy, sometimes they like to grab a little minus, twist the words a little, exaggerate it and make a headline.

Notice any similarities here? :p
 
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