
Celebrate Woz's 70th - salgernon
https://www.wozbday.com
======
Arjuna
Anytime Woz comes up, I can't help but think of this sentence that he wrote,
way back on Google+, sometime in 2013, after the release of the _Jobs_ film:

 _" And when Jobs (in the movie, but really a board does this) denied stock to
the early garage team (some not even shown) I'm surprised that they chose not
to show me giving about $10M of my own stock to them because it was the right
thing. And $10M was a lot in that time."_

~~~
ChrisRR
It always makes me sad that Wozniak, the real brains behind the operation get
completely ignored in favour of Jobs who was just a salesman.

Similarly to Dennis Ritchie who worked on the C programming language and Unix,
and dies a week after Jobs gets completely ignored and yet arguably has had
more impact than someone who's just known for arguing about tech not being
pretty enough

~~~
jimbokun
Not as famous as Jobs, but still well known and probably more beloved. Woz is
kind of a living patron saint of engineers.

> someone who's just known for arguing about tech not being pretty enough

If you think that's all Jobs did, I don't know what to tell you.

He is in the running for most successful businessman in history.

~~~
icedchai
Young folks probably don't remember how close Apple was to dying in the late
90's. It was _bad._ Jobs is directly responsible for that huge turnaround.

~~~
danmg
Jobs created the initial problem by undermining the Apple 2 GS.

~~~
bitwize
Jobs had a long-term vision in the future of Apple as a consumer electronics
company, as opposed to a techie company. The explosive growth of Apple in the
2000s and 2010s would never have happened if Apple hadn't matured out of being
the company that made the Apple II line.

~~~
icedchai
They explored some of this in the 90's with the Newton, Pippin, Macintosh TV,
etc. None of that stuff was a resounding success. It was all too early.

~~~
danmg
Jobs is the one who killed the Newton when he returned.

Apple could have launched in iPhone like product years ahead of when they did
if they kept that branch of the company afloat. That would have been a real
'visionary' move. Instead, they were forced to differentiate themselves in a
crowded marketplace by emphasizing little design flourishes and style.

Job's only real contribution is managing to gaslight (a.k.a, his "reality
distortion field") the entire industry into thinking he had any real insight
or ability beyond that of a typical middle manager with a cluster-b
personality disorder.

------
jimbokun
It's always interesting to think about who has had the more successful,
fulfilling life between Woz and Jobs.

Jobs had far more financial success, and was involved in the release of far
more products, was far more famous than Woz, but died young and
had...complicated relationships with everyone in his life.

Woz cashed out when he had enough to enjoy doing whatever he wanted for the
rest of his life, organized music festivals, taught kids about computers and
technology, played with cool gadgets, seems to be beloved by everyone who ever
knew him, and is still going strong at 70.

~~~
fouc
However, Jobs had a much bigger impact on the world. local vs global.
[https://sive.rs/local](https://sive.rs/local)

~~~
echelon
> Jobs had a much bigger impact on the world.

He created the App Store fiefdom which taxes developers more than their
government. It also compelled them to price their work at less than the cost
of a cup of coffee.

He turned the general purpose computers in most Americans' lives into locked
down, tightly controlled "experiences". (The iPhone, which lacks the ability
to install whatever you want.)

He created an expensive laptop that isn't user upgradable.

His company is now suing a mom and pop healthcare app for having a logo shaped
like a pear, which seems par for the course.

He sold status and glamour, and he wasn't a very good person. You can praise
him if you want, but I think he's the epitome of selfish and don't consider
him a role model. If you have to behave like that to win, it isn't worth it.

Gates, for all of his flaws, is doing really good work to make this world a
better place. I look up to him instead.

~~~
drcross
People seem to forget 90s Bill Gates. He was terrible and spiteful. There's no
reason Jobs wouldn't turn into the current Bill, if he was able to live that
long.

~~~
oblio
Jobs died age 56. Gates is 64 now and started his philanthropic endeavors in
2000, 20 years ago, when he was 44.

Jobs could have done it before he died. He didn't. No need to theorize.

Plus Gates always struck me as more balanced than the narcissistic Jobs. Plus
Melinda has been a great influence.

------
ThinkBeat
I will share my father's impression of Woz.

He didn't work at Apple, but had a lot to do with them for a while in the
early days.

He thought that Woz was a true intuitive genius. One of the best he had ever
met. He did in a short amount of time what would take a team of others a long
time.

He had such a creative mind about how things could be done differently, more
efficiently more elegant.

He was far away from being a businessman. My dad thought that was a sign of
sanity.

He got increasingly disillusioned with the financial aspect and seeing how it
impacted other people at Apple (or did not)

He decided to get out it. He had lots of money already. (He did).

Dad thought that Woz would have preferred to give exciting solutions away and
see what became of them.

He followed his heart and has (I think) enjoyed his life a lot more than most
who just keep chasing more and more of it.

I am sure he was happy his Apple stock kept incrasing in value :)

~~~
swinglock
He left after a head injury.

Was that truly Woz own pure and simple choice or was it influenced by his
accident?

Did it change his ability to perform like he did before and thought it wasn't
worth it to continue? Did it change his personality? Brain damage aside, did
coming close to death by his own hand changed his outlook on life?

He never left Apple behind completely. Sure it ended up great but if not for
the crash maybe what happened wasn't what he really wanted at the time.

------
russellbeattie
I've always been amazed at Woz's annus mirabilis from 1976 to 1977. At the age
of 26, he designed a commercial micro computer from scratch, which had sound,
color output, an OS, Integer BASIC, all the peripherals, programming guide,
and more.

Think about this. At the beginning of 1976, Woz got hold of a 6502 chip for
the first time. By March, he had the Apple I running. By April, he and Jobs
(and briefly, Wayne) started Apple. In July, they started selling Apple I
kits, and by August, Woz had completed a prototype of the Apple II. By April
of 1977 (only one year later!!) they were at the West Coast Computer Faire
with the full-fledged Apple II computer as we know it today. It continued in
production in one form or another until 1993.

This was a tour-de-force of focus, efficiency, innovation, hard work, and
plain brilliance that is almost unbelievable today. Think about what you've
accomplished in the past year, and compare. Woz deserves all the credit he
gets.

~~~
coldcode
Woz was an amazing genius as a young man and turned into a lovable character
when older, but really hasn't done anything besides that since. Which is OK,
lots of people peak when young (most mathematicians), but still those
accomplishments ended. Jobs was a horrible person for much of his life but
turned Apple into the world's most successful company from a start in the
grave (I know I was in the grave before he returned) and created technology
that changed the world. One succeeded early and late (but not in the middle)
and one succeeded early and enjoyed the success). Who leaves the bigger
legacy? Jobs. Who is loved by all? Woz. Which is greater is not really fair to
anyone.

------
ztratar
It's always been clear that Woz's integrity is off the charts.

Just a good human all around, wanting to build things for fun and help people
because that's what people with power do.

A true icon who encompasses many of the things that make America great, and
serves as a compass for us all to be a little better. Let's get wozzy.

~~~
lquist
Hmm..is that true?

[https://www.cbsnews.com/news/woz-u-steve-wozniak-former-
stud...](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/woz-u-steve-wozniak-former-students-
employees-raise-concerns/)

~~~
jentist_retol
Considering his fame, brand recognition, and interests in education, it's
pretty plausible to me that he got sort of "scammed" by the people who
proposed woz u to him. If you read up on them, they're unsavory for sure.

It's a bad mark, for sure, but basically the only bad mark on an otherwise
impeccable record. I feel like you certainly get one. So no, I don't think he
was trying to scam people. He certainly didn't seem happy about the situation
or try to smooth it over.

------
almostdeadguy
I went to elementary and middle school (Blossom Hill and Fisher Middle
respectively) in Los Gatos, where Woz resides. I remember he donated the Mac
lab at Fisher (and I think Blossom Hill too?). My memory of this is a little
hazy, but I'm fairly sure Fisher had introductory programming classes that I
took also, which I'm sure he had a part in. This would have been around
1999-ish when that was fairly uncommon. I wasn't a theater kid, but Woz was
also well known for being a big sponsor of the theater program as well, and I
remember kids in the theater program at Fisher often got cool tech gifts
courtesy of Woz (like the Game Boy Color before it came out in the US).

It's probably hard to attribute this to one thing growing up in Silicon Valley
in the 90s, but I consider Woz a big part of why I'm a software engineer
today. And as an adult, he's one of the engineers who I most admire both
professionally and personally as a kind, curious, and generous person.

~~~
forgotmysn
we used to go trick or treating up in monte sereno where he lives, and for a
couple years he gave away ipod nano's instead of candy lol

~~~
niczem
... the first time is always free ;)

------
empressplay
I was lucky enough to interview Woz about his development of the Disk II
floppy disk system for the Apple II – it's quite a tale!
[https://paleotronic.com/2018/05/19/steve-wozniak-talks-
disk/](https://paleotronic.com/2018/05/19/steve-wozniak-talks-disk/)

He's a wonderful fellow to talk to...

~~~
kristopolous
I was at a table alone in a room with him, we were both at some Ted Nelson
event and we had gotten there early.

I talked to him for about an hour and honestly had no idea it was him. He just
came across as a jolly tech guy. Totally friendly and down to earth. There was
crafts service there so when he got up to get something to drink, he brought
back something for me, you know, just like some nice guy.

It was only later when people were giving him such reverence and acted
flustered around him asking for photographs that I was like "wait, is that ...
Steve Wozniak?!"

------
lovehashbrowns
There are some people I can admire for their success, some people I can admire
for their generosity, some people I can admire for their passions, etc. etc.
Woz, for me, is the person I can admire for all of those qualities at once.
He's just a great person overall. I'm excited for this event! It sounds super
fun.

------
ridiculous_fish
Woz's Twitter is full of locations, occasionally exotic but often mundane,
like a local dog park or restaurant.

I have always wondered if he posts in hope that people will meet him there,
and talk to him. Has anyone done so, have some stories to share?

~~~
mark_mart
>> I have always wondered if he posts in hope that people will meet him there,
and talk to him

I don't think that's the case. If he wants to meet and talk to people, he can
just organize an event and thousands would apply.

~~~
dt3ft
Not quite the same thing. Thousands vs spontaneous few.

------
cateye
I really hope he gets a lot more mainstream recognition and appreciation for
what he has done for Apple.

It would be nice to see that who laughs last laughs best.

I don't like to hear phrases like: Engineers are important, but in the end
it's all about marketing, see Jobs...

People should realize that there is nothing to market if there is not someone
who solves complex technical problems.

~~~
SwiftyBug
Just as much as solved technical problems alone may go unused if they are not
properly marketed. There's not one more important than the other.

------
fermienrico
We need more love and compassion in the world today than ever before. Focus on
the common threads and be good humans like Woz.

------
stevievee
Good to see [https://signedbywoz.com/](https://signedbywoz.com/) is still up
and running. I've had the signed Apple II schematic hanging in my office for
over five years and I unexpectedly find it to be a constant source of
inspiration.

------
andrewstuart
I met Woz when he came to Melbourne and he signed two Apple 2 computers for
me.

~~~
fsagx
I saw Woz at the Delta Sky Club in Madrid and gave him what was probably a too
enthusiastic "Hello!" He said "hi" while trying really hard not to look at me.

I realized then that it must be exhausting to have so many people want to talk
to you. It ain't easy being Woz.

~~~
abhgh
I had seen Woz at the Computer History Museum at Mountain View. Much as I
wanted to meet him and take a picture with him, I saw him politely turn down a
woman who had walked up to him with what I'd assume was a similar request. It
must be tiring, like you mention. I decided not to bother him.

------
xsmasher
The video was really good;

Looks like the party will be streamed Tuesday 5pm pacific.

~~~
pimlottc
It's surprisingly moving, quite lovely. Raises my expectations that the party
will really be something.

------
LeonM
I can highly recommend Woz's biography iWoz [0]. Released in 2006, so before
Jobs died. It's a fun read of the story of a young Woz that most off all just
wanted to tinker with computers. I recognized a lot of my own youth in that
story. Fun times.

[0] [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IWoz](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IWoz)

~~~
Insanity
I wanted to like it but it was hard for me to get into. The style of writing
didn't particularly appeal to me unfortunately. :(

~~~
auslegung
I found a lot of chapters seemingly targeting a young audience, then other
chapters had a decent amount of technical stuff and seemed targeted at very
knowledgeable audience. I think it struggled in that regard. But I still loved
it and will reread it many times :)

------
nojvek
Probably over-generalizing here and may get downvoted.

I am always suprised how much effort rich people put into birthdays. I
remember growing up that birthdays weren't really a thing when we were poor,
but as we became more middle class, we celebrated with cakes and eventually
decorations came in. I once got invited to a birthday party at a special venue
and thought, wow! this is grander than a wedding.

The inverse was also true, if someone did not celebrate their birthday they
felt so sad, like no one cared about them and made a big deal about it. On the
other side we were brought up with "well, no one cares about you other than
your family, so be nice to each other and don't expect much from life, you get
what you sow".

------
deanclatworthy
Slight off-topic tangent:

Anybody able to identify all of the different covers of "Go your own way" in
that video? I feel like I can hear Dolores (of Cranberries fame) even singing
a version I'd not heard before.

EDIT: Found at least that one: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3LL7CLRt-
es](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3LL7CLRt-es)

------
saagarjha
For the curious, his birthday is August 11th.

------
tus88
Happy Birthday Woz.

------
mindfulhack
In the video, the words 'Go your own way' are inspiring alone. To the little
child inside me. I just donated to that charity.

------
gamesbrainiac
Woz is a good man.

~~~
grugagag
I like Wozniak too and find him very inspiring but in a different way than
Jobs - who was all about outwinning himself. Wozniak is a good soul type of
guy, it wouldn’t even suit him to be in the same limelight as Jobs.

------
mistrial9
funhouse 1989 -- Happy Birthday Woz !

------
jccc
"Andy Herzfelt"?

