

Woz on Apple: 'I'm a little afraid' - Sato
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17852_3-20120726-71/woz-on-apple-im-a-little-afraid/

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gatlin
"I can't go back"

Speaking as a man with friends and loved ones, not an Apple fan (per se), that
really got me. Woz gets more than just Apple's direction: he gets what's
important.

He wants one more dinner with his friend and that's really inspiring. It's
hard to think there's a chance you'll outlive the people you love and I, for
one, have decided mid-post to go seize those moments rather than type here.
Ciao.

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cmelbye
What an annoying reporter doing the interview. Ask an open-ended question and
let him talk about it, don't constantly interrupt him and put words into his
mouth...

~~~
redthrowaway
I couldn't agree more. Woz is a guy who will talk forever if you give him the
right cues. STFU and get out of his way.

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hkmurakami
It was excruciating to listen to the interviewer's little interjections. These
little affirmations are what you're supposedly "supposed to do" in
conversation, but boy does it sound _awful_ for an interview.

It was eye opening for me in this regard as well - know your setting.

~~~
erikpukinskis
I thought the questions were great, and I suspect you're being a little sexist
and ageist. Sexist in that if Charlie Rose asked exactly the same questions
with his Charlie Rose manner, you wouldn't be as upset, and ageist in that the
interviewer was clearly quite young. Woz is a lifelong teacher, and is as
dedicated to supporting young people learn as anyone, and you're here shitting
on their work. She's not Oprah yet, because she's not 40 yet.

My hunch is that you are all objecting, in part, to the fact that a _woman_ is
interjecting and according to our cultural norms, women aren't supposed to do
that. If a man was doing it, you'd care less. It's a hunch based on 30 years
of listening to people, and I'm hopeful you or someone will take this
suggestion seriously, although if history is any guide you'll interpret this
as a personal attack, go into defense mode and deny any wrongdoing. Fun times.

Also worth noting is that neither TechCrunch nor C|net gave credit to this
woman for doing the interview. That's great journalism there, fellas.

~~~
redthrowaway
Sorry, you couldn't be further from the truth. I was objecting to her because
she was _bad_ , not because she's a young woman.

Also, as to the whole "taking it seriously" part: please don't confuse genuine
disagreement (I think you're very, very wrong) with prejudice. I don't take
your comment as a personal attack, but rather as grossly misguided. I'm not
offended by the labels of sexism and ageism, principally because I think they
have no merit.

There're plenty of young women who could have done a great job in this
interview; she is not one of them.

~~~
erikpukinskis
Thanks for your reply. Like I said, all I have is my suspicions. I don't claim
to know the truth. I don't think any of us really does.

However, when you say "you couldn't be further from the truth", is that the
result of you rewatching the video, while considering the possibility that you
might, _in part_ , as I qualified from the beginning, be seeing her
differently than you'd see a man? Or is it the result of your immediate
reaction, because of your uninterruptable certainty that you surely would
never do something so sexist?

Just curious. If you've genuinely considered the possibility, that's all I can
reasonably ask. For my part, I'm happy to have raised my suspicion, even
though HN obviously thinks quite lowly of this line of thought.

~~~
biot
Man up and own your words. You went on for several paragraphs calling
hkmurakami out for sexism and ageism, yet you now backpedal and claim not to
know the truth and that nobody does. If you really believed that you would not
have posted your original reply since you wouldn't have known the truth about
what hkmurakami was thinking.

~~~
erikpukinskis
"I suspect"

"my hunch"

And I stand by it. Feel free to email me if you want to discuss further
(erik@snowedin.net) but I'm backpedaling on nothing. And all three of them of
course were thinking totally innocent thoughts. Sexism is rarely conscious
these days.

~~~
mike-cardwell
I suspect that you're an ass, and my hunch is that you're smug and self
righteous.

~~~
redthrowaway
That's not particularly helpful.

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mike-cardwell
He claimed that sticking "I suspect" and "my hunch" in his comment meant that
his comment wasn't an insult. I demonstrated how his claim was false.

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wallflower
> quintessential engineer

If you have not yet read JL's interview of Woz in "Founders at Work", I
encourage you to read it now. One of the best in her book.

<http://www.foundersatwork.com/steve-wozniak.html>

~~~
SkyMarshal
Awesome interview. Great excerpt:

 _"When you get very very tired—and I had been up four nights all night long;
Steve and I got mononucleosis—your head gets in this real creative state and
it thinks of ideas that you'd normally just throw out. I came up with this
idea of taking one little cheap (less than $1) part with 4 bits in it. If I
spun it around at the right rate, the data that comes out of that chip looks
like color TV. And I could put 16 different patterns and they all look like
different colors, sort of. Would a digital signal that goes up and down
actually work on a color TV the way there are sine waves and complicated
calculus to develop how color TV was established in the television world?
Would it work?

Man, when I actually finally put together this little circuit and put some
data into memory that should show up as color and it showed up color, it was
just one of those eureka moments and you're just shaking inside. It was just
unbelievable. Here we had it in just a couple of chips. I had color, and then
I had graphics, and then I had hi-res, and then I had paddles and sound to put
games into the machine. It had dynamic memory—it had the newest right type of
dynamic memory that could expand almost forever. All sorts of slots with a
little mini operating system that actually worked incredibly well. The Apple
II was just one of those designs. Anybody could build things to add on to it,
anybody could write programs, they could write sophisticated programs, they
could write it in machine language, they could write it in my Basic. So that
machine, there was just nothing stopping it."_

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navs
Oh Woz, I'd wait in a line for days just to talk to you.

Being a technical man, I'm surprised in how he reacted to those 'technical
terms' that were mentioned. Listening to this, I felt he knew exactly what
Apple was/is and strives to be. If he still elicits respect from the current
Apple camp, wouldn't he be a good choice to take over Steve Job's role? If not
a CEO, an advisor? I say this not knowing a thing about corporate structure so
excuse my ignorance.

~~~
rickdangerous1
I'm reading his book iWoz at the moment. In that he makes it clear he's never
wanted to be a manager. He didn't/doesn't want to control other people etc. In
fact, he only agreed to leave HP and join apple (after designing and building
the apple I and II in his spare time) when he realized he could be in his own
company and still stay as an engineer.

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dvdhsu
Reporter sounds very ersatz. Constantly interrupting, interjecting with "huh",
"oh", "yeah", and "ah, interesting". She pretends to know what she's talking
about, although it's obvious that she doesn't.

Anyways, the parallel to Sony is interesting. Many have mentioned it before,
but only time will tell.

~~~
firefoxman1
Haha my favorite part is around 2:35.

Woz: "...one mind still in control to keep products so..."

Interviewer: "Advancing?"

Woz: "small."

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bored
Good catch

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ethank
I sat next to Woz during the keynote where the iPod with video was introduced
(I believe the event where Madonna was called, as I was working on her project
at the time).

The guy had such enthusiasm for everything around him, especially while Steve
was on stage. It was inspiring. He also had time for everyone, which was
equally so.

I like to think of him as evangelist in chief. I mean, the guy checks in
wherever he is on Foursquare and from what I understand is really kind to
anyone that says hello.

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rbanffy
I for one would love to see Woz back to Apple as an über-advisor. He is half
of the company's soul and is the only person who can gather as much respect
(and authority to say no) as Jobs could. He also seems to get Apple better
than most. I agree completely with his objections on the technical aspects of
the 4S presentation - people don't want to know of antenna switching. Just say
"you can hold it anyway you want and it won't lose reception". People don't
want to know about dual cores - just say it's a much faster processor that
enables things that were considered previously impossible and then introduce
Siri.

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freedompeace
I agree whole heartedly with the conclusion of the article, that " _the things
that matter to engineers aren't the things that matter to real human beings._
"

I also noticed immediately at the end of the keynote that there wasn't an
explicit mention of "corrected reception" in the new iPhone (there was mention
of a new antennae design, but it wasn't explicit and not emphasised). I would
have thought that this was an important reason, and perhaps why they opted for
the new antennae design that they did - because of the poor reception issues
with the "original" iPhone 4.

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michaelpinto
I don't fear for Apple — I fear for the entire industry. Tonight I got my new
toy and of course I wasted a few hours exploring every inch of the iPhone 4s.
But the more I did it, the more empty I found myself feeling. It hit me hard
that I didn't give a damn about the thing and I was still upset about Jobs.
It's the very notion that there will never be another "and just one more
thing".

Walking home tonight I kept rattling over the many impersonal things he
touched and made human. Even if Jobs had just done the Apple II that would
would have been enough for one lifetime, yet he did it again and again. And
I'm ten years younger than Jobs so my entire concept of technology was shaped
by him and now I'm feeling like an orphan. And while he's not eloquent that's
what our friend Woz is really saying...

~~~
mladenkovacevic
I would take that even a step further... The entire consumerist culture is
under threat (at least in this hemisphere). Think of how excited you are when
you get any new toy (car, brand new jacket, tv, shoes..) and all the euphoria
and emotional investment involved in the point and time of purchase. Then you
take it home, play with it for a little while and while you realize that this
"thing" doesn't completely and fully satisfy you, the excitement fizzles out
over time and you go looking for the next high. Apple is like the Vatican of
consumerism so they are able to sustain this emotional euphoria in their
customers for much much longer than most brands.

I say good riddance.. The time we spend obsessing over a phone, computer, car,
right type of clothing would be much better spent meeting and connecting with
new people, solving problems, reflecting on life and teaching younger people.

I'm starting to sound like a Yogi on an acid trip so I'll end there.

~~~
VladRussian
+1 you as it is true, yet only half of it. This consumerist culture fueled
technology development so it become possible for the millions of people also
to get excited by, for example, seeing Hubble photos and discussing the
screwdup of CERN/Gran Sasso scientists across the world - the details of SR
and GR application in this case became normal topic of discussion in wide
audiences.

>Apple is like the Vatican of consumerism so they are able to sustain this
emotional euphoria in their customers for much much longer than most brands.

the rest of industry is following them thus driving technology development,
wide accessibility and price decrease. It isn't Apple who is to be blamed that
human race can move forward only through consumption economy. (Btw, before you
object (if) - i come from the country that made huge attempt to move forward
bypassing the consumerism and we all know the results of the experiment
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_Union> . "mladenkovacevic" - if you
aren't too young, it sounds like you may be familiar first hand with how it
looks like when country tries to bypass the consumerism driver)

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mladenkovacevic
hello Comrade lol. Yes I am indeed just old enough to remember the old ways.
Although, perhaps ours wasn't so much a failed experiment as the Soviet one
was.

Up until the 1980s when the western countries imposed strict trading
restrictions with Yugoslavia (despite our friendly stance towards both the
West and the East) my country was an economic power in the region. Wikipedia
informs me that our annual GDP growth averaged 6.1 percent, health care was
free, literacy was 91 percent, and life expectancy was 72 years.

We were simply broken as a casualty of the US effort to overthrow various
communist governments in Eastern Europe. It was by no means an organic/natural
effect of our socialism being dysfunctional.

~~~
VladRussian
>It was by no means an organic/natural effect of our socialism being
dysfunctional.

as in some humor underground song of 70's (written by a musician who traveled
internationally with official Soviet Union folk choir) "you can find
everything in Yugoslavia - condoms, TVs, clothes, watches - everything, except
f&cking socialism " :)

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gallerytungsten
Apple's best move would probably be to immediately bring back Woz in a more
hands-on role.

~~~
jedberg
Unless that role were an engineering role, I don't think he'd be interested.

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johnx123-up
Interview suggests that he's equally capable on marketing too.

~~~
jedberg
I'm sure he's quite capable, since he is a generally smart dude, but just the
same, everything I've ever read makes me think he only likes building things.

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thematt
Somewhat off-topic, but in order for Woz to get an iPhone he has to stand in
line at an Apple store? Am I understanding that right...or is it just for
publicity sake? I would've thought he would have enough connections inside to
get a phone long before launch day and certainly not through a retail store.

~~~
baddox
As he said himself, he can get an iPhone mailed to his house if he wants one.
He said he just likes the experience of waiting in line.

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daimyoyo
This is what scares me. Apple is going to become a "good enough" company. The
fact is that no one at Apple is going to have both the vision to see what
matters, and the clout within the company to actually affect change. As Woz
said, the product line for the near future will be fine, but the true test
will come when they have to come up with what's next.

~~~
technoslut
Apple will be fine for the next decade. There are a few areas where Apple can
enter where disruption is easy and desperately needed such as vehicle
entertainment systems and televisions.

As for what's next, I think it's wearable computing. It's still a long way off
but it has clearly entered their thoughts with the iPod nano and patents that
have surfaced over the past few years.

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php2011
the person asking the questions wasn't a reporter. just a member of the public
asking him some questions. cut her some slack!

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syncopate
How come Pixar was still able to make great movies after Steve left?

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MatthewPhillips
Seen Cars? Up?

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sigzero
Cars and UP were far from failures.

~~~
ootachi
Cars 2 was a Pixar failure, though.

~~~
runako
I respect your decision to not have kids, but in this case that is clouding
your judgement.

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dr_
Personally I use the best products available to me at any given time. Today
they are Apples products, but I'm well aware that tomorrow they may not be.
And this could have been the case irrespective of Jobs passing. Graham Bell
died. Edison died. But innovation never died. As Tim OReilly said, there will
continue to be revolutions, and revolutionaries.

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kaffeinecoma
Anyone else find it odd that _Steve Wozniak_ has to stand in line to get the
latest device from Apple? Is it just that he enjoys the meet & greet, or is he
not enough of a living legend for Apple to ship him a complimentary one for
free?

~~~
weaksauce
He does it because he doesn't like the preferential treatment. He loves the
whole atmosphere of waiting in line and being a part of the buzz. I think he
values fair more than anything; he gave away a sizable part of his money to
the early employees because it wasn't fair for him to have so much while they
worked hard and got so little.

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rottendoubt
Ya, I read about that and I really, really, really respect him for that.

kaffeinecoma - Google "The Woz Plan" for more.

~~~
weaksauce
Yeah that was very impressive too but I was actually more impressed with was
the fact that he gave the first 5 employees a million dollars worth of his
stock.

see the second to last question in the founders at work article:

<http://www.foundersatwork.com/steve-wozniak.html>

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rottendoubt
Just read through the whole interview. Wow. Had no idea he did all that. That
is just amazing.

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olliesaunders
Video doesn't work for me :(

