News, info, and opinion by Mac users, for Mac users.

November 20, 2006

people

Ten things to love about Woz

Posted Nov. 20, ’06, 6:31 AM PT by Derik DeLong
Category | Apple » People

Steve Wozniak If you were paying attention, you read my post about Woz’s appearance at the Commonwealth Club. If you were smart and in the area, you went. In case any of my preconditions were not true, you can get a flavor of the event by reading Guy’s thoughts on the legend.

  1. He knows what he is; he knows what he’s not; and he’s comfortable with both. (These are very rare qualities in Silicon Valley.)
  2. His design theory is, “Create what you want to use.”
  3. He is unwaveringly loyal to Apple.
  4. He is unwaveringly complimentary about HP.
  5. He’s proof that it can be advantageous to grow up in a less-than-rich family.
  6. He went back to school long after getting a degree was necessary for him to get ahead in the world.
  7. He taught fifth graders instead of becoming a venture capitalist. (Although these jobs are remarkably similar—it’s just that venture capitalists get paid millions of dollars, fly around in private jets, and expense greens fees.)
  8. He believes that your work/writing/code/design—whatever kind of output—is a personal reflection of your being and a window into your soul.
  9. His idea of a cool product is much more than “I’m creating a niche version of MySpace using APIs and will make money with AdSense.”
  10. He’s generous to a fault.
  11. He thinks that Macintosh’s small market share is proof that it’s an elite computer.

How it turned into an eleven point list I do not know, but it has convinced me that at least once in my life I need to see him in person, or even perhaps meet him. The fourth item was a bit surprising to me, and I wish I know more. I like their printers (and I use their version of Unix on a nearly daily basis), but I wonder what Woz’s reasons are for liking the company.


2 Comments

Erik said:

I seem to remember Woz worked for HP, before taking on the Atari job together with Jobs.

That could have something to do with it, as he would have an inside view of HP's engineering mindet and values.

Of course, I may be wrong.

November 20, 2006 9:09 AM
Fubar said:

I just finished iWoz. He worked at HP because he felt it was an engineer's company. He left a fairly nice paying job (who even offered more money for him to stay) so he could work at HP.

November 20, 2006 11:04 AM

Leave a comment

 



Visit other IDG sites: