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Wozniak: “Actually, the movie was largely a lie about me”

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Re: Wozniak: “Actually, the movie was largely a lie about me”

#21
post #6

> When I first met Jobs, I had EVERY Dylan album. I was a hardcore fan. I had bootlegs too. Jobs knew a few popular Dylan songs and related to the phrase "when you ain't got nothin' you got nothing to lose." I showed Jobs all my liner notes and lyrics and took him to record stores near San Jose State and Berkeley to buy Dylan bootlegs. I showed him brochures full of Dylan quotes and articles and photos. I brought Job…

Woz did things everyone knows they can't do, so he's marginalized as a freak. Jobs did things everyone thinks they can do, so he's worshipped as a god. I'm half-kidding. Half not.

To me they are the quintessential yin-yang startup duo.

You don't have to pick a favorite. You don't need to figure out which one pulled more weight. It seems likely that if you removed one, the other would have failed.

edit: chill out folks, I don't mean either guy would have been a penniless itinerant without the other. I'm saying they were much more successful together than apart. I know it's popular here to hate on the charismatic businessperson and praise the technical genius, but the best companies will have both.

Re: Wozniak: “Actually, the movie was largely a lie about me”

#24
post #17

I want a movie about bill gates

I'd recommend http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pirates_of_Silicon_Valley if you haven't seen it already. It covers both Jobs and Gates in the period where both Apple and Microsoft began (though I'd argue that it's a little more focused on Jobs).

Re: Wozniak: “Actually, the movie was largely a lie about me”

#25
post #2

For those who haven't yet, I'd highly recommend reading "Steve Jobs", the biography by Isaacson. It portrays pretty much all of these events like Woz describes them, and is a very complete portrait of Jobs. Woz' status at HP as referenced isn't really covered, but his actions during the Apple I and II launches are pretty complete. EDIT: I'd like to point out that this book covers everything, up to Jobs death, and is…

I'd very much recommend you to listen to a certain episode of Hypercritical (i believe) with John Saracusa, in which he slams the book heavily. I still very much like the book, but as with everything, it's nice to get another experts view on the topic.

Re: Wozniak: “Actually, the movie was largely a lie about me”

#27
post #2

For those who haven't yet, I'd highly recommend reading "Steve Jobs", the biography by Isaacson. It portrays pretty much all of these events like Woz describes them, and is a very complete portrait of Jobs. Woz' status at HP as referenced isn't really covered, but his actions during the Apple I and II launches are pretty complete. EDIT: I'd like to point out that this book covers everything, up to Jobs death, and is…

Agreed. I saw a few articles about it and purchased it. I wasn't disappointed. It paints a very complete picture of Jobs. I loved the sections on his relationship with Gates.

Re: Wozniak: “Actually, the movie was largely a lie about me”

#28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Woz did things everyone knows they can't do, so he's marginalized as a freak. Jobs did things everyone thinks they can do, so he's worshipped as a god. I'm half-kidding. Half not.

To me they are the quintessential yin-yang startup duo. You don't have to pick a favorite. You don't need to figure out which one pulled more weight. It seems likely that if you removed one, the other would have failed. edit: chill out folks, I don't mean either guy would have been a penniless itinerant without the other. I'm saying they were much more successful together than apart. I know it's popular here to hate…

You should read or reread Woz's comment from OP. He was already quite successful, and widely respected. He may not have ended up being a billionaire without Jobs, but he wouldn't have been a failure.

Jobs on the other hand struggled in nearly every aspect of his life, he couldn't stick with college, he got a job at Atari based on someone else's work, he was such a giant douche to everyone there that they wanted to fire him, he lied to the few friends he had and manipulated them to get money, he knocked someone up and then pretended that his daughter didn't exist, the list goes on.

Steve Wozniak would have had a great life either way. Jobs would probably have died homeless and friendless if Apple never existed.

Jobs proved his talents in many ways as the CEO of Apple, but if it weren't for Wozniak, Jobs likely would have never had a chance to show us what he could do.

Re: Wozniak: “Actually, the movie was largely a lie about me”

#29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And I recommend the reading of iWoz It goes in much deeper detail in some Apple aspects (until the Apple II, of course) but it's a nicer book in general (I mean, less rushed) But they are both great reads.

I thought iWoz was bittersweet, even cautionary. Here's this brilliant guy doing unbelievable work, then after he makes it he's just spending his time figuring out what to do with the money ... and he designs a new remote so he can watch TV better.

That is the journey of a maker. You make things. Some of them are wildly successful, others less so, but you still make them. You don't do it for the commercial success, you do it for the art, for the job well done, and because you wouldn't do anything else.
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