How Woz Gets Things Done • Hacker News Board

Re: How Woz Gets Things Done

#21

Post by access_denied » Sat, Apr 25, 2009, 2:48 PM UTC

davi wrote: post #10

wallflower wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Jessica Livingston posted her interview of Woz on the Founders at Work website. It's one of my favorite in the book because you really get a sense of the pure hacker/engineering genius Woz is. If you do not already own it, consider buying the book through edw519's link - it's an amazing trove. I bought my copy at Powell's Bookstore in Portland. http://www.foundersatwork.com/steve-wozniak.html

It's because I could never build anything, I just competed with myself to come up with ideas that nobody else would come up with. Avoided local maxima of the at-that-time-doable, while still making -- completing designs on paper = iterating faster. Iterate more times than competition on paper, never build anything, then when time comes to build, you can supersede competition. This approach may only work for perfectly…

This comment is a positive example of what I want to see here on HN. It's not just commenting or adding an association one had. It's developing the material further. He really said something. That's good.

Re: How Woz Gets Things Done

#22

Post by access_denied » Sat, Apr 25, 2009, 2:54 PM UTC

jasongullickson wrote: post #4

jcromartie wrote: post #2

> When we first started with Apple computers, it was my dream that everyone would learn to program, and that was how they'd use their computer. Aside from the GTD fluff, this is a great article about Woz :)

I still think this is a valid goal, and would love to explore ways to make it happen.

I learned coding because I read a book. The book was a novel about a young hacker who wanted to own his own "pineaplle" computer but was to poor to afford one. I had nothing to do with computers at that time, literature-geek, writing not math. But than this bok showed me how computing works and that I could do my own VR. This was a strong motivation for me, strong enough for me to learn small-c on a cp/m machine.

Re: How Woz Gets Things Done

#23

Post by access_denied » Sat, Apr 25, 2009, 2:56 PM UTC

coglethorpe wrote: post #16

"...every computer since the Apple I ... had a keyboard..." One can now change it. "Every phone since the iPhone didn't have a keyboard" :-)

THis is the kind of joke I could tolerate around HN, because it is not only a (lame) joke but also makes a point about HUI.