There's only one Woz, but we can all learn from him

Post by tbossanova » Wed, Jan 28, 2026, 10:44 AM UTC

p00dles wrote: post #34

Aloha wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you're an engineer, you should admire Woz, if you're a product manager or marketeer, Jobs. Jobs was a brilliant product manager and marketeer - every bit as brilliant as Woz is an engineer. The truth is, the sharpest engineers struggle to make a marketable consumer product - because they make it for themselves, and while thats quite laudable, however it's generally a tiny market compared to one targeted at normal…

They were both brilliant, but from everything that I've read, Jobs was an ass****, and Woz was the opposite, and that is a huge, huge difference. The mythologizing of Jobs is the canonical example of people condoning terrible behavior because they think that a person is smart/valuable/talented/etc. To me this is completely backwards and sets a terrible precedent - that you can act however you want if you get results…

Post by rsanek » Wed, Jan 28, 2026, 11:04 AM UTC

appplication wrote: post #36

bigstrat2003 wrote: post #2

Woz is by far the person in computing history for whom I have the most respect. Dude is an absolute legend , and from everything I have heard is humble and kind on top of his crazy skills. If I could get to the point where I had even 10% of his skill and generosity of spirit, I would consider myself to have done pretty well.

I was behind Woz in Heathrow security a few years back. I was taken aback he’d just be in the regular airport security line given he’s probably worth 1B+. I asked him if he was who I thought he was (he was wearing a face mask, but it was printed with a picture of his own face on it so I wasn’t sure). He said yes and asked if I wanted to take a selfie. Very humble dude.

Post by Tor3 » Wed, Jan 28, 2026, 11:14 AM UTC

OhMeadhbh wrote: post #21

It's kinda funny... In '89 a friend and I were talking about starting a startup like the two Steve's (we didn't know about Ron Wayne back then.) We both knew exactly what Woz did, but were a bit sketchy on Jobs role in the early days. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying Jobs was a layabout, only that the strengths he brought to the table were more abstract. So I would also say... the kinds of things we learn from Woz…

Post by varjag » Wed, Jan 28, 2026, 11:16 AM UTC

bko wrote: post #42

ares623 wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Everyone chooses the wrong Steve to worship.

Worshiping Woz is cool, but like the article says, there's only one Woz. And chances are you're nothing like Woz or Jobs. But Ballmer? That's someone I can look to emulate. https://medium.com/packt-hub/how-to-be-like-steve-ballmer-cf...

Post by steve1977 » Wed, Jan 28, 2026, 11:24 AM UTC

high_na_euv wrote: post #26

nekooooo wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

modern engineering is launching an electron to-do list app that uses 2gb of ram.

Which, at least works relibly across all platforms and devices unlike desktop frameworks? People wouldnt use electron is they had good alternative