by , 10:00 AM EDT, June 5th, 2003
The Baltimore Sun has published an outstanding, and exclusive, interview with Steve Wozniak, cofounder of Apple. The interview was conducted by David Zeiler as part of his weekly Mac column for the Sun called The Mac Experience. The interview took place in Baltimore after Mr. Wozniak attended the 25th anniversary of the Maryland Apple Corps. In the interview, the Woz discusses Steve Jobs, the beginnings of Apple, the movie The Pirates of Silicon Valley, Apple today, and other related issues. From the interview:
What was Jobs like? Was he like how he was portrayed in "Pirates of Silicon Valley"?
He was very much like he was portrayed there. He was sort of a free-floating hippie who could go a lot of different ways. He ate a lot of nuts -- and walked around barefoot or in sandals. He could get a job at Atari as a technician-engineer who could take designs and finish them. And then he'd go out for a few months and work on spreads in Oregon, or go over to India, bathe in the Ganges River. Then he'd come back.I was very much the opposite -- just real stable. A settled, middle-type person, feet on the ground, have a normal life and a family and a home.
Has he changed much over the years?
No. Those values are very much unchanged. But his head was always looking toward business. Always. Even in those days. The questions he would ask: "With this design, could you ever put a disk drive on it?" "Could you ever have multiple users on it, sharing it?"It's funny that, way back in time, these little questions he was asking, they're things that he keeps making sure Apple does to this day.
There is a lot more in the full interview about many different issues, and we recommend it as an outstanding read. There will also be a follow-up column that includes the rest of the interview at a later date.
Steve Wozniak is a fascinating man who is generous with his time. This interview is a reflection of that, and we appreciate getting the inside perspective on the issues he talked about.