As a treat, I picked up a copy of iWoz: Computer Geek to Cult Icon by Steve Wozniak (and Gina Smith). Steve Wozniak (“Woz”) was one of the founders of Apple Computer (the other being Steve Jobs). Anyhow, Woz is commonly seen as the engineering brains and Jobs the business/marketing visionary behind the personal computer revolution.

Woz is inspiring in a different way from Steve Jobs. He admits to being a shy introvert, spending time on his projects alone, and getting satisfaction from having a new idea and working hard on it just so you can see a cool thing all by yourself. Money and fame don’t even come into his equation.

Overall, the book is an easy read: I polished it off in a handful of evenings before bed. The writing style is simple, and friendly as if Woz is talking directly to you as a pal. There is only one really technical part (that went right over my head) where he describes the workings behind the Apple floppy drive.

It’s also funny; there’s a lot of ink devoted to Woz’s infamous pranks. He documents his “phone phreak” days with Steve Jobs, where they built blue boxes that could hijack the telephone system and allow a person to make free long distance phone calls. Another really entertaining one is where Woz builds a television jammer no larger than a pen. He used it in college to make televisions go haywire, and when people would approach the TV in order adjust it, he’d turn it off, making them think something about their body position was clearing up the reception. By doing this selectively, he could get several people huddled around a TV in strange poses, one leg pointed north or a finger on the screeen. Others would then tell them to hold that position so they could watch the show, resulting in an absurd theatre. But as an example of Woz’s shyness, he never revealed he was the one responsible, preferring to chuckle from a distance.

But the impetus of Apple Computer is the meat of the story. Woz states that he was the brains behind the Apple I, and pretty much built it himself. Steve Jobs’ role was to call into play his many personal connections, such as Ron Wayne who did a lot of the legal paperwork for starting a business, and negotiate the first big order from the Byte Shop. It’s obvious that although Woz had the enginerring brilliance to create the personal computer, he needed a lot of other people’s help, namely Steve Jobs, to turn it into a business.

Along the way Woz gives tidbits of life advice. To close, here are some that appear in his final chapter, “Rules to Live By”:

“Believe in yourself. Don’t waver.”

“Artists work best alone.”

“If you don’t enjoy working on stuff for yourself – with your own money and your own resources, after work if you have to – then you definitely shouldn’t be doing it!”

“It’s so rare to be able to see the future… but when you see it, you know it. If this ever happens to you, leap at the chance to get involved. Trust your instincts. It isn’t often that the future lets you in like that.”

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Posted In: Apple, Books

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