WOZ-TOWN AND THE "Z" BOY

Apple co-founder Steve “Woz” Wozniak is undisputedly one of the most inspirational – and hairy – men in the technology industry.
Inspirational, because his rare "in-it-for-the-discovery" approach to business is only matched by his unrelenting passion for creating the seemingly un-creatable.
Hairy, because of his whopping great beard.
The Daily Geek was lucky enough to be in the presence of the Wonderful Wizard of Woz today, during a 90-minute speech, in which he detailed how he went from teenage radio ham, to one of the most important people in recent modern history. It was as much personal manifesto as the story of his – and Apple’s – success.
You see, the beauty of “the other Steve” – as he’s unfairly known – is that he still eschews the same values, passion and drive as the Steve Wozniak who single-handedly built the Apple I, the same Steve who snuck into the Stanford Linear Accelerator Centre to learn about computers at a time when they were the preserve of businesses and the military, the Steve who told his dad “well, if owning a computer will cost as much as a house, I’ll live in an apartment”. Millions in the bank and a place in history don’t seem to have changed him from the Steve who met his namesake Jobs on a sidewalk one fateful day in the 70s.
Even before he was lucky enough to amass enough wealth to buy at least three iPhones with 18-month O2 contracts, money wasn’t something that drove Woz's world – unlike his more commercially savvy partner. "I was into making the stuff," he explained. "Steve (jobs) kept me away from the buyers!". In the 80s, on the launch of the Apple IPO – which would become the biggest US float since Ford’s – Steve famously hatched The Woz Plan, in which he sold his executive shares (2000 for $5 – bargain!) to the ordinary workers at Apple who, otherwise, would have been unable to enjoy a share in their company and the houses it bought them.
Wozniak comes across as a true child of the Californian Hippie movement. Part modern-day socialist. Part practical philanthropist. Regardless - he's 100% inventor. He’s an engineering genius. It’s what continues to drive him to this day (he’s currently getting all excited about the possibility of photonics while remaining unconvinced by its commercial viability: “I don’t know if it will come to anything or if it will be used for anything - I just want to see what it can do.”)
After the show, The Daily Geek caught up with Woz and got chatting about his trip to the UK. After three weeks in Britain, he says he's missing home, especially his dogs – X, Y and Z. “They’re as much a part of the family as my kids. I love them, they sleep in the same bed as me. They’re our family.” Having gifted members of his family with X and Y, it’s Z he can’t wait to see. “In fact, said Woz, “I’m thinking of calling my next child Z. Or maye even Z-O. , so his name is a palindrome – ZOWOZ. I think that would be cool.”
Proof that engineers are best kept focused on nodes, and wires, and chips, not product naming. Christ knows what he’d have called the iMAC. Even legends have their limits.