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Nice Guy Finishes First
How Woz built a better computer and better life
by Arthur Greenwald
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 Let's face it, the birth of Apple Computer is almost too good to be true. Two guys in a garage build an insanely great gadget that launches a multi-billion dollar industry. It's the every-kid-can-be-President stuff of American legend.
But the story's even more magical when you meet Steve Wozniak, the guy who designed and built the Apple I and II. Woz was practically born to invent the personal computer. At 13, this son and pupil of an electrical engineer won first prize in a science fair with his transistor-based calculator. His boyhoood dream? To own his own computer. But computers were impossibly expensive, so young Steve just designed them on paper.
When he partnered with his best friend Steve Jobs in Silicon Valley in 1976, Woz was the rightest guy in the rightest place at the rightest time.
After Apple went public and his millions rolled in, Wozniak did a very un-legendly thing: he walked away. Instead of chasing more wealth, he raised a family, bankrolled a rock festival, went back to college, and became a teacher. In cooperation with local schools, he provides Apple Powerbooks, printers and email accounts to select groups of elementary and middle school kids.
Though long gone from headquarters, Woz remains a loyal Apple employee, serving as chief fan and critic of the Macintosh. Earlier this year, Jobs boasted that his new blue Macintosh G3s could hold three internal hard drives and over 100 gigabytes. Wozniak bought one, tried it, and phoned the incredulous Jobs with the bad news: they didn't fit. The G3 case was instantly re-designed.
Check out the WozCam. Chances are you'll see Steve playing with new gadgets and offering advice to fellow computer users -- doing for free the things that once made him millions. With his third wife, lawyer Suzanne Mulkern, their combined six children and numerous dogs, Wozniak is preparing to once again re-invent his life.
What would you do if you fulfilled your ambitions and had all the money you needed? I'm not sure how I'd answer but I know this: If it can't happen to me, it couldn't happen to a nicer guy than Woz.
Next page | Electric Inspirations
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Meet Steve Wozniak -- a.k.a "Woz" -- the creator and designer of Apple I and II.
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Steve Wozniak
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