Filed under: Humor, Cult of Mac, The Woz
The many sides of Steve Wozniak
We all know this Woz quite well...
The prankster who still laughs at fart jokes and plays Segway Polo. The guy who admitted, in the email accompanying the above picture, which was taken backstage before his recent appearance on The Colbert Report by the friend of an acquaintance of mine: I suggested that one of us should do rabbit ears and Colbert declined so I did it. That part may make it less funny but it's true. I also left a sticker in the green room bathroom that is in OSHA style and colors with a picture of a butt with a poof coming out, and the words "Let's keep the air fresh." I hope it's still there.
But then there's the sensitive and impressively humble Woz. The Woz who responds to an insulting and juvenile question like this one, from Ask MetaFilter, with a disarming and brutally honest answer like this: "...I don't mind if people don't like me as long as it's for things I am. There's plenty to find there. I do try to remain the person I would have wanted to become, from when I was 10 and when I was 20. Even after something like Apple I managed to remain close to the same person, doing things I would have done had Apple never come about, like getting my degree and teaching and much more." [read the entire thing for proper context, it's short]
Steve Wozniak is a class act. 'Nuff said.
Thanks to phi for the Ask MeFi link.
The prankster who still laughs at fart jokes and plays Segway Polo. The guy who admitted, in the email accompanying the above picture, which was taken backstage before his recent appearance on The Colbert Report by the friend of an acquaintance of mine: I suggested that one of us should do rabbit ears and Colbert declined so I did it. That part may make it less funny but it's true. I also left a sticker in the green room bathroom that is in OSHA style and colors with a picture of a butt with a poof coming out, and the words "Let's keep the air fresh." I hope it's still there.
But then there's the sensitive and impressively humble Woz. The Woz who responds to an insulting and juvenile question like this one, from Ask MetaFilter, with a disarming and brutally honest answer like this: "...I don't mind if people don't like me as long as it's for things I am. There's plenty to find there. I do try to remain the person I would have wanted to become, from when I was 10 and when I was 20. Even after something like Apple I managed to remain close to the same person, doing things I would have done had Apple never come about, like getting my degree and teaching and much more." [read the entire thing for proper context, it's short]
Steve Wozniak is a class act. 'Nuff said.
Thanks to phi for the Ask MeFi link.
![TUAW [Cafepress]](http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.tuaw.com/media/tuaw-cafepress-promo.png)
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Z. D. Smith said 10:34AM on 10-06-2006
Insulting and juvenile? Gimme a break. I watched that interview and came away with the exact same impression: lousy conversationalist, and the same painful, awkward sense of humor that I see in many of the geek acquaintances by whom I have to avoid being buttonholed at parties, and forced to discuss Linux at great length. The fact that he registered and provided a rambling, clumsily written account of himself does not to me scream 'class act.' There are many computer scientists and engineers who have distinguished themselves as men and women of wit and class—as can be easily seen from the copious collections of hacker quotes that litter the internet. I fear that the Woz is not one of them.
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perspicuity said 10:44AM on 10-06-2006
"What's the appeal of Steve Wozniak?" is no less a valid question that "What's the appeal of Steve Jobs?" Most certainly not insulting or juvenile.
Colbert at the White House, now that was insulting and juvenile, and as the audience reaction showed, unfunny.
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John from Buffalo said 10:48AM on 10-06-2006
Woz is a fscking troll with nothing original to say. He's simply an Apple EX-employee that one could compair to a traveling side-show. Man, give a geek a LITTLE fame, and what does he do? Exploit it to personal gain (which I would do too), and basically glorify his lack-luster life. The guy is nothing more than a pompus ass, to be frank.
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Michel said 10:49AM on 10-06-2006
>"What's the appeal of Steve Wozniak?" is no less a valid question that "What's >the appeal of Steve Jobs?" Most certainly not insulting or juvenile.
it is childlish. it's a way to say "so what ? that guy is stupid, why do you like him, stupids ?'
the appeal ? he's just a nice person who made really good engineering works years ago.
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>Colbert at the White House, now that was insulting and juvenile, and as the >audience reaction showed, unfunny
but it was funny, insulting ? ho yeah, so much . Juvenile ? a LOT. I loved it.
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Laurie said 10:57AM on 10-06-2006
The insulting and juvenile part is "resembles a larger, mouth-breathing version of The 40 Year Old Virgin." Even you, perspicuity, would admit that resorting to personal insults regarding someone's physical appearance is juvenile, right? Oh wait... never mind. I forgot that's your style.
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Austin McChord said 10:56AM on 10-06-2006
Its hard to judge Woz from such a small clip. I one heard him speak at confrence for about 2 hours. He described his life and how he got into computers and met steve jobs and all the antics they pulled before starting apple. He was a compelling speaker. While he did sound like a bumbling fool on colbert, I think thats simply because he was trying to to be funny and so was colbert and they have very diffrent ideas of what humor is. Neither really knew what to do with each other.
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Laurie said 10:57AM on 10-06-2006
Michel - you're right. He's just a nice guy. And genuine. He doesn't try to be what he's not and he doesn't try to make himself appear more important than he really is. And he's charismatic in a way that is a complete 180 from the way Steve jobs is charismatic - and that suits him just fine. No, he may not be a polished public speaker or a great writer or an intellectually stimulating interview. But he's true to himself and makes no apologies for that. That impresses me and I applaud him for it.
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perspicuity said 11:03AM on 10-06-2006
"Resembles a larger, mouth-breathing version of The 40 Year Old Virgin."
Is that a question?
It's probably not "insulting and juvenile" but it most definitely isn't a question.
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TJ said 11:20AM on 10-06-2006
Agree completely with the Woz haters out there. After seeing the Colbert interview, I was grateful that Colbert has the finesse to keep the conversation from diving into disaster. Pranks are fine, but Woz is an immature man-child, the likes of whom I try to avoid at every opportunity.
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nyesqyre said 11:30AM on 10-06-2006
There have been several articles of late regarding Steve Wozniak. While I understand that he is the "man" in the land of Apple folklore, I am left to question whether he is at all relevant TODAY. Really, who cares what he has to say? He stepped away several decades ago and, apart from attending shareholder meetings on his Segway to calculate his millions, he has never looked back. Should we really report on his every movement?
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Jay said 12:11PM on 10-06-2006
So Woz isn't the polished public speaker or corporate CEO type like adorn the HP boardroom these days. He, to me, comes across as completely genuine and sincere rather than out to sell me something. He comes off a lot as a big kid at heart but I don't see that as a bad thing either.
Both he and Steve Jobs are passionate about what they believe in and even if I don't always agree I can't slight them that. Of the two though, Woz seems to be the one you can have a beer and a decent conversation with. I'd take him over most of the other high tech personalities, CEOs and politicians out there any day of the week as an example of how to look at life.
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Brady J. Frey said 12:03PM on 10-06-2006
"Colbert at the White House, now that was insulting and juvenile, and as the audience reaction showed, unfunny."
It was intelligient, it had balls, it was hilarious. It was 'unfunny' to an audience largely made up of both journalists and the very people he was criticizing. It was satire in a manner not seen in politics - bold faced and blatantly present. Ignore your political leanings, and take it for the challenge it was - and you'd be impressed as well. The arguement of juvenile is easy to say when most of us don't have the wit or guts to say it.
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stuart said 12:31PM on 10-06-2006
I find Woz entirely insufferable. I think his comment about being true to his ten year old self is revealing. Not being the same person we were at age ten is a good thing and leaving juvenile stickers in bathrooms isn't clever prankishness, its just rude. I thought his NPR interview was a bit more interesting than that on the Colbert Report, and I appreciate his historical contributions to the industry, but I'll happily recieve the day his press tour ends.
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perspicuity said 12:47PM on 10-06-2006
If you have seen video clips of other White House Correspondents Association dinners, you will see true hilarity, and the audience eating it up. Not this time. Colbert was just plain insufferable that night...balls yes, funny no.
And I otherwise like watching him...One doesn't have to agree politically with a comedian to enjoy their jokes. ;)
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Dan said 1:39PM on 10-06-2006
What's wrong with you people? How in the world are you in a position to judge what Woz does with is life, his speaking style, his performance on television? In short, who do you think you are?
I'm not a Woz fan - I know almost nothing about him, but I am astounded at how rude people can be when they forget that real live humans are reading and responding to what they write.
When Woz talks about being true to his 10-year-old self and his 20-year-old self, I'll bet he wants to retain some of the wonder and innocence of childhood that so many on TUAW have evidently lost.
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Blair said 2:27PM on 10-06-2006
Heard Woz on Tom Ashbrook's On Point on NPR last night. It really was a very good interview. I found the Colbert interview very difficult to watch. Much, as someone else said, like having those uncomfortable conversations with the geeks one works with. He had a lot of interesting things to say and behaved much more like an adult with social skills.
As far as Colbert at the White House... jesus perspicuity, you have to be kidding me. Either you're a republican and are in total denial, or you don't recognize one of the most heroic acts of frankness and bravery in this disgusting political age. The man went head to head with Bush, calling him and the press out for just about every despicable thing thats gone on in the past few years. Even the democratic "leaders" in congress aren't ballsy enough to do that.
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ultim8Fury said 3:53PM on 10-06-2006
I bought wozs book and read it. After that I came to the conclusion that I'd have kicked the crap out of him if we had gone to school together. The worst kind of geek.
All credit to his tech knowledge and the ideas he came up with 30 years ago but there is a reason engineers are kept in back rooms and not allowed near customers and Woz is the perfect example.
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Peter said 3:38PM on 10-06-2006
We go way back... Well, I did get to Rabbit Ears him on a Geek Cruise :-) He has time for the little guy, He gives you his full attention when you speak with him. He's a genuine hero alright...
http://homepage.mac.com/watling/.Pictures/Photo%20Album%20Pictures/2004-11-21%2023.34.56%20-0800/Image-DD5144B13C5711D9.jpg
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Laurie said 3:56PM on 10-06-2006
Dan - THANK YOU for getting it. I do think people (it's certainly not restricted to TUAW, that's for sure) tend to forget that the words they so carelessly choose to transmit over the, um, tubes, we call the internet are read by real live human beings! We (most of us) have feelings and we have flaws and we bleed when we are cut. NO ONE likes to be insulted or called names and it generally doesn't matter whether we know or like or respect the person slinging the arrows. It tends to hurt all the same. The relative anonymity of the internet makes people forget there behind every monitor and keyboard there is usually a human being. Remember, folks, it's not the keyboard you're hating on, it's a person. And I bet if he - or anyone you treat similarly - were standing right in front of you you'd reconsider your words and treat a fellow human being with a little more respect - for yourself and for them.
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stuart said 4:32PM on 10-06-2006
Peter, what is going on with Woz's shoes? They seem to be radiating purest light.
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