Stephen Gary Wozniak (; born August 11, 1950), also known by his nickname "Woz", is an American electronics engineer, computer programmer, philanthropist, and technology entrepreneur.
He graduated from Homestead High School in 1968, in Cupertino, California. The name on Wozniak's birth certificate is "Stephan Gary Wozniak", but his mother said that she intended it to be spelled "Stephen", which is what he uses.
Through their work at Apple in the 1970s and 1980s, he and Jobs are widely recognized as two prominent pioneers of the personal computer revolution. In 1975, Wozniak started developing the Apple I into the computer that launched Apple when he and Jobs first began marketing it the following year.
It was during this time that he dropped out of Berkeley and befriended Steve Jobs. Wozniak was introduced to Jobs by Fernandez, who attended Homestead High School with Jobs in 1971.
Jobs and Wozniak became friends when Jobs worked for the summer at HP, where Wozniak, too, was employed, working on a mainframe computer. Their first business partnership began later that year when Wozniak read an article titled “Secrets of the Little Blue Box” from the October 1971 issue of Esquire, and started to build his own “blue boxes” that enabled one to make long-distance phone calls at no cost.
Jobs later told his biographer that if it hadn't been for Wozniak's blue boxes, "there wouldn't have been an Apple." In 1973, Jobs was working for arcade game company Atari, Inc.
Through their work at Apple in the 1970s and 1980s, he and Jobs are widely recognized as two prominent pioneers of the personal computer revolution. In 1975, Wozniak started developing the Apple I into the computer that launched Apple when he and Jobs first began marketing it the following year.
While dismayed, he said that if Jobs had told him about it and had said he needed the money, Wozniak would have given it to him. In 1975, Wozniak began designing and developing the computer that would eventually make him famous, the Apple I.
In 1976, he co-founded Apple Inc.
Unlike other custom Homebrew designs, the Apple had an easy-to-achieve video capability that drew a crowd when it was unveiled. ===Apple formation and success=== By March 1, 1976, Wozniak completed the basic design of the Apple I computer.
To raise the money they needed to build the first batch of the circuit boards, Wozniak sold his HP scientific calculator while Jobs sold his Volkswagen van. On April 1, 1976, Jobs and Wozniak formed the Apple Computer Company (now called Apple Inc.) along with administrative supervisor Ronald Wayne, whose participation in the new venture was short-lived.
They sold their first 50 system boards to Terrell later that year. In November 1976, Jobs and Wozniak received substantial funding from a then-semi-retired Intel product marketing manager and engineer named Mike Markkula.
He primarily designed the Apple II, introduced in 1977, known as one of the first highly successful mass-produced microcomputers, while Jobs oversaw the development of its foam-molded plastic case and early Apple employee Rod Holt developed the switching power supply.
Jobs and Wozniak introduced the Apple II at the April 1977 West Coast Computer Faire.
Wozniak's first article about the Apple II was in Byte magazine in May 1977.
It became one of the first highly successful mass-produced personal computers in the world. Wozniak also designed the Disk II floppy disk drive, released in 1978 specifically for use with the Apple II series to replace the slower cassette tape storage. In 1980, Apple went public to instant and significant financial profitability, making Jobs and Wozniak both millionaires.
With software engineer Jef Raskin, Wozniak had a major influence over the initial development of the original Apple Macintosh concepts from 1979 to 1981, when Jobs took over the project following Wozniak's brief departure from the company due to a traumatic airplane accident.
Through their work at Apple in the 1970s and 1980s, he and Jobs are widely recognized as two prominent pioneers of the personal computer revolution. In 1975, Wozniak started developing the Apple I into the computer that launched Apple when he and Jobs first began marketing it the following year.
It became one of the first highly successful mass-produced personal computers in the world. Wozniak also designed the Disk II floppy disk drive, released in 1978 specifically for use with the Apple II series to replace the slower cassette tape storage. In 1980, Apple went public to instant and significant financial profitability, making Jobs and Wozniak both millionaires.
With software engineer Jef Raskin, Wozniak had a major influence over the initial development of the original Apple Macintosh concepts from 1979 to 1981, when Jobs took over the project following Wozniak's brief departure from the company due to a traumatic airplane accident.
In a 2013 interview, Wozniak said that in 1981, "Steve [Jobs] really took over the project when I had a plane crash and wasn't there." ===Plane crash and temporary leave from Apple=== On February 7, 1981, the Beechcraft Bonanza A36TC which Wozniak was piloting (and not qualified to operate crashed soon after takeoff from the
The Apple II's intended successor, the Apple III, released the same year, was a commercial failure and was discontinued in 1984.
After permanently leaving Apple in 1985, Wozniak founded CL 9 and created the first programmable universal remote, released in 1987.
He then pursued several other businesses and philanthropic ventures throughout his career, focusing largely on technology in K–12 schools. , Wozniak has remained an employee of Apple in a ceremonial capacity since stepping down in 1985.
After permanently leaving Apple in 1985, Wozniak founded CL 9 and created the first programmable universal remote, released in 1987.
In a 2013 interview, Wozniak said that in 1981, "Steve [Jobs] really took over the project when I had a plane crash and wasn't there." ===Plane crash and temporary leave from Apple=== On February 7, 1981, the Beechcraft Bonanza A36TC which Wozniak was piloting (and not qualified to operate crashed soon after takeoff from the
All text is taken from Wikipedia. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License .
Page generated on 2021-08-05