Steve Wozniak

Steve Wozniak is an American computer scientist best known worldwide for being one of the founders of Apple and for being the inventor of the Apple II computer. Wozniak is also a prominent philanthropist who founded the Electronic Frontier Foundation and was the founding sponsor of the Tech Museum, Silicon Valley Ballet, and Children’s Discovery Museum in San Jose.

Steve Wozniak Biography

Steve Wozniak was born in San Jose, California , on August 11, 1950. The son of a Lockheed Martin engineer, Stephen Gary Wozniak, he had always been fascinated with electronics basically since he was a child. Although he was never an outstanding student in the traditional sense, Wozniak had an innate aptitude for building electronic gadgets .

During his brief stint at the University of California at Berkeley, Steve Wozniak met Steve Jobs , who was still in high school, through a mutual friend. The two later teamed up to form Apple Computer on April 1, 1976, prompting Wozniak to quit his job at Hewlett-Packard.

Working from a family garage, he and Jobs attempted to produce an easy-to-use alternative to the computers that were being introduced by International Business Machines at the time, in this way, Wozniak invented products, and Jobs handled the marketing .

In February 1981, Wozniak was injured when the private plane he was piloting crashed while taking off from Santa Cruz Sky Park. His painful and long recovery spanned two years, as he suffered a variety of injuries and amnesia .

Apple co-founder

Working together with his friend Steve Jobs, Wozniak invented the Apple I computer .  Shortly after the founding of Apple, Wozniak created the Apple II. With Wozniak’s knowledge of electronics and Jobs’s marketing skills , the two were well prepared to do business together. Wozniak went on to conceive of the Apple II as part of the company’s personal computer series, and in 1983.

The pair of friends founded Apple Computer in 1976 with Ronald Wayne , launching some of the first personal computers on the market. Wozniak also personally developed the next model, the Apple II, which established the brand as an important part of micro-computing . Wozniak ended his employment with Apple in 1985.

Life after Apple

On February 7, 1981, after the accident that caused Steve Wozniak to temporarily lose his memory, his entire life took a tremendous turn. After the accident, Wozniak left Apple and went back to college to finish his bachelor’s degrees in electrical engineering and computer science . He also got married and founded the corporation ” UNUSON ” (Join us in song) and organized two rock festivals.

The Apple company began to lose money so Wozniak returned to work for Apple for a brief period between 1983 and 1985. Currently, he is the lead scientist at Fusion-io and is an author who became known with the launch of his New York Times autobiography iWoz : From Computer Geek to Cult Icon.

Steve Wozniak inventions

Among his main inventions we can mention:

• At age 13 he made a transistor calculator .
• He designed the devices that were sold like hotcakes in the 70s, the calculators .
• He created the Apple I , a device that was born when personal computers were not at all similar to what we know today because the Apple I only required a keyboard and a television to work.
• The Apple II , which had sound , a color screen, and was ready to go. It was an easy-to-use computer and it became the most popular computer until IBM took the lead from it with the launch of the inexpensive PC.

Fortune

American computer engineer and programmer, Stephen Gary “Woz” Wozniak, has an estimated net worth of $ 100 million.

Acknowledgments

Steve Wozniak was awarded the National Medal of Technology by President of the United States in 1985, which is the highest honor that can be bestowed to the main innovators in the United States . In 2000, he was inducted into the Inventors Hall of Fame and awarded the prestigious Heinz Award for Technology , Economics and Employment for “designing the first personal computer and redirecting his lifelong passion for mathematics and electronics to light the fire for education in elementary school students and their teachers «.

Curiosities

Some curiosities about Steve Wozniak are mentioned below:

• Besides being a scientist, he is a philanthropist , and dedicates his time to charity.
• He suffered an accident in 1981 that caused serious injuries and amnesia , and managed to recover two years later.
• He has been on Nintendo’s record list numerous times for playing Tetris , which he is a fan of.
• He participated in the reality show Dancing with the stars .
• He likes to make jokes and make people laugh.
• He was named Doctor Honoris Causa of Science by North Carolina State University due to his important contribution in the field of personal computers and Engineering from the University of Kettering , Michigan.
• He appeared in an episode of the series The Big Bang Theory .

Steve Wozniak Books

Some of his books are:

• IWoz: From computer genius to cult icon.
• The art of deception.
• Woz’s wonderful book.