iWoz

by Steve Wozniak

  transistor circuit See transistor.

  vacuum tube Also known as an “electron tube,” a vacuum tube was once commonly used to amplify electronic signals. It is now mostly obsolete, having been replaced in electronics by the transistor. See transistor.

  Acknowledgments

  First, I must thank my parents for helping me find my own values and for assisting my education.

  This book could not have happened without believers in the publishing industry. John Brockman did a splendid job in finding our publisher, W. W. Norton. We lucked out to get the legendary nonfiction editor Angela von der Lippe on this book. Her true interest was part of what I needed to get this project done. Countless others had important roles as well.

  More thanks than I can ever give should go to Gina Smith, who had the drive to create this book and who met with me on countless occasions to put it all together. Just having a schedule and a purpose and prodding made all the difference. We would get together and speak stories into recorders, and go over and over the paragraphs to get the right sound. Thanks also to Michele Earl for a lucky and unusual encounter that led to my meeting Gina.

  I have to thank those responsible for my successes in life. To Miss Skrak for seeing so much in me. To Mr. McCollum for finding so much valuable education beyond the school he worked for. To Steve Jobs for wanting to do Great and Big things. To Randy Wiggington, Chris Espinoza, Dan Sokol, Bill Fernandez, and the Homebrew Computer Club members for the whole appreciation of a

  computer for people. To all my HP friends, including Stan Mintz and Peter Dickinson, for a great environment in which an engineer could develop. Most of all, thanks to Allen Baum, who was involved in some way in so many of the big steps in my computer life. And for his parents who appreciated jokes and humor and had such good values in life. My memory of them still brings tears.

  I must thank my first wife, Alice, without whom Apple would never have happened for me; Candi, my second wife, for the most wonderful creations of Jesse, Sara, and Gary; and my third wife, Suzanne, for Hard Rock Cafes and bungee jumping and for being so wonderful and decent.

  Friends who made this possible for me, digging up needed photos and reminding me of stories, included Laura and Dan and Alex. Sharon was the most loyal in all cases, always looking out for me and making sure needed things got done.

  • o •

  Gina thanks her friend Michele Earl for introducing her to Steve at a rock concert. Within a week of our meeting, the iWoz book proposal was in to our phenomenal agent, John Brockman.

  Gina thanks the exceptional team at Norton, including editor Angela von der Lippe, her assistant, Lydia Fitzpatrick, and all the others who helped along the way. Thanks also to Keith Blate and David Street, Steve Wozniak fans and editors who spent much time reading the earliest drafts of this book.

  Gina also wants to thank her wildly supportive family and friends, without whom this book could not have been completed: Tops on the list are her ever-patient husband, Henry, and their small son, Eric. Special thanks go to her beautiful and intrepid late mother, Emilia Sladjana Djuran Ferguson, for teaching her that, in America, it always pays not to be afraid to talk to the big shots! And to her father, David A. Malby of Riverdale, New York, Gina owes the highest thanks for his support, reading and writing suggestions, and encouragement through the years. Thanks

  also to Gina’s half-sister, Isabella, her husband, Roger, and Gina’s much-loved nieces, Victoria and Alexandra. Thanks also to Maria Lopez and Gina’s in-laws Lisa and Henry Schaefer for their babysitting support during this enormous project. And finally, Gina is forever grateful to those who have stood beside her the longest: Sister Laura Saucedo and Brother Keith Prewitt. Love and peace to you all.

  • o •

  Steve and Gina both thank the two restaurants they dominated weekly while doing fifty-six two-hour interviews. The first half of the book was completed at Pearl’s, in the West Portal District of San Francisco. The second was completed at The Hick’ry Pit in Campbell, California, where we especially thank our waitress Racquel and her boss, Brian, for bending the rules for us every now and then.

  • o •

  Thank you, readers. We hope you enjoy Steve’s adventure as much as he enjoyed telling it and Gina enjoyed hearing it!

  Pictures

  People used to go to Caltech games just to see my dad play. Here he is in uniform. (Photograph courtesy of Margaret Wozniak)

  Here’s my mom and dad’s wedding picture. (Photograph courtesy of Margaret Wozniak)

  They tell me I was reading at three.

  (Photograph courtesy of Margaret Wozniak)

  My dad and the three of us siblings. From left: me, Mark, and Leslie. (Photograph courtesy of Margaret Wozniak)

  Here I am at eleven, in Little League. (Photograph courtesy of Margaret Wozniak)

  At eleven, I was one of the youngest ham radio operators in the world. But I got bored. No one my age to talk to! (Photograph courtesy of Margaret Wozniak)

  Here I am at thirteen showing off my science-fair-winning Adder/Subtractor. (Photograph courtesy of Margaret Wozniak)

  Here I am at thirteen in 1963, graduating from junior high. (Photograph courtesy of Margaret Wozniak)

  Here’s Allen Baum and me (left) showing off our “Brazilian Best Wishes” banner, to shake things up at our old high school—then Steve Jobs’. Allen and I had graduated four years earlier. (Photograph courtesy of Margaret Wozniak)

  Young Steve Jobs and me in 1974, with the “Blue Box” I designed. (Photograph courtesy of Margaret Wozniak)

  In 1978, Apple got a real office! Here I am testing some new hardware. (Photograph courtesy of Dan Sokol)

  Oh, how times have changed! Apple’s headquarters at 1 Infinite Loop in Cupertino are

  pictured here. (Photograph courtesy of Wikipedia)

  My friend Dan Sokol gave me this framed Apple I circuit board as a thirtieth birthday gift. It was displayed in the Apple lobby for years. (Photograph courtesy of Dan Sokol)

  Before we had the volume to pay for plastic cases, a lot of our customers would cover the Apple I board with a wooden case, often made of Koa wood. (Photograph courtesy of Wikipedia)

  The Apple II—my creation—is the computer that changed the world. So they tell me. (Photograph courtesy of Wikipedia)

  The Apple III was the computer that was designed by committee. Apple pushed it like crazy, but the majority of people still wanted the Apple II. (Photograph courtesy of Wikipedia)

  U.S. President Ronald Reagan awarded Steve and me the U.S. Technology Medal in 1985. (Photograph courtesy of The White House)

  Here I am the day we opened up the US Festival in 1983. It lost money but I enjoyed every minute of it. (Photograph courtesy of Dan Sokol)

  Here I am with my second wife, Candi, and then Van Halen star David Lee Roth. We were at the party before one of Van Halen’s US Festival appearances. (Photograph courtesy of Dan Sokol)

  Singer Emmylou Harris is a longtime friend of mine. She sang at my wedding and played at my US Festival. (Photograph courtesy of Dan Sokol)

  Here ! am with my second wife, Candi. She is the mother of my three children. (Photograph courtesy of Dan Sokol)

  Steve Jobs and me sharing a laugh at Macworld 2005. (Photograph courtesy of Alan Luckow)

  Here I am with one of my Segways. I ride one all the time. It’s a great personal transportation device invented by Dean Kamen. (Photograph courtesy of Dan Sokol)

  Here I am getting ready to work with Gina in 2006. (Photograph courtesy of Dan Sokol)

 

 

 
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