Thursday, 10 January 2013

Steve Woznaik Biography


Synopsis
Steve Wozniak was born in San Jose, California, on August 11, 1950. In partnership with his friend Steve Jobs, Wozniak invented the Apple I computer. The pair founded Apple Computers in 1976 with Ronald Wayne, releasing some of the first personal computers on the market. Wozniak also personally developed the next model, Apple II, which established Apple as a major player in micro-computing.
Founding Apple Computer
The son of an engineer at Lockheed Martin, Stephen Gary Wozniak, born on August 11, 1950, was fascinated by electronics at an early age. Although he was never a star student in the traditional sense, Wozniak had an aptitude for building working electronics from scratch.
During his brief stint at the University of California at Berkeley, Steve Wozniak met Steve Jobs through a mutual friend. The two paired up to form Apple Computer on April 1, 1976, prompting Wozniak to quit his job at Hewlett-Packard.
Working out of a family garage, he and Jobs attempted to produce a user-friendly alternative to the computers that were being introduced by International Business Machines at that time. Wozniak worked on the invention of products and Jobs was responsible for marketing.
Not long after Apple was founded, Wozniak created the Apple I, a so-called "Homebrew" design built largely in Jobs's bedroom and garage. With Wozniak's knowledge of electronics and Jobs's marketing skills, the two were well-suited to do business together. Wozniak went on to conceive the Apple II as part of the company's personal-computer series, and by 1983, Apple had a stock value of $985 million.
Wozniak ended his employment with Apple in 1987.
Personal Life
In February of 1981, Wozniak was injured when the private plane he was piloting crashed while taking off from the Santa Cruz Sky Park. His painstaking recovery lasted two years, as he suffered from a variety of injuries and amnesia.
Not one to flaunt his personal life, Wozniak is married to Janet Hill, an Apple education development executive. The less-notorious of the original Apple duo, Wozniak has nevertheless made appearences on the reality show Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List and ABC'sDancing with the Stars (season 8).
Later Career
Following his accident and subsequent recovery, Wozniak went on to found numerous ventures, including CL 9, the company responsible for the first programmable universal remote control.
Called one of "Silicon Valley's most creative engineers," in 1990 he joined Mitchell Kapor in establishing the Electronic Frontier Foundation, an organization which provides legal aid for computer hackers facing criminal prosecution. Wozniak also founded Wheels of Zeus (WoZ) in 2001, a venture started with the aim of developing wireless GPS technology.
After WoZ closed in 2006, Wozniak published his autobiography,iWoz: From Computer Geek to Cult Icon: How I Invented the Personal Computer, Co-Founded Apple, and Had Fun Doing It. Three years later, he joined the Salt Lake City-based start-up Fusion-io as its chief scientist. 
Why Is Steve Wozniak Important?:
Steve Wozniak is the co-founder of Apple Computers. Wozniak has always been credited with being the main designer of the first Apples.
Wozniak is also a noted philanthropist who founded the Electronic Frontier Foundation, and was the founding sponsor of the Tech Museum, Silicon Valley Ballet and Children’s Discovery Museum of San Jose.

What Impact Did Steve Wozniak Have On The History of Computers?:
Steve Wozniak was the main designer on the Apple I and Apple II computers together with Steve Jobs (business brains) and others. The Apple II is noted as the first commercially successful line of personal computers, featuring a central processing unit, a keyboard, color graphics, and a floppy disk drive. In 1984, Steve Wozniak greatly influenced the design of the Apple Macintosh computer, the first successful home computer with a mouse-driven graphical user.
Awards:
Steve Wozniak was awarded the National Medal of Technology by the President of the United States in 1985, the highest honor bestowed on America’s leading innovators. In 2000, he was inducted into the Inventors Hall of Fame and was awarded the prestigious Heinz Award for Technology, The Economy and Employment for “single-handedly designing the first personal computer and for then redirecting his lifelong passion for mathematics and electronics toward lighting the fires of excitement for education in grade school students and their teachers."
Steve Wozniak Quotes:
At our computer club, we talked about it being a revolution. Computers were going to belong to everyone, and give us power, and free us from the people who owned computers and all that stuff.
I thought Microsoft did a lot of things that were good and right building parts of the browser into the operating system. Then I thought it out and came up with reasons why it was a monopoly.
Creative things have to sell to get acknowledged as such.
Every dream I've ever had in life has come true ten times over.
Never trust a computer you can't throw out a window.
I never left [referring to leaving Apple Computers]. I keep a tiny residual salary to this day because that's where my loyalty should be forever. I want to be an "employee" on the company database. I won't engineer, I'd rather be basically retired due to my family.


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