Quicklet on The Charlie Rose Show: Steve Wozniak

ABOUT THE BOOK

Steve Wozniak never had big aspirations to become famous or earn a lot of money — he just had great ideas and a partner with a vision. Several billion dollars, an autobiography, and many followers later, Wozniak is now a well-known public icon who is comfortably sitting in the limelight that his late partner helped create. Was Wozniak coerced into the public eye or did he always have it in him?

Appearing on the Charlie Rose Show back in 2007, Wozniak, the lesser-known co-founder of Apple Computer Inc. and now Chief Scientist at Fusion-io, said he willingly kept a low profile. “I just wanted to be good at designing things better than anyone else,” he said on the show. His partner, Steve Jobs, on the other hand “wanted to study the greats and be one of them,” Wozniak added.

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Renee is a multimedia journalist and photographer. She's also an avid explorer and adventurer, who recently returned from a year-long journey throughout Australia, India, Nepal, Southeast Asia and South America. Renee was a former healthcare reporter and editor in Washington, D.C.

EXCERPT FROM THE BOOK

Wozniak pointed out that the company needed both of the Steves to be successful. While he had the computer-building genius, Jobs wanted to make his ideas a success. “He wanted to change the wold,” Wozniak said. But he also wanted to make a lot of money.

In the end, Wozniak is convinced that what set their software apart was the fact that it was “so superior” to that of PCs. He attributes the rest of their success to the idea that Apple computers are “so much different” than PCs and has a large fan base in the creative industries — photography, design, video, and music. “It’s a tight group with a lot of passion,” Wozniak said.

Towards the end of the interview, Wozniak mentioned that he wants to be a role model for young, creative tech geeks who want to build things. “Maybe they can’t impress anyone at school, but in their own head they feel good,” he said. “And I want them to see that there is a person like that that they can look up to.”

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