Woz's World

Woz's World

ENTREPRENEUR by Dave Szymanski | Tampa Bay Editor

Steve Wozniak, co-founder of Apple Computer and entrepreneur, believes there is plenty of opportunity to humanize technology for businesses and consumers.

ewind to the late 1970s. Bearded, geeky California computer engineers Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs have no bank accounts, pull all-nighters, get mono and make history in Job's home, creating what would become the first Apple Computer.

Wozniak tries to sell the concept five times to Hewlett-Packard, but HP doesn't want it. Neither did Atari. Apple makes millions, loses the fight for many business applications, Jobs and Wozniak leave, Jobs returns and the company makes a comeback with innovative, intuitive new products.

Fast forward to today. Wozniak, 57, beard a little gray, hair shorter and barrel-chested, has become a Silicon Valley icon, the unbusinesslike businessman, the gadget man and entrepreneur who sold a lot of his Apple stock to friends, not professional investors, brokers or business people.

He's also executive vice president and chief technology officer of Jazz Technologies, a California company that makes analog and mixed-signal semiconductor devices. He has also taught and donated technology and funds to California schools and a host of other community organizations, such as the San Jose Ballet and recently published his autobiography, "iWoz: Computer geek to cult icon."

His most precious asset? Time. He has hired an assistant, but has trouble plowing through daily email and gets delighted and frustrated with some cell phones and PDAs. The Gulf Coast Business Review sat down with Wozniak, clad in a golf shirt, at the posh Tampa Waterside Marriott, after his speech at the 2007 ConnectWise Partner Summit in downtown Tampa. The audience of 800 gave him a standing ovation. Here is that interview:

GCBR: What advice would you offer budding technology entrepreneurs

Woz: "Make sure you are passionate about what you do. Work at something you make to make it better. Hire people who are good at doing new things. Don't act like you've got a lot of money. Keep costs low. We didn't have a lot. Hire people who can do the most tasks possible. Always leave time for re-dos. Be flexible enough to change. Don't be in a hurry to be finished. Take a look at how you can make things better. That's where excellence comes from. Hire very highly qualified people that can solve problems. Don't wind up with half-solved problems...It all boils down to saving costs. You want to do the same job for less money."

How can the Gulf Coast encourage the creation of more tech companies?

"Tech companies tend to spring out of tech environments. Invest in the engineering schools. There are engineering programs in Florida. IT is growing very fast in Florida. It's a popular destination these days."

What do you think about the quality of education for technology workers?

"You need to take advantage of what's available. But I had to teach myself many things. I would bump into journal articles. Comparing that to today, I wish computer science would teach more about the early phase of development. If you can learn how to program, you can be a maker vs. a slave to someone else's program. The open-source movement has been useful."

What can current tech companies learn from your Apple experience?

"The first Apple had 4k of RAM, but slots for up to 48k. That was the key to our success. Radio Shack was not expandable. They didn't have enough memory."

Who are the most innovative technology companies today?

"Apple and Google. Some people who worked on the Lisa project at Apple now work at Google. Both companies give people time off to work on their own ideas. Google is very good to its users."

How do you stay on top of evolving technology?

"I pay attention to consumer gadgets. I keep up with them by buying them. I've gone through all special phones. As far as IT services, I rely on other people now. You can get burned out on that. You have no idea of how little time I have. Keeping up with email is my biggest problem."

How do you manage your time?

"There's the laws of physics and only 24 hours in a day. I have hired an assistant. When my last son graduated high school, I got real busy. There were speaking engagements, awards, startups, advisory boards, taking part in companies with ex-Apple people."

What will be the next technological breakthrough?

"Look at nano technology. Displays that are very flexible. Displays that can go everywhere, like wallpaper, or in the shape of a globe. A lot of the breakthroughs will be in software. There is a need for artificial intelligence, new nano technology approaches. Increasing the speed of chips boils down to heat, managing heat. It would be nice to have a robot that can wash your car (laughs). Maybe computers can be teachers. You can have 30 teachers in a class. Each computer would be individually different. Computers could be like a person, so you're looking at a face. The computer could look at you and see you're having a hard day. How's your Monday? The more it resembles a person, the more comfortable people will be. It needs to be made to seem like it's a real person. Inventors need to practice and practice."

What's the next big development in smart phones?

"The iPhone signifies what those will be. I like the human approach. I'm surprised it took them so long to do smart phones. Apple has replaced Sony in doing the best products...All the products don't work the same way. Apple prided itself on products that are easy to use."

You support the open sharing of information, but what are your thoughts on DRM (Digital Rights Management refers to access-control technologies used by publishers and other copyright holders to limit use of digital media or devices.)

"I think DRM will work and has some places. People have no right to break encryption codes. As a young kid, I took my albums and copied them on to tapes. I sold the albums. I didn't think it was illegal. But first and foremost, I support DRM. If you're an artist, you need this protection, under these conditions."

Are you still close with Steve Jobs?

"We're good friends, but not close friends, doing everything together. When I was looking for a domain name for my Web site, I wanted Woz.org, but it was taken. I later found out that Steve got it and saved it for me."

Did you experience any of the reported curt demeanor of Jobs?

"No. I really never witnessed his bad behavior. He was always respectful. I never saw that side of Steve. Steve once said that we may not be able to get our money back, but finally we'd have a business of our own."

Are you critical of Apple at times?

"I don't prejudge Apple. I love the Blackberry Pearl, but the iPhone is more fun. But the iPhone doesn't work with Bluetooth and I'm very hands free. I took an hour-long call while on a segway. I'm not 100% behind everything Apple, but they're better than PCs. A lot of the dreams of the early Apple, from the Lisa group, to humanize technology, a lot of those have dissolved because they think it's better to have applications."

STEVE WOZNIAK AT A GLANCE

Name: Steven Wozniak, a.k.a. The Wo

Age: 57

Title: executive vice president and CTO, Jazz Technologies Inc., Palo Alto, Calif.

Education: Bachelor degrees in computer science and electrical engineering, University of California at Berkeley.

Home: Palo Alto, Calif.

Biggest challenge: Time. With a growing travel schedule, he's hired an assistant, but still has a hard time plowing through daily email.

Former jobs: Tech company executive, entrepreneur, teacher, engineer for Hewlett-Packard and co-founder of Apple Computer.

Milestones: Inducted into Inventors Hall of Fame; President Reagan gave him National Technology Medal.

Heroes: His father, in personal philosophies and in how to treat other people. He didn't really direct him to be a certain kind of person, only point out choices. He was also a great technical teacher. Fictional characters like Tom Swift, a guy who owned his own company with his dad and an engineer. He would run in the laboratory and solve problems with his own resources and his own thinking.

Interests: Personal technology gadgets, like palm pilots, philanthropist for education and a host of community organizations, such as the San Jose Ballet.

Web site: www.woz.org.

INSPIRATIONAL WORDS

After his speech last week in Tampa, Steve Wozniak stayed and signed autographs.

He wrote a brief, autobiographical note for the 12-year-old son of an audience member at the conference who said his son wants to be video game designer.

After asking for the name of the boy, Wozniak stood and silently wrote:

"To Rob, Follow your dreams and make the world fun! Woz."

The audience member said he was framing it.

WAITING FOR IPHONES

He could have phoned in a special request, but instead, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak decided to wait in line for iPhones like thousands of others at the Apple mall store near his home in California. But after hearing about the possibility of long lines, he got a little creative.

Wozniak and some friends printed special T-shirts ("I Woz there.") and printed numbers on cards. He snuck into an open door in the mall about 4 a.m., sped over on a segway and came to another store entrance. The manager let them in, but they waited in line until the store officially opened.

Wozniak handed out the T-shirts and printed numbers to the other customers waiting for iPhones. The cards had numbers, which represented the person's place in line.

Wozniak kept cards one through nine for himself and his friends, securing their place at the front of the line. He bought about 20 phones.

"It was like waiting in line for Stones tickets in college in 1973," Wozniak says. "It was worth it."

REVIEW SUMMARY

Executive: Steve Wozniak

Industry: Computers and technology

Keys: Continue to innovate and lower costs in personal technology

Advice from Steve: 'Don't be in a hurry to be finished. Take a look at how you can make things better. That's where excellence comes from.'