The Wizard of Woz











Tony Treviño
Ms Johnson
English 9(3)
February 1st, 2013



He shaped our present and is working on giving us a newer tomorrow. The less -but not least- known genius behind Apple computers who partnered with Steve Jobs. He was the brains of the operation and, most importantly, the visionary who created the first computer for the regular Joe. This simple idea has brought us to what is now our present. The way we interact with media has changed drastically in the last 2 decades, and it all started with the idea of one man: Steve Wozniak.

I was interested in knowing  what the story of this man’s career is after working on Apple computers, that was certainly the hype of his career and that was for a reason. It is not easy to improve yourself when the goal you've set happens to be the largest advance in computer technology since the creation of the microprocessor. I was also interested in learning what new technologies he developed or helped develop and the results these have had in our present life style. This topic is of interest to me particularly because I have always been into tech and and my life wouldn't be the same without technology and I believe he is the man to thank.

Finding sources of information nowadays is a breeze thanks to the internet but information is not always trustworthy. Finding reliable sources isn't quite as easy. I used the Ebscohost school tool that CAT (my school) provides and found various articles regarding Steve Wozniak, from biographies to news articles. I also used the interwebs to find TV and media sources that provide official website, which were all very helpful and, of course, of trust. Providers of nothing but reliable information. With their help I developed a research question: Would our lives be different for better or worse if Steve Wozniak had not created the Apple I?
Wozniak was always closely related to electronics because of his dad’s job. He was an electrical engineer for Lockheed Missiles and Space Company in Sunnyvale, which meant that their house was filled with electronic parts and work that had not been completed by his dad, all of them for the Woz to play around with. He built his first computer at age 13, which even though in 2013 is easily achievable by a 10 year old, it is nowhere near the same challenge it was in 1963. ”A precocious but undisciplined student with a gift for mathematics and an interest in electronics” as described by teachers ("Stephen Gary Wozniak.")

He had a chance to work at Hewlett Packard (now known as HP) in a mainframe computer, which is a main storage unit that companies used for safe data saves. This job was the first he had related to technology, even before college and it was particularly crucial for the changes he implied because it is where he met his biggest partner in crime -sometimes not metaphorically speaking- Steve Jobs. The pair together created what is, to date, the second largest and most valuable company on Earth(William L).

2 heads think better than one. And why only two? the more the better. Wozniak certainly  seems to agree with the statement given that he has always co-worked with someone. whether it is to create a new company or research a new technology.  He partnered with Ellen Hancock and Gil Amelio to found Acquicor Technology, a holding company for acquiring technology companies and developing them.
Of course, we could not forget the dynamic duo of silicon valley. The pair of Steves successfully created a millionaire company in a little over a year. Today it is hated by billions and loved by millions and millions, it has introduced to the market the first All in one pc, the first graphical user interface (or GUI), the first universal online media store and the largest network of devices a company has ever sold.

As far as the changes and new technologies he invented, there are actually not many but when a change so big is made, a chain of reactions occurs. This was the case of the Apple I computer. The idea of a computer for anyone at its time seemed so crazy, that Hewlett Packard refused to back the project, this was great news for Steve Jobs, who believed in the idea since Woz mentioned it to him and it lead to the creation of Apple computers (John Boman) and the slow production of the Apple I, to date considered the first personal computer. An assembly line was set up in a garage and there, over 100 computers were built.

If Hewlett Packard chosen to back the computer, our present would be drastically different than it is today. There would be no “i” products (given that they are produced by apple), the phone market would have been 5 years back because of how it was changed in 2007 again, by apple and the story repeats on the tablet market, the Digital music market, the Portable MP3 player market and the mobile Application market. The computer dreamed, designed, created, and produced by The Woz lead to what is today the personal computer. In our present over 85% of children, teens and young adults have access to a computer at home (Home Computer Access and Internet Use) and the numbers are not going down, there is nowhere to go but forward in the technology. The world spins around technology and embraces it, creating conferences such as E3(Electronic Entertainment Expo) and CES (Consumer Electronic Show), held every year and attended to by thousands of people interested in seeing whats new, what will change their lives next.

Our lives are filled with technology. Phones do more than computers could just a few decades ago and computers no longer weigh as much as a car. Not only has technology become better but it has also become more accessible. In 2010, almost six out of ten children ages three to 17 used the Internet at home (57 percent), nearly three times as many as in 1997 (22 percent).(Home Computer Access and Internet Use) There are many people who are crucial to how we live our lives today. They were innovative and thought like no one else had thought before; one of them is Steve Wozniak. His vision of a computer for a regular person just like you and me, not part of a company and not part of the government. Just regular people whose lives could be easier with a quick access to information and with the use of technology. You reading this essay and me sharing it with the world would not have been possible if it weren't because of him.






























Works Cited

"Stephen Gary Wozniak." Hutchinson's Biography Database (2011): 1. MAS Ultra - School Edition. Web. 18 Jan. 2013.

John Boman, Editor. "Stephen Wozniak (Gary) ("The Woz") (1950- )." Cambridge Dictionary Of American Biography (2001): 1. MAS Ultra - School Edition. Web. 18 Jan. 2013.

William L., Hosch. "Wozniak, Stephen Gary." Britannica Biographies (2012): 1. MAS Ultra - School Edition. Web. 18 Jan. 2013.

"Editorial & Analysis." Steve Wozniak's Lessons for Innovators / / IP EXPO Online. IP Expo Online, 22 Nov. 2012. Web. 18 Jan. 2013.

MLA Style "Steve Wozniak." 2013. The Biography Channel website. ene 18 2013, 12:16 http://www.biography.com/people/steve-wozniak-9537334.

"Home Computer Access and Internet Use." Welcome to the Child Trends DataBank. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Jan. 2013.