For the first apple, it was easy to call and yang. Ying was clearly Steve Jobs. The other Steve, Wozniak, was Yang. Wozniak started studies, calibrated like an oscilloscope and an almost childish smile. It's great: It is the type of student who builds scientific calculators during their free time. Until they throw it, according to some sources, to accumulate an exorbitant invoice (current $ 50,000) in the university's computer system. Others say that, according to academic tradition, he prepared by sending messages of joke. Others who are only bored.
It doesn't matter either. In less than a year, Bill Fernandez will present them both and the two Steves will make close colleagues, they will plan the video game in small groups for Atari, they will start with Apple and the thing will leave a mother.
The accident that erased his memory (and made him doubt everything)
Wozniak has an honorary doctorate in engineering awarded by Boulder University, by Colorado, by the way. But he is honorary because he has never completed his regulated studies: In September 1968, he entered the race And in less than a year, I was already absent. Then, the Anza college would come and later at the University of California in Berkeley, where he finally obtained his title in electrical engineering and computer science.
But it is important to know what happened between the two. Because? For everything: because they not only invented a large part of the concept of “personal computer” with Apple I. Wozniak lived a few moments from those who change your life. Well, they push you from zero.
It was an accident that really disconnected from reality. In 1981, after a brutal blow to the head When taking off from Santa Cruz Sky Park in 1981, Woz lost his memory in the short term. I forgot conversations, tasks, even what day it was. For weeks he did not know that he had suffered an accident. He understood this by the reactions of others.
This vacuum has not only affected his personal life. He also led him to move away from Apple, to question his certifications and, over time, Find answers where I had never looked: in psychology. According to the book “Iwoz: Computer geek to cult icon”, his doctors did not know how common this was in accident survivors, so another vital approach begins. Organize beneficial concerts, get married, reflects. Today, almost nobody remembers it, but it may be the first prototype of Ted or even Burning Man – not in vain, he gave many talks. And suddenly, an idea that seems absurd Springs: return to university.
Rocky Raccoon Clark enters class
And the 80s arrive at lacquer and guitars with reverberation, colorful pants. In December 1980, Apple reviewed and the investors devoured all the shares for sale, 4.6 million shares at $ 22 each.
And Steve Wozniak returns silently to the University of California in Berkeley. Yes, the same thing he studied Oppenheimer or James Cameron. But, as we said some time ago, this return has a tip: he does not sign registration like Steve Wozniak, but as Rocky Raccoon ClarkAn identity built with the name of your dog and that of your fiancée. He didn't want cameras, he didn't want expectations – not that they gave him approved. And they consent.
I just wanted to learn. “My name was famous, but not my face,” he said in several interviews. Of course, those who amount to studying after a decade outside know what is: it is not so easy to adapt to these habits, and more if you have children. Wozniak knew that his school performance could be mediocre and preferred no one knew anything else. To face the test of notes is always a headache.
And that's what he does. In addition to his engineering lessons, he immerses himself in studies on human memory – he proposed to change his specialty, in fact. During the free time, he took refuge in Val's pizza to play “defend” and continue to learn the guitar.
Professor Woz, forgotten festivals and a heritage beyond the apple
And he graduated, yes. I would end up saying one of the most epic speeches in the history of the university. But when he finally obtained his title, Wozniak did something that would miss experts: he did not return to Apple. It was also not considered a kick of the corridors full of engineers who consult it. On the contrary: he became a volunteer in a high school. He taught his son Jesse and stayed and at the end he ended up teaching the whole class. They talked about AOL, equipment and video games.
In the end, he spent eight years in classrooms and, I bet, he became the favorite teacher of a handful of teenagers. Just at this stage, it was when he improved his creative vein: co-developed the first universal remote control, he developed GPS systems, he became the scientific fusion-io-one director of key data storage and even appeared as himself in the theory of Big Bang.
On the campus of the University of Berkeley, there is a room called Wozniak Lounge. It is one of the greatest. There is also a street with its name – Woz Way – in San José, next to the children's discovery museum that helped finance. But, to that of Use a false name for the will to continue learningI think it responds fairly well to a doubt that sometimes attacks us a lot: do you take up studies? It is never too late if happiness is good.
Source (Berkeley) | Images | Berkeley
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