Re: Wozniak vs Jobs

[supertimer@aol.com (Supertimer)]

nathan@visi.com (Nathan Mates) wrote:

>   At one point, Amelio cites a discussion he had with Apple cofounder
>   Steve Wozniak to ask him to return to the company as an adviser.
>   Wozniak, known to insiders as "the Woz," told Amelio of an incident   
>   that happened before Apple was even formed and that years later    
>   prompted a falling out with Jobs.                                  
> 
>   "Steve managed to get an assignment from Nolan Bushnell of Atari to do
>   some circuits for one of its electronic toys. I'd do the designs and  
>   build the circuit board, and we'd get $1,000," Amelio quoted Wozniak
>   as saying. "[Jobs] came back and gave me $300. I said, 'I thought we
>   were getting $1,000.' Steve told me, 'No, they talked us down to
>   $600,' and I figured, you know, it was better than nothing. So I said
>   OK. Years later, I found out from a guy who had been at Atari that it 
>   had really paid Steve the full $1,000. I did the work; he kept $700
>   for himself and gave me $300."

Guys like Steve Jobs and Bill Gates have no qualms about throwing
friendship out the door.  Like Jobs, Gates burned everyone who ever
allied with him OWOA.  He even drove the founder of the company
who made CP/M to commit suicide after that company could not
win a court case on the grounds that MS-DOS is a rip off of CP/M.
Sadly, society rewards jerks.  Nice guys like Wozniak get edged
out and end up doing useful stuff like teaching kids.
                                    
>   Wozniak, according to Amelio, said: "When [Jobs] knew I'd found out, 
>   that sort of ended it. We've never been close since."

Steve Jobs ripped off other people's ideas even more than Bill Gates.
At lease Gates wrote his own code for a time -- Jobs milked the II,
Wozniak's creation.  Although he claims to be the father of Macintosh,
he just oversaw others who designed it.            
 
>   He added that what he had tried to convey to Amelio "very subtly" was 
>   that the decision to buy Next for the price paid might not have been a
>   good deal for Apple. Amelio "might have been taken," Wozniak said.

Jobs was quoted as saying in an interview that if it were up to him,
he'd milk the Mac for all it was worth and them move on to "the next
big thing."

>   And this is the one at Apple who really hated Wozniak's Apple II
>and shafted it in favor of his own pet projects, trying to destroy
>just about everything that he didn't have a big say in the design of.
>I doubt Jobs has become less of one willing to rip off friends and
>companies for his own personal advancement. This sorta indicates one
>big reason why Woz has not returned to Apple much, unfortunately.
>
>   Just so you know the character of the one in charge of Macintosh
>Inc, these days.

Jobs no longer feels close to the Macintosh since the company
betrayed him.  I would not be surprised when he moves on to
"the next big thing" and drops the Mac.  For the time being, he is
doing a good job of milking it for all it is worth.  Apple's financial
situation has been improving.