[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

Re: Steve's new book "IWOZ"

Michael Black wrote:

"PZ" (skierpaul@yahoo.com) writes:


I saw Woz at Kfest a couple years ago, and he gave a very solid
speech/presentation.  Sure he's a bit quirky, you've got to expect
that.  Unfortunately, last night he stumbled though everything, it was
hardly coherent.  Thats why I was shocked about his interview last
night.



He was "Coast to Coast" a while back (or maybe it was a repeat I
heard), and he fit in well, though interestingly the guest host
that night was Kevin Mitnick.  There may be a difference being
on radio rather than tv (at least on the interviewee who might
feel less intimidated by radio), or by having a host that can actually
converse with him on the technical issues.

Likewise, a technical presentation to an audience of insiders
may be far different from trying to give a speech to a general
audience, where you may not have a real sense of whether they
are following or not.  Performers certainly rely on feedback
from the audience to give a good performance, so I suspect it
would be the same case here.


It is quite different.  Particularly talking to a camera instead
of a crowd.

In my experience, folks who are very comfortable with large live
audiences can be very anxious in front of a camera, and vice versa.

Interviews are a very special thing.  If your interviewer talks
with you before the interview about the topics he'd like to discuss,
is sympathetic, and puts you at ease, it all goes very smoothly.

On the other hand, if the interviewer is "busy" and just wants
to do it "cold" and get it over with, or, worse, wants to make
you look like a fool, then things go horribly.

I would never agree to a "cold" interview (after doing some).


As for the book, it sounds like bad editing (or bad ghost writing,
if that's the case).  If he couldn't supply a polished product,
then it should have been others to fix it.


Agreed.  It's just that I don't really expect a lot of
entertainment or enlightenment from Woz, unless he wants
to work through a logic design problem.


  Michael



- Paul



Woz's personal presentation is an acquired taste (but isn't that
the case with most "geeks"? ;-).

He's not "media friendly", and I'm frankly surprised that he doesn't
yet seem to realize this about himself.

I'm pretty ambivalent about even reading the book...  After all, I
doubt that there will be illuminating revelations or great ideas
about technology.

He did a wonderful thing, for his own peculiar reasons, and happened
to fall in with others who used it to make him, and themselves, rich.
That's it.








--

-michael

New, faster SUDOKU v2.0 solver for Apple II's!
Home page:  http://members.aol.com/MJMahon/

"The wastebasket is our most important design
tool--and it's seriously underused."