Biography of Steve Wozniak - Essay Example

? Steve Wozniak was born on 11th August in the year 1950. He co-founded the apple Company with SteveJobs and created a multimillion dollar fortune for himself through his innovative ideas and engineering skills. Since childhood, Wozniak was really fascinated by the electronic devices. Wozniak's father, Jerry also worked as an engineer in Lockheed. He spent large part of his childhood in Sunnyvale, California where he used to experiment with different electronic equipment. Wozniak’s father played an important role in his early life to help him gain an interest in electronics. He used to get his son electronic equipments so that he could learn on his own. He gifted Wozniak a radio kit at the age of seven and a heavy electronics kit the next year. Wozniak used to experiment on the equipments and learnt from those experiences. He used to buy pieces from the market and tried making his own electronic accessories. Every time he succeeded in making one, he would try again to make it but with the use of fewer accessories. The books never really appealed to him but still he was well ahead of his classmates and was able to build a computer in his 6th grade that could play tic-tac toe. When he turned fourteen, he made a fully fledged computing device which could do binary additions and subtractions, for which he also received an award. In his own words, "It was all self-done; I didn't ever take a course, didn't ever buy a book on how to do it. Just pieced it together in my own head."(Wozniak & Smith, 2006) By the time he was enrolled in college he was expert enough to design and build functional computers. One of his early inventions was the ‘blue box’ which he created to make long distance phone calls for free. Although this was illegal, it showed Wozniak’s talent in the use of electronic circuitry. He applied to Caltech University for higher education but his application was rejected. He joined the University of Colorado in the year 1968 to pursue engineering major but transferred to the University of Berkeley for his sophomore year. The theoretical study in his university courses never really appealed to him. He was more interested in the practical work and that is why he decided to drop out of university after his junior year (Cantlay). In 1975 the only concept of personal computers was that they were available in kit form and had to be properly assembled in a big box which contained a lot of switches and wires. The first ever personal computer kit commercially available was known as the Altair 8800 which could only do limited tasks even after being properly assembled. The amount of work required was tedious and did not always end in the correct way. Wozniak decided to build a personal computer for himself because he was unable to afford an Altair 8800. His idea behind a personal computer was that it should be user-friendly and could do more tasks like calculation and load video games. Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak were intent on taking the personal computers to general public. They founded the apple Company and decided to promote their first product under its name. Wozniak pioneered the company’s first personal computer device and named it Apple I. The Apple Company brought about a major breakthrough in the computer industry by making the personal computers available to millions of people worldwide. The computers that were previously available in the market were not user friendly and mostly had to be bought in different parts and assembled at home. Wozniak was thinking ahead of the time and he planned on building computers that could also have a video display. The big companies like Hewlett Packard and IBM was skeptic on the idea of using microprocessors for computers and the prospect of success did not seem very bright for Job and Wozniak’s newfound Company. (Kendall, 2000). Wozniak and Jobs sold off some of their personal belongings in order to pool in money for the equipments needed to build the computer. The first Apple I was built in a garage and with Jobs marketing skills the product was able to make their company a huge success and soon the upgraded version, Apple II followed which was fully assembled and had high graphics and better speed. Steve Wozniak suffered from amnesia after he was severely injured in a plane crash in 1981 and withdrew from the company on a really long leave. In 1983, he rejoined the company but was unable to maintain an amiable business relationship with Jobs. After a series of disagreements, Wozniak left the company in 1985. He got himself reenrolled in the University of Berkeley and completed his computer science degree in the year 1987. Wozniak presently lives a quite life with his wife Janet Hill. He has now withdrawn himself from most of the professional activities and focuses more on his personal life and interests. He also takes part in charities and other philanthropic works. The journey which Wozniak embarked in his life is truly inspirational. He followed what interested him without having any second thoughts about it. He used his interests and became an entrepreneur establishing a multimillion dollar Apple company. Bill Gates, Steve jobs and Steve Wozniak, all of them are successful entrepreneurs who have created billions from their ideas. However Steve Wozniak is a true source of inspiration for me. What makes him different from Jobs and Bill Gates is that he did not let his personal life get overpowered by money or fame. He has a great contribution in bringing forth the idea of personal computers and at the peak of his career, he left Apple company and went to complete his electrical engineering degree. He did not let his passion waver because of the money and fame he had attained. Even now he lives a quite life and enjoys his personal interests. Steve Wozniak has lived life to the fullest. He followed his passion and achieved his dream but he was not obsessed with it. He simply did what he liked and he did not do it for the sake of money and fame and that is the reason why he continues to be a true inspiration for many. I share the same beliefs that a person should do what he loves doing without caring about the job market or what others think about it. Only then can a person achieve success and that is the reason why I consider Steve Wozniak my role model.  Steve Wozniak has left a great impact on the world. It was just 35 years back when the idea of personal computers was not even fully conceived. The personal computers are now coming in so many varieties that they are a must-have item for any household. It has become a need of today and these personal computers have penetrated deep within our lives. The emails, social networking, internet, video games, in other words much of our entertainment activities are now computer based. But the personal computers are not only limited to provide entertainment. Personal computers have provided the world with comfort and made the lives of the people easier. Now we can order books and electronics with just one click or transfer heavy payments to anyone’s account without any hassle of going to the bank because of the availability of facilities like internet banking. It sounds horrible to imagine life without computers because we depend so much on them. Steve Wozniak, through his remarkable idea and invention has revolutionized the lifestyle of the people. He is highly respected in the international community and has also received many awards and accolades including the most commendable National Medal of Technology. Works Cited Cantlay, N. (n.d.). Biography: Stephen Wozniak. Retrieved 07 08, 2011, from The Apple Museum: http://www.theapplemuseum.com/index.php?id=50 Kendall, M. (2000). Steve Wozniak, Inventor of the Apple Computer. Highland Pub Group; 2nd Revised edition. Wozniak, S., & Smith, G. (2006). iWoz: Computer Geek to Cult Icon: How I Invented the Personal Computer, Co-Founded Apple, and Had Fun Doing It. W. W. Norton; First Edition . Read More