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While the big corporations were sleeping, one electronic engineer was having a ball. He sparked off the personal computer revolution, co-founded computer giant Apple Computers, left the good life mid-way to go back to school, became a philanthropist, organized mega rock concerts, survived a plane crash and two marriages, became a primary school teacher, and never stopped having fun.
In his autobiography iWoz (co-written with Gina Smith), Steve Wozniak also lets you know that he never traded his engineer’s soul for the comforts that were his for the taking. Woz always danced to his own tune (hung out with the hippies but eschewed marijuana), which perhaps explains the sudden arrival of his autobiography when we least expected it. 
Early on in the book, he acknowledges the mentoring he received from his engineer father who instilled in him a value system that prized honesty, transparency in relationships, and people’s welfare —values that continue to inspire his decisions to this day. For example, before joining Apple Computers, Woz felt obliged to invite HP to have the first crack at Apple II since he was a salaried employee in HP’s calculator division when he designed the computer. HP turned him down, and so did Commodore, a future (and now defunct) rival. Woz had seen the future of personal computing, but the big players of the time like Digital Equipment and IBM weren’t paying attention. Apple II enjoyed seven years of unchallenged leadership and became the largest-selling personal computer in history till IBM launched its PC in 1983.
Woz disliked the social game. Despite being a co-founder, he distanced himself from the Apple management, preferring to hang around in the company of engineers with whom he identified closely. In the eighties, when the Apple management began to sideline engineering in favor of marketing, a disillusioned Woz withdrew himself from the company’s day-to-day affairs. This disillusionment pops up throughout the book, making it at times read like an engineer’s manifesto. While Woz eulogizes the role of engineers, he glosses over the drawbacks of an engineer-centric approach to product development. His engineering-first philosophy couldn’t prevent the demise of his entrepreneurial ventures. But in a roundabout way, the book also exposes the pitfalls of emphasizing one function at the expense of the other. If you neglect engineering in favor of marketing the quality of your product might unravel. Do the reverse and your product (however great its utility) may have no takers.
iWoz also gives a peek into the lesser-known sides of Woz the icon. How many of us know that Woz loved to pull pranks? As a phone phreaker, he once impersonated Henry Kissinger to call up the Vatican; in college, he drove fellow students (literally) up the wall for days with a TV jammer. It was this love for pranks and building electronic gadgets that led to the first meeting with the other Steve—Steve Jobs. Bob Dylan’s lyrics helped sealed a relationship that hit its high mark with the founding of Apple Computers. The book also dispels a few myths, like, for instance, how Apple got its name.
Toward the end of the book, after sharing his ups and downs, Steve Wozniak lets you know that he continues to be on Apple’s rolls, gets the lowest salary an Apple employee can get, and represents the company at various forums. An engineer and his true love can never part.
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