Stephen Gary Wozniak (/ˈwɒzniæk/; born August 11, 1950), also known by his nicknameWoz, is an American technology entrepreneur,electrical engineer,computer programmer, and inventor. In 1976, he co-foundedApple Computer with his early business partnerSteve Jobs. Through his work at Apple in the 1970s and 1980s, he is widely recognized as one of the most prominent pioneers of thepersonal computer revolution.[4]
In 1975, Wozniak started developing theApple I[5]: 150 into the computer that launched Apple when he and Jobs first began marketing it the following year. He was the primary designer of theApple II, introduced in 1977, known as one of the first highly successful mass-producedmicrocomputers,[6] while Jobs oversaw the development of its foam-molded plastic case and early Apple employeeRod Holt developed itsswitching power supply.[7]
Withhuman–computer interface expertJef Raskin, Wozniak had a major influence over the initial development of the original Macintosh concepts from 1979 to 1981, when Jobs took over the project following Wozniak's brief departure from the company due to a traumatic airplane accident.[8][3] After permanently leaving Apple in 1985, Wozniak foundedCL 9 and created the first programmableuniversal remote, released in 1987. He then pursued several other business andphilanthropic ventures throughout his career, focusing largely on technology inK–12 schools, which involved a 1990 initiative to place computers in schools in the formerSoviet Union.[3][9]
He has received numerous awards and honors for his work in philanthropy and the tech industry, including an induction into theNational Inventors Hall of Fame in 2000.[9] As of June 2024, Wozniak has remained an employee of Apple in a ceremonial capacity since stepping down in 1985.[10][11] In recent years, he has helped fund multiple entrepreneurial efforts dealing in areas such asGPS andtelecommunications,flash memory, technology and pop culture conventions, technical education,ecology,satellites and more. In addition to his American citizenship, Wozniak is also a Polish and Serbian citizen.
Stephen Gary Wozniak was born on August 11, 1950, inSan Jose, California.[5]: 18 [12][13]: 13 [14]: 27 His mother, Margaret Louise Wozniak (née Kern) (1923–2014), was fromWashington state,[15] and his father, Francis Jacob "Jerry" Wozniak (1925–1994) ofMichigan,[5]: 18 was an engineer for theLockheed Corporation.[14]: 1 Wozniak graduated fromHomestead High School in 1968, inCupertino, California.[13]: 25 Steve has one brother, Mark,[16] a former tech executive who lives in Menlo Park. He also has one sister, Leslie, who attended Homestead High School in Cupertino. She is a grant adviser at Five Bridges Foundation, which helps at-risk youths in San Francisco. Leslie said it was her mother who introduced activism to her and her siblings.[17]
The name on Wozniak's birth certificate is "Stephan Gary Wozniak", but his mother said that she intended it to be spelled "Stephen", which is what he uses.[5]: 18 Wozniak is ofPolish andGerman ancestry.[18] In the early 1970s, Wozniak'sblue box design earned him the nickname "Berkeley Blue" in thephreaking community.[1][19] Wozniak has credited watchingStar Trek and attendingStar Trek conventions while in his youth as a source of inspiration for his startingApple Computer.[20] In his autobiography,iWoz, he also credits theTom Swift Jr. books as an inspiration for becoming an engineer.[21]
Predating useful microprocessors, screens, and keyboards, and usingpunch cards and only 20TTL chips donated by an acquaintance, they named it "Cream Soda" after theirfavorite beverage. A newspaper reporter stepped on the power supply cable and blew up the computer, but it served Wozniak as "a good prelude to my thinking 5 years later with the Apple I and Apple II computers".[24] Before focusing his attention on Apple, he was employed atHewlett-Packard (HP), where he designed calculators.[25] It was during this time that he dropped out of Berkeley and befriendedSteve Jobs.[26][27]
Wozniak was introduced to Jobs by Fernandez, who attendedHomestead High School with Jobs in 1971. Jobs and Wozniak became friends when Jobs worked for the summer at HP, where Wozniak, too, was employed, working on amainframe computer.[28]
We first met in 1971 during my college years, while he was in high school. A friend said, 'you should meet Steve Jobs because he likes electronics, and he also plays pranks.' So he introduced us.
Their first business partnership began later that year when Wozniak read an article titled "Secrets of the Little Blue Box" from the October 1971 issue ofEsquire, and started to build his own "blue boxes" that enabled one to make long-distancephone calls at no cost.[29][30] Jobs, who handled the sales of the blue boxes, managed to sell some two hundred of them for $150 each, and split the profit with Wozniak.[31][32] Jobs later told his biographer that if it had not been for Wozniak's blue boxes, "there wouldn't have been an Apple."[33]
In 1973, Jobs was working forarcade game companyAtari, Inc. inLos Gatos, California.[34] He was assigned to create acircuit board for the arcade video gameBreakout. According to Atari co-founderNolan Bushnell, Atari offered $100 (equivalent to $708 in 2024) for each chip that was eliminated in the machine. Jobs had little knowledge of circuit board design and made a deal with Wozniak to split the fee evenly between them if Wozniak could minimize the number of chips. Wozniak reduced the number of chips by 50, by usingRAM for the brick representation. Whilst a lack of scoring or coin mechanisms made Woz's prototype unusable, Jobs was paid the full bonus regardless. Jobs told Wozniak that Atari gave them only $700 and that Wozniak's share was thus $350 (equivalent to $2,500 in 2024).[35][5]: 147–148, 180 Wozniak did not learn about the actual $5,000 bonus (equivalent to $35,400 in 2024) until ten years later. While dismayed, he said that if Jobs had told him about it and had said he needed the money, Wozniak would have given it to him.[36]: 104–107
In 1975, Wozniak began designing and developing the computer that would eventually make him famous, theApple I.[37] With the Apple I, Wozniak was largely working to impress other members of thePalo Alto–basedHomebrew Computer Club,[38]: 35–38 a local group of electronics hobbyists interested in computing. The club was one of several key centers which established the home hobbyist era, essentially creating the microcomputer industry over the next few decades. Unlike other custom Homebrew designs, the Apple had an easy-to-achieve video capability that drew a crowd when it was unveiled.[39]
Wozniak also created the fictional computer Zaltair. Adam Schoolsky and Randy Wigginton helped him to pull it off at the West Coast Computer Conference. It was a parody of theAltair 8800 computer, which was very popular at the time. Steve Wozniak thought of the name because:
The company Zilog had come out with a compatible processor, which they called the Z-80. A few companies using this chip were establishing brands based on Z words. Like ComputerZ or Z-Node or the like.[40]
As a joke, Wozniak decided to print "20,000 brochures" (according to YouTube video "Rare video of Steve Wozniak from 1984 talking about computing, joining Apple and the Mac" filmed at a Cleveland computer club meeting) of a fake product called the 'Zaltair' with a lot of "superlative descriptions of a computer that solved every problem in the world".[40] It advertised, among other things, a new version of theBASIC programming language called "BAZIC", with the ability to "define your own language... a feature we call perZonality".[41]
To help make the ad believable, he included fake trademarks and a shipping label forMITS, the company manufacturing the Altair. Wozniak did not think that this would be an issue, as he had "made sure in advance that MITS would not be at the show." However, it later turned out that a representative from MITS was attending, and had been taking large amounts of their fake brochures.[40] He also made sure the article had a fake quote from Ed Roberts, then president of MITS, which spelled out the name of a rival company,Processor Technology, when looking at the first letter of every word, further ensuring that the article was not traced back to him.
Steve Jobs, Wozniak's close friend at the time, received a copy of the brochure. He fell for it, and even "took pride that theApple II stacked up well against the Zaltair in the comparison chart". However, he, like many others, did not realize Wozniak had created the brochure until "Woz gave him a framed copy of the brochure as a birthday gift" in 1985.[42]
Wozniak designed Apple's first products, the Apple I and II computers and he helped design the Macintosh — because he wanted to use them and they didn't exist.
By March 1, 1976, Wozniak completed the basic design of the Apple I computer.[14]: 5–6 He alone designed the hardware, circuit board designs, and operating system for the computer.[39] Wozniak originally offered the design toHP while working there, but was denied by the company on five occasions.[45] Jobs then advised Wozniak to start a business of their own to build and sell bareprinted circuit boards of the Apple I.[14]: 4–6 [38]: 35–38 Wozniak, at first skeptical, was later convinced by Jobs that even if they were not successful they could at least say to their grandchildren that they had had their own company. To raise the money they needed to build the first batch of the circuit boards, Wozniak sold hisHP scientific calculator while Jobs sold hisVolkswagen van.[14]: 4–6 [38]: 35–38
On April 1, 1976, Jobs and Wozniak formed the Apple Computer Company (now calledApple Inc.) along with administrative supervisorRonald Wayne, whose participation in the new venture was short-lived. The two decided on the name "Apple" shortly after Jobs returned from Oregon and told Wozniak about his time spent on anapple orchard there.[46]
After the company was formed, Jobs and Wozniak made one last trip to the Homebrew Computer Club to give a presentation of the fully assembled version of the Apple I.[38]: 39–40 Paul Terrell, who was starting a new computer shop inMountain View, California, called theByte Shop,[5] saw the presentation and was impressed by the machine.[36]: 66–67 Terrell told Jobs that he would order 50 units of the Apple I and pay $500 (equivalent to $2,760 in 2024) each on delivery, but only if they came fully assembled, as he was not interested in buying bare printed circuit boards.[14]: 7 [36]: 66–67
Together the duo assembled the first boards in Jobs's parents'Los Altos home; initially in his bedroom and later (when there was no space left) in the garage. Wozniak's apartment in San Jose was filled with monitors, electronic devices, and computer games that he had developed. The Apple I sold for $666.66. Wozniak later said he had no idea about the relation between the number and themark of the beast, and that he came up with the price because he liked "repeating digits".[47] They sold their first 50 system boards to Terrell later that year.[clarification needed]
In November 1976, Jobs and Wozniak received substantial funding from a then-semi-retiredIntel product marketing manager and engineer namedMike Markkula.[48][14]: 10 At the request of Markkula, Wozniak resigned from his job at HP and became the vice president in charge of research and development at Apple. Wozniak's Apple I was similar to theAltair 8800, the first commercially available microcomputer, except the Apple I had no provision for internal expansion cards. With expansion cards, the Altair could attach to a computer terminal and be programmed inBASIC. In contrast, the Apple I was a hobbyist machine. Wozniak's design included a $25CPU (MOS 6502) on a single circuit board with 256bytes ofROM, 4K or 8K bytes ofRAM, and a 40-character by 24-row display controller. Apple's first computer lacked a case, power supply, keyboard, and display—all components that had to be provided by the user. Eventually about 200 Apple I computers were produced in total.[49]
After the success of the Apple I, Wozniak designed the Apple II, the first personal computer with the ability to display color graphics, and BASIC programming language built in.[5] Inspired by "the techniqueAtari used to simulate colors on its firstarcade games", Wozniak found a way of putting colors into theNTSC system by using aUS$1 chip,[50] while colors in thePAL system are achieved by "accident" when a dot occurs on a line, and he says that to this day he has no idea how it works.[51] During the design stage, Jobs argued that the Apple II should have twoexpansion slots, while Wozniak wanted eight.[5] After a heated argument, during which Wozniak threatened that Jobs should "go get himself another computer", they decided to go with eight slots. Jobs and Wozniak introduced the Apple II at the April 1977West Coast Computer Faire. Wozniak's first article about the Apple II was inByte magazine in May 1977.[52] It became one of the first highly successful mass-produced personal computers in the world. Wozniak also designed theDisk IIfloppy disk drive, released in 1978 specifically for use with theApple II to replace the slowercassette tape storage.
In 1980, Apple went public to instant and significant financial profitability, making Jobs and Wozniak both millionaires. The Apple II's intended successor, theApple III, released the same year, was a commercial failure and was discontinued in 1984. According to Wozniak, the Apple III "had 100 percent hardware failures", and that the primary reason for these failures was that the system was designed by Apple's marketing department, unlike Apple's previous engineering-driven projects.[53]
During the early design and development phase of theoriginal Macintosh, Wozniak had a heavy influence over the project along withJef Raskin, who conceived the computer. Later named the "Macintosh 128k", it would become the first mass-market personal computer featuring an integralgraphical user interface andmouse. The Macintosh would also go on to introduce thedesktop publishing industry with the addition of the AppleLaserWriter, the firstlaser printer to featurevector graphics.[54] In a 2013 interview, Wozniak said that in 1981, "Steve [Jobs] really took over the project when I had a plane crash and wasn't there."[3][8]
On February 7, 1981, theBeechcraft Bonanza A36TC which Wozniak was piloting (and not qualified to operate[55]) crashed soon after takeoff from theSky Park Airport inScotts Valley,California.[56] The airplane stalled while climbing, then bounced down the runway, broke through two fences, and crashed into an embankment. Wozniak and his three passengers—then-fiancéeCandice Clark, her brother Jack Clark, and Jack's girlfriend, Janet Valleau—were injured. Wozniak sustained severe face and head injuries, including losing a tooth, and also suffered for the following five weeks fromanterograde amnesia, the inability to create new memories. He had no memory of the crash, and did not remember his name while in the hospital or the things he did for a time after he was released.[53][57] He would later state that Apple II computer games were what helped him regain his memory.[5] TheNational Transportation Safety Board investigation report cited premature liftoff and pilot inexperience as probable causes of the crash.[14]: 28–30
Wozniak did not immediately return to Apple after recovering from the airplane crash, seeing it as a good reason to leave.[53]Infinite Loop characterized this time: "Coming out of the semi-coma had been like flipping a reset switch in Woz's brain. It was as if in his thirty-year old body he had regained the mind he'd had at eighteen before all the computer madness had begun. And when that happened, Woz found he had little interest in engineering or design. Rather, in an odd sort of way, he wanted to start over fresh."[58]: 322
Later in 1981, after recovering from the plane crash, Wozniak re-enrolled at UC Berkeley to complete hisElectrical Engineering and Computer Sciences degree that he started there in 1971 (and which he would finish in 1986).[59] Because his name was well known at this point, he enrolled under the name Rocky Raccoon Clark, which is the name listed on his diploma,[3][10][60] although he did not officially receive his degree in electrical engineering and computer sciences until 1987.[26][3]
In May 1982 and 1983, Wozniak, with help from professional concert promoterBill Graham, founded the company Unuson, an abbreviation of "unite us in song",[61] which sponsored twoUS Festivals, with "US" pronounced like the pronoun, not as initials. Initially intended to celebrate evolving technologies, the festivals ended up as a technology exposition and a rock festival as a combination of music, computers, television, and people. After losing several million dollars on the 1982 festival, Wozniak stated that unless the 1983 event turned a profit, he would end his involvement with rock festivals and get back to designing computers.[62] Later that year, Wozniak returned to Apple product development, desiring no more of a role than that of an engineer and a motivational factor for the Apple workforce.[5][58]: 323–324
Starting in the mid-1980s, as the Macintosh experienced slow but steady growth, Apple's corporate leadership, including Steve Jobs, increasingly disrespected itsflagshipcash cow Apple II series—and Wozniak along with it. The Apple II division—other than Wozniak—was not invited to the Macintosh introduction event, and Wozniak was seen kicking the dirt in the parking lot.[63] Although Apple II products provided about 85% of Apple's sales in early 1985, the company's January 1985 annual meeting did not mention the Apple II division or its employees, a typical situation that frustrated Wozniak.[64]
Even with the success he had helped to create at Apple, Wozniak believed that the company was hindering him from being who he wanted to be, and that it was "the bane of his existence".[65] He enjoyed engineering, not management, and said that he missed "the fun of the early days".[10] As other talented engineers joined the growing company, he no longer believed he was needed there.[5] By early 1985, Wozniak left Apple again and sold most of his stock.[64] Media coverage attributed his departure to disagreements with Apple management, quoting his statement that Apple had "been going in the wrong direction for the last five years",[64] but Wozniak later objected to this portrayal and stated that he left primarily because he was excited to startCL 9 and recapture the fun of developing a new technology.[5]: 266
The Apple II platform financially carried the company well into the Macintosh era of the late 1980s;[64] it was made semi-portable with theApple IIc of 1984, and was extended, with some input from Wozniak, by the16-bitApple IIGS of 1986, and was discontinued altogether when theApple IIe was discontinued on November 15, 1993 (although theApple IIe card, which allowed compatible Macintosh computers to run Apple II software and use certain Apple II peripherals, was produced until May 1995).
After his career at Apple, Wozniak foundedCL 9 in 1985, which developed and brought the first programmableuniversal remote control to market in 1987, called the "CORE".[5] Beyond engineering, Wozniak's second lifelong goal had always been to teach elementary school because of the important role teachers play in students' lives. Eventually, he did teach computer classes to children from the fifth through ninth grades, and teachers as well.[60][65] Unuson continued to support this, funding additional teachers and equipment.[61]
In 2001, Wozniak foundedWheels of Zeus (WOZ)[66] to create wirelessGPS technology to "help everyday people find everyday things much more easily". In 2002, he joined the board of directors ofRipcord Networks, Inc., joining Apple alumniEllen Hancock,Gil Amelio, Mike Connor, and Wheels of Zeus co-founderAlex Fielding in a newtelecommunications venture. Later the same year he joined the board of directors ofDanger, Inc., the maker of theHip Top.
In 2006, Wheels of Zeus was closed, and Wozniak foundedAcquicor Technology, aholding company for acquiring technology companies and developing them, with Apple alumni Hancock and Amelio. From 2009 through 2014 he was chief scientist atFusion-io.[67] In 2014 he became chief scientist at Primary Data, which was founded by some former Fusion-io executives.[68]Silicon Valley Comic Con (SVCC) is an annualpop culture andtechnologyconvention at theSan Jose McEnery Convention Center inSan Jose, California. The convention was co-founded by Wozniak and Rick White, with Trip Hunter as CEO.[69] Wozniak announced the annual event in 2015 along withMarvel legendStan Lee.[70] In October 2017, Wozniak foundedWoz U, an online educational technology service for independent students and employees.[71] As of December 2018, Woz U was licensed as a school with theArizona state board.[72]
Though permanently leaving Apple as an active employee in 1985, Wozniak chose to never remove himself from the official employee list, and continues to represent the company at events or in interviews.[10] Today he receives a stipend from Apple for this role, estimated in 2006 to beUS$120,000 per year.[5][10][73] He is also an Apple shareholder.[74] He maintained a friendly acquaintance with Steve Jobs until Jobs's death in October 2011.[75] However, in 2006, Wozniak stated that he and Jobs were not as close as they used to be.[76]
In a 2013 interview, Wozniak said that the originalMacintosh "failed" under Steve Jobs, and that it was not until Jobs left that it became a success. He called theApple Lisa group the team that had kicked Jobs out, and that Jobs liked to call the Lisa group "idiots for making [the Lisa computer] too expensive". To compete with the Lisa, Jobs and his new team produced a cheaper computer, one that, according to Wozniak, was "weak", "lousy" and "still at a fairly high price". "He made it by cutting the RAM down, by forcing you to swap disks here and there", says Wozniak. He attributed the eventual success of the Macintosh to people likeJohn Sculley "who worked to build a Macintosh market when the Apple II went away".[8]
At the end of 2020, Wozniak announced the launch of a new company helmed by him, Efforce. Efforce is described as a marketplace for funding ecologically friendly projects. It used a WOZXcryptocurrency token for funding and blockchain to redistribute the profit to token holders and businesses engaged on the platform.[77] In September 2021, it was reported that Wozniak was also starting a company alongside co-founderAlex Fielding namedPrivateer Space to address the problem ofspace debris.[78][79] Privateer Space debuted the first version of its space traffic monitoring software on March 1, 2022.[80] In 2024, Wozniak suedYouTube in respect to a scam that was being circulated on the platform using his likeness. Later, he won after a San Jose appeals court ruled YouTube was liable for failing to combat it.[81]
In March 2015, Wozniak stated that he had originally dismissedRay Kurzweil's opinion thatmachine intelligence would outpace human intelligence. But within several decades, Wozniak had changed his mind:
I agree that the future is scary and very bad for people. If we build these devices to take care of everything for us, eventually they'll think faster than us and they'll get rid of the slow humans to run companies more efficiently.
Wozniak stated that he had started to identify a contradictory sense of foreboding about artificial intelligence, while still supporting the advance of technology.[89]By June 2015, Wozniak changed his mind again, stating that asuperintelligence takeover would be good for humans:
They're going to be smarter than us and if they're smarter than us then they'll realise they need us ... We want to be the family pet and be taken care of all the time ... I got this idea a few years ago and so I started feeding my dog filet steak and chicken every night because 'do unto others'.[90][91]
In 2016, Wozniak changed his mind again, stating that he no longer worried about the possibility of superintelligence emerging because he is skeptical that computers will be able to compete with human "intuition": "A computer could figure out a logical endpoint decision, but that's not the way intelligence works in humans". Wozniak added that if computers do become superintelligent, "they're going to be partners of humans over all other species just forever".[92][93][94]
Wozniak signed a 2023open letter from theFuture of Life Institute calling for "all AI labs to immediately pause for at least 6 months the training of AI systems more powerful than GPT-4".[95] In an interview to the BBC in May 2023 Wozniak said that AI may make scams more difficult to detect, noting that "AI is so intelligent it's open to the bad players, the ones that want to trick you about who they are".[96]
Wozniak lives inLos Gatos, California. He applied forAustralian citizenship in 2012, and has stated that he would like to live inMelbourne, Australia, in the future.[97] Wozniak has been referred to frequently by the nickname "Woz", or "The Woz"; he has also been called "The Wonderful Wizard of Woz" and "The Second Steve" (in regard to his early business partner and longtime friend,Steve Jobs).[98] "WoZ" (short for "Wheels of Zeus") is the name of a company he founded in 2002; it closed in 2006.[99]
Wozniak describes his impetus for joining theFreemasons in 1979 as being able to spend more time with his then-wife, Alice Robertson, who belonged to theOrder of the Eastern Star, associated with the Masons. He was initiated in 1979 at Charity Lodge No. 362 inCampbell, California, now part of Mt. Moriah Lodge No. 292 in Los Gatos.[100] Today he is no longer involved: "I did become a Freemason and know what it's about but it doesn't really fit my tech/geek personality. Still, I can be polite to others from other walks of life. After our divorce was filed I never attended again but I did contribute enough for a lifetime membership."[101]
Wozniak was married toslalom canoe gold-medalistCandice Clark from June 1981 to 1987. They have three children together, the youngest being born after their divorce was finalized.[102][103] After a high-profile relationship with actressKathy Griffin, who described him onTom Green's House Tonight in 2008 as "the biggest techno-nerd in the Universe", Wozniak married Janet Hill, his current spouse.[104] On his religious views, Wozniak has called himself an "atheist or agnostic".[105][106]
He is a member of aSegway Polo team, theSilicon Valley Aftershocks,[107] and is considered a "super fan" of theNHL ice hockey teamSan Jose Sharks.[108] In 1998, he co-authored withLarry WildeThe Official Computer Freaks Joke Book. In 2006, he co-authored withGina Smith his autobiography,iWoz: From Computer Geek to Cult Icon: How I Invented the Personal Computer, Co-Founded Apple, and Had Fun Doing It. The book madeThe New York Times Best Seller list.[3]
Wozniak has discussed his personal disdain for money and accumulating large amounts of wealth. He toldFortune magazine in 2017, "I didn't want to be near money, because it could corrupt your values ... I really didn't want to be in that super 'more than you could ever need' category." He also said that he only invests in things "close to his heart". When Apple first went public in 1980, Wozniak offered $10 million of his own stock to early Apple employees, something Jobs refused to do.[109] In 2017, Wozniak received a Polish citizenship and visited Poland to meet with government and technology industry representatives and to visit his father’s [ancestral] hometown.[110]
He has the conditionprosopagnosia (face blindness).[111] Wozniak has expressed support for theright to repair movement. In July 2021, he made aCameo video in response to right to repair activistLouis Rossmann, in which he described the issue as something that has "really affected me emotionally", and credited Apple's early breakthroughs to open technology of the 1970s.[112][113] In November 2023, Wozniak suffered aminor stroke while preparing to speak at a conference in Mexico City. He was hospitalized briefly before returning home.[114][115] Wozniak became aSerbian citizen in December 2023. He said that he and his wife Janet, who is also getting a passport, will promote Serbia while living in the U.S.[116][117]
Later he donated funds to create the "Woz Lab" at the University of Colorado at Boulder. In 1998, he was named a Fellow of theComputer History Museum "for co-founding Apple Computer and inventing the Apple I personal computer."[119]
In 2000, Wozniak received theAmerican Computer & Robotics Museum's George R. Stibitz Computing and Communications Innovator Award "for inventing the Apple I & Apple II computers & for co-founding of the Apple Computer Company."[120] In 2022, Wozniak received the museum's Lifetime Achievement award for his role in the invention of the Apple I & II computers and the co-founding Apple.[121][122] He has also personally signed and donated an Apple I to the museum, and is listed as one of the museum's "founders" level donors for this donation.[123]
The New York City Chapter of Young Presidents' Organization presented their 2014 Lifetime Achievement Award to Wozniak on October 16, 2014, at theAmerican Museum of Natural History.[129]
In November 2014,Industry Week added Wozniak to the Manufacturing Hall of Fame.[130]
On June 19, 2015, Wozniak received the Legacy for Children Award from theChildren's Discovery Museum of San Jose. The Legacy for Children Award honors an individual whose legacy has significantly benefited the learning and lives of children. The purpose of the Award is to focusSilicon Valley's attention on the needs of our children, encouraging us all to take responsibility for their well-being. Candidates are nominated by a committee of notable community members involved in children's education, health care, human and social services, and the arts.[131] The city of San Jose named a street "Woz Way" in his honor. The street address of the Children's Discovery Museum of San Jose is 180 Woz Way.
On June 20, 2015, The Cal Alumni Association (UC Berkeley's Alumni Association) presented Wozniak with the 2015 Alumnus of the Year Award. "We are honored to recognize Steve Wozniak with CAA's most esteemed award", said CAA President Cynthia So Schroeder '91. "His invaluable contributions to education and to UC Berkeley place him among Cal's most accomplished and respected alumni."[132]
In March 2016,High Point University announced that Wozniak will serve as their Innovator in Residence. Wozniak was High Point University's commencement speaker in 2013. Through this ongoing partnership, Wozniak will connect with High Point University students on a variety of topics and make campus-visits periodically.[133][134]
In March 2017, Wozniak was listed by UK-based company Richtopia at number 18 on its list of the 200 Most Influential Philanthropists and Social Entrepreneurs.[135][136]
Wozniak portrays a parody of himself in the first episode of the television seriesCode Monkeys; he plays the owner of Gameavision before selling it to help fund his next enterprise.[163][164] He later appears again in the 12th episode when he is inLas Vegas at the annual Video Game Convention and sees Dave and Jerry. He also appears in a parody of the "Get a Mac" ads featured in the final episode ofCode Monkeys second season.
Wozniak is interviewed and featured in the documentaryHackers Wanted.
Wozniak competed on Season 8 ofDancing with the Stars in 2009[165][166] where he danced withKarina Smirnoff. Though Wozniak and Smirnoff received 10 combined points from the three judges out of 30, the lowest score of the evening, he remained in the competition. He later posted on asocial networking site that he believed that the vote count was not legitimate and suggested that theDancing with the Stars judges had lied about the vote count to keep him on the show.[167] After being briefed on the method of judging and vote counting, he retracted and apologized for his statements.[168] Though suffering a pulledhamstring and a fracture in his foot, Wozniak continued to compete,[169] but was eliminated from the competition on March 31, with a score of 12 out of 30 for anArgentine Tango.[170]
^abcdefghijLinzmayer, Owen W. (2004).Apple Confidential 2.0 : The Definitive History of the World's Most Colorful Company (Rev. 2nd ed.). San Francisco, Calif.: No Starch Press.ISBN1-59327-010-0.
^Wozniak, Steve."Letters-General Questions Answered".Woz.org.Archived from the original on June 25, 2015. RetrievedApril 6, 2025.My mother's family came from Germany. My father's family came from Poland. I think this is accurate. Either family might have come from the other country, or near the border.
^abcdSchlender, Brent; Tetzeli, Rick (2016).Becoming Steve Jobs: The Evolution of a Reckless Upstart into a Visionary Leader. Crown Business; Reprint edition.ISBN9780385347426.
^Tirrell, Rick (2009).The wisdom of resilience builders : how our best leaders create the world's most enduring enterprises. Bloomington, IN:AuthorHouse. p. 236.ISBN978-1-4490-5323-9.
^O'Grady, Jason D. (2009).Apple Inc. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press. p. 27.ISBN978-0-313-36244-6.
^abFlatow, Ira.Present at the Future: From Evolution to Nanotechnology, Candid and Controversial Conversations on Science and Nature. USA:HarperCollins, 2007. 263-4. Print.
^Wozniak, Steve (2002)."Letters-General Questions Answered".Woz.org. Los Gatos, California. Archived fromthe original on April 23, 2016. RetrievedNovember 22, 2017.I am also atheist or agnostic (I don't even know the difference). I've never been to church and prefer to think for myself. I do believe that religions stand for good things, and that if you make irrational sacrifices for a religion, then everyone can tell that your religion is important to you and can trust that your most important inner faiths are strong.
^Brian Riley (2012)."Interview with Steve Wozniak". Davis, California: BrianRiley.us. Archived fromthe original on August 19, 2014. RetrievedAugust 17, 2014.I'm kind of spiritual inside. I have a lot of philosophies of how to be a good person, how to treat people, and I've worked them out, thinking over and over, reflecting inside my mind the way shy people do, and I was very shy, and coming up with my own little keys and rules for life, and they stayed with me.
^Matczak, Marta (March 9, 2023)."Who is who? Steve Wozniak and his latest endeavors".LOG.Archived from the original on March 18, 2024. RetrievedApril 6, 2025.Wozniak takes pride in his Polish heritage and culture, and in 2017, he was granted Polish citizenship and visited Poland to meet with government and technology industry representatives and to visit his father's hometown.
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