Steve Wozniak

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Steve Wozniak bigraphy, stories - Co-founder of Apple Inc.

Steve Wozniak : biography

August 11, 1950 –

Stephen Gary "Steve" Wozniak (born August 11, 1950), known as Woz, is an American inventor, computer engineer and programmer who co-founded Apple Computer (now Apple Inc.) with Steve Jobs and Ronald Wayne. Wozniak single-handedly invented both the Apple I and Apple II computers in the 1970s. These computers contributed significantly to the microcomputer revolution.

Personal life

Wozniak was born to Francis Jacob "Jerry" Wozniak and Margaret Louise Wozniak. Wozniak’s ancestry is possibly Polish on one side and German on the other, though Wozniak has said that "Either family might have come from the other country, or near the border." Now Wozniak lives in Los Gatos, California.

He is also a member of the Freemasons, despite not believing in a supreme being (which is required by mason rules). Wozniak describes his impetus for joining the Freemasons as being able to spend more time with his wife at the time, Alice. Alice belonged to the Order of the Eastern Star, associated with the Masons. Wozniak has said that he quickly rose to a third degree Freemason because, whatever he does, he tries to do well. He was initiated in 1979 at Charity Lodge No. 362 in Campbell, California, now part of Mt. Moriah Lodge No. 292 in Los Gatos, California.

Wozniak is married to Janet Hill. from Apple 2.0" on CNNMoney He has three children from a previous marriage.

On his religious views, Wozniak called himself an "atheist or agnostic".

He is a member of a Segway Polo team, the Silicon Valley Aftershocks.

His favorite video game is Tetris., by Daniel Terdiman, December 11, 2007, Geek Gestalt on CNET News. In the 1990s he submitted so many high scores for the game to Nintendo Power that they would no longer print his scores, so he started sending them in under the alphabetically reversed "Evets Kainzow"., by Steve Wozniak, Undated, Woz.org

It was reported in 2013, that Wozniak is a step closer to becoming an Australian citizen.

Airplane crash

On February 7, 1981, the Beechcraft Bonanza A36TC Wozniak was piloting crashed soon after takeoff from the Sky Park Airport in Scotts Valley, California. The plane stalled while climbing, then bounced down the runway, went through two fences, and crashed into an embankment. Wozniak and his three passengers, then-fiance Candice Clark, her brother and his girlfriend, were injured. Wozniak sustained severe face and head injuries, including losing a tooth, and also suffered for five weeks after the crash from anterograde amnesia, the inability to create new memories. He had no memory of the crash, and did not remember his time in hospital or the things he did after he was released from the hospital. The National Transportation Safety Board investigation report cited premature liftoff and pilot inexperience as probable causes of the crash.

Post-Apple career

Wozniak founded a new venture called CL 9, which developed and brought the first programmable universal remote control to market in 1987. Wozniak also taught fifth-grade students.

In 2001, Wozniak founded Wheels of Zeus (WoZ), to create wireless GPS technology to "help everyday people find everyday things much more easily." In 2002, he joined the Board of Directors of Ripcord Networks, Inc., joining Ellen Hancock, Gil Amelio, Mike Connor, and Wheels of Zeus co-founder Alex Fielding, all Apple alumni, in a new telecommunications venture. Later the same year he joined the Board of Directors of Danger, Inc., the maker of the Hip Top (a.k.a. Side Kick from T-Mobile).

In 2006, Wheels of Zeus was closed, and Wozniak founded Acquicor Technology, a holding company for acquiring technology companies and developing them, with Apple alumni Ellen Hancock and Gil Amelio.

In September 2006, Wozniak published his autobiography, iWoz: From Computer Geek to Cult Icon: How I Invented the Personal Computer, Co-Founded Apple, and Had Fun Doing It. It was co-authored by writer Gina Smith.