A few days ago, Apple’s co-founder Steve Wozniak allegedly said that Apple should spin off its iPod division, and that going with Intel is ‘consorting with the enemy’. Wozniak was very quick to deny having made the claims; Peter Nowak, the reporter in question, now has the proof that Wozniak did indeed say what was reported. Transcript and audiotape [.mp3]: they both back Nowak.
Heh…
I don’t agree that Apple should spin off the iPod division (although that would have been a good idea 2 years ago, but probably not today), neither that Intel is the big bad evil.
Within the 2004-2006 range, Apple is doing better than ever.
I’m dying to hear what Woz has to say this time.
Btw, the reporter’s name is Peter Nowak not Nowakis?
Just feels like a casual connversation about technology and his former company. Almost like he’s thinking about his position on the subject while he’s talking. To me, it doesn’t seem half as malicious as people were acting.
As for him denying it, I think, when told in soundbites like Apple is “consorting with the enemy” it paints a slightly different picture then this transcript. That’s just my take – maybe he’s denying based on context.
Anyway, at this point Woz is nothing more than an outsider, not unlike many armchair CEO’s that frequent these boards and think they know a better way to run an already thriving Apple.
Having read the interview, and the original story, I have to say Mr. Wozniak was right. The original story started off by saying:
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Still, it’s hard for Mr. Wozniak not to pay attention to Apple. With the runaway success of its iPod music players and its recent shift to Intel processors, Apple is heading in some drastically new directions. Apple’s recent embrace of Intel processors, for one, is something Mr. Wozniak says he never imagined.
“It’s like consorting with the enemy. We’ve had this long history of saying the enemy is the big black-hatted guys, and they kind of represent evil. We are different, and by being different we’re better,” he says. “All of a sudden we’re the same in this hardware regard, so it’s a little hard to swallow your words from the past.”
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What Mr. Wozniak actually said was (emphasis added)
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Q: So there are two interesting things going on with Apple these days. First is the switch to Intel processors. What do you think about that?
A: Even from when it was first announced, I was kind of bored with it. The reasoning for it was correct. We want faster laptops and the like and the key to that is performance per watt. So it was exactly, to a computer architect designer… I wish that Motorola had a brand new silicon process that would be applied forever, like IBM had copper to get higher speeds at lower power. No, Intel just did a very good logic design to not turn on more than needed at any time on the chip and it keeps the power lower, so we’ll have higher-speed Macintoshs. And we switched before to a Power PC. Anyone who went through that transition of going from one processor to another with emulators to make the old stuff work, this one actually should be simpler and easier because we’ve developed for so long on Intel hardware anyway.
Q: Do you think on a philosophical level though there’s a good many people out there who think, oh I can’t believe Apple has switched to Intel, it’s kind of like consorting with the enemy?
A: Absolutely. And you said it exactly right, it’s like consorting with the enemy. We have had this long, long history of saying the enemy is the big black-hatted guys, they kind of represent evil, and we are different and by being different we’re better. All of a sudden we’re the same in this hardware regard, it’s a little hard to swallow your own words from the past. And if it wasn’t needed, I would say we shouldn’t do it, and I have some questions as to how much it’s needed. But I don’t really have any fears or it’s not going to bother me that some software isn’t going to work for a while. I mean, anybody who jumps into it real early still has their old computer anyway.
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Now Mr Nowak can act all high and indignant, and play around with all the semantic nonsense that he likes, put it’s clear that he took Mr Wozniak’s comments out of context to make the story as sensational as possible.
That said, the depressing state of IT “journalism” certainly helped, with each successive iteration between globalandmail.com, and news.com, and eweek.com and slashdot.org adding their own pinch of sensationalism at the expense of quality factual analysis. Mr. Wozniak may have gone too far the other way in his denial, but I think its fair to say the article didn’t correctly portray his stated opinions on the Intel/Apple thing.
Edited 2006-03-03 23:10
If what you quoted is true and complete (I am too lazy to double-check), then I absolutely agree with you “it’s clear that he took Mr Wozniak’s comments out of context to make the story as sensational as possible”.
Good job!
Thanks for you post, saves me reading more BS. It’s a sad state of affairs that someone like Woz can’t speak to a journalist without a lawyer to his side, with a suitcase full of detrimental photos and facts about the journalist.
Journalism is dead, long live the blogs… Oh dear.
Bang on. Thanks for saving me the trouble of highlighting same
Killer post! I think if you read the transcript you have to agree with Woz. Besides the directing questions, which you did such a good job pointing out, he really didn’t say the iPod should be spun off.
If anyone wants to read Woz’ original response in his own words it’s here : http://listserver.themacintoshguy.com/pipermail/titanium/2006-Febru…
I must say I agree when he says “The problem with thinking is that if you think out a 30 second explanation, it passes over the 5 second sound-byte crowd.”
Great post. But the thing about it is that it’s not just IT journalism. That’s how journalism is period. Inject a little sensationalism as well as opinion, then hide behind the sensationalism to act as though you have no opinion.
They do this all the time in nearly every single news source you can think of. Some more, and more blatant than others.
————its fair to say the article didn’t correctly portray his stated opinions—————
Agreed.
Journalism is not about reporting news. These days, they make news.
Have you seen the new CBS poll? Perfect example.
“…[i]t’s clear that he took Mr Wozniak’s comments out of context to make the story as sensational as possible.”
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Yupper. That’s the way of journalism these days as the line between entertainment and news becomes increasingly blurry.
I don’t want to be rude, but who realy cares what Woz has to say about Apple? He’s only on payroll for legacy reason, nothing else.
I think that Steeve is doing a great job. Apple is having their best years. iPod, iTunes, new macs, the move to Intel, nothing bad in all this. A very bright man.
At least, now nobody can say that Apple will die in a couple of months, like it used to be in the early ’90.
Alive and kicking! Go Apple and Go Jobs!
I don’t want to be rude, but who realy cares what Woz has to say about Apple?
Wow, I would have said the opposite. Who among us (I assume most of the OSN readers are engineers or something like them) really cares about what Jobs has to say? Woz is the real deal. Clearly, he tends to put his foot in his mouth once in a while, and it goes without saying that his voice can’t launch a thousand titanium ships; however, give me the choice of one hour of talking with a ‘Steve’, and I’ll take Woz every time. The man is just interesting.
Long story short, I care what Woz has to say about Apple.
If you’ve ever spoken to the man you’d know he’s a wonderful individual who just enjoys technology. So what if he doesn’t agree with everything Apple does? Is he obligated to? The few times that I’ve spoken to Woz have always been fun and light hearted… and he’s entitled to have his opinions. Why does it seem like some people are trying to crucify him for this?
Exactly. Leave the man alone you damn journalists. May be he is a simple man who just happened to be popular and who doesn’t know how to talk in political language. These journalists don’t have one bit of brain and are just looking for sensation. The tech journalism is so sick now a days. I have lost complete respect for this guy named Nowak and would like to kick him if i get a chance.
Couldnt agree more… He is a real thing, so dont mess up with him
or you will mess with me 
))))))))))
Edited 2006-03-04 08:04
After reading the transcript I see that the interviewer used the term “consorting with the enemy” first. If that is not leading the conversation I don’t know what is. The whole thing sounds like someone expressing various thoughts on the questions asked and not someone expressing firm ideas about the subjects. Given the out of context statements being made I can see where Steve would be justified in denying what people are asserting with those statements.
To me Steve came across with mixed feelings about much of what he was asked. One can have feelings both for and against something and that is the way it came across to me.
Wow wow.
You know he’s rich and nerdy to combine segway and polo.
Does anyone really care?
This is like a soap-opera. Is this an os news story or the Enquirer?
“This is like a soap-opera. Is this an os news story or the Enquirer?”
All IT journalism is like the Enquirer or WWN, only not as entertaining.