Woz: I don't have broadband, and I never thought I'd get girls
Steve Wozniak, Apple's co-founder, tells a business forum in Australia that, because he doesn't have cable he can't get broadband, as it's a monopoly in his area. He also admitted that, once upon a time, he'd given up hope of finding a girl.
One can only imagine the gasps. And perhaps even a guffaw.
According to Australia's News.com, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak was addressing a business forum in Perth when he made a stark admission.
"I don't have broadband at my home," he said. In case the Australians hadn't heard, understood, or were merely in a state of catatonia, he added: "I, Steve Wozniak, don't have broadband at my home."
He went on to explain that broadband in his little part of Los Gatos, Calif., is "a monopoly." You have to get it from your cable company. But, being a forward-thinking person, Woz doesn't have cable.
He added: "There are 50 companies that want to sell me DSL, but they've all got to go through the Horizon wires -- the local phone company -- and I've got one of the two worst Horizons in the country."
Some might be delighted that the country has at least some good Horizons. Others might be aghast that one of the world's most famous characters in technology is being forced to live without broadband by such sad circumstances.
I am sure, though, that he manages with his collection of cell phones. He seems to like quite a few, including the Nokia Lumia.
Further revelations from what sounds like a magical business forum, were reported by Perth Now.
Woz spoke about how Steve Jobs "always seemed to be the most intelligent person in the room." It's clear that Woz admired who Jobs was and how he operated. It's clear that he admired how Jobs wasn't motivated by money.
"Some of the best things you do in life you do because you have no money -- you have to search for yourself to find the best way to do it," he said.
Woz seems to have looked at himself in a painfully contrasting manner to the way he saw Jobs. "I'm such a geek, I've got almost no chance of having a girlfriend or a wife,'' was apparently his mindset.
Fortunately, that seemed to dissipate over the years, as Woz has had four marriages.
He did, however, also say that the one person who made Apple a successful company wasn't Jobs, but Mike Markulla, Apple's first major investor.
"He made it a marketing-driven company," Woz said, explaining that this was in stark contrast to an engineering-driven company.
One wonders what Apple would have become if it had been engineers who made all the decisions. Different, perhaps.