A head honcho in the race to deliver accessible personal computers to the wider public, Wozniak is considered a pioneer. Having designed the Apple I in 1975 prior to Jobs putting it to market, Wozniak is one of the most important inventors of our time.
During his time employed by Hewlett-Packard, designing calculators - Wozniak met Steve Jobs, striking up a friendship that would stand the test of time and pave the way for a collaboration that would ultimately change the face of technology as we know it.
1973 saw Jobs enlist the services of Wozniak to develop a circuit board design for Atari, Inc. The company offered Jobs $100 for every chip he was able to remove from the machine, and with little knowledge of the practice himself, Jobs brought in Wozniak, offering to split the fee 50/50. Ultimately Wozniak was able to reduce the number of chips by 50, using RAM. The technology was too complex for general comprehension at the time, but Jobs was paid the full bonus, sharing just $350 of the $5000 he received with Wozniak.
But the two continued to innovate - appearing at the Homebrew Computer Club attempting to impress other electronic hobbyists. Wozniak had been working on what was to become the Apple I - designing the operating system, circuit board and hardware prior and had even offered the design to HP, who rejected it on numerous occasions.
Jobs convinced Wozniak to set up Apple, Inc with the intention of retailing the Apple I as a printed circuit board. They set up shop in Jobs' garage, assembling the boards, selling the first 50 of these to computer shop owner, Paul Tyrell.
But it was Wozniak's Apple II which was the beginning of Apple as we know it today. It was the first personal computer in history to display colour graphics and became the first successfully mass-produced computer in the world. As Apple went public, Wozniak became rich, and soon after, he was in a plane crash which first saw him leave Apple.
Wozniak returned following his recovery but for a short time, before he founded CL 9 in 1985, developing the first programmable universal remote control. He also founded Wheels of Zeus, creating wireless GPS technology.
Wozniak's list of honours include the National Medal of Technology from Ronald Reagan. He was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame and The American Humanist Association awarded him the Isaac Asimov Science Award in 2011. In addition, he was awarded the 66th Hoover Medal, won the 2018 Human of the Year Award at The Human Project Summit and in 2017 was listed at number 18 by Richtopia in a list of the 200 Most Influential Philanthropists and Social Entrepreneurs.
Throughout his career Wozniak has positioned himself as one of the most important authorities on electronic engineering, technology and entrepreneurship. His incredible experiences throughout his career, not only with Apple but with innovations in GPS and programming have paved the way for the technology of today.
You can book the extraordinary mind of Steve Wozniak to wow your students at your seminar today.
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