50 Fun Facts About Steve Wozniak

Which company did Steve Wozniak co-found in 1976?

It was originally called Apple Computer and he started it with Steve Jobs.

In which California city was Wozniak born in 1950?

His father was an engineer for the Lockheed Corporation.

From which Cupertino school did Wozniak graduate in 1968?

Steve Jobs later attended the same school, and Bill Fernandez introduced the two.

What nickname did Wozniak earn in the phone-phreaking community?

It came from his blue box design in the early 1970s.

Why was Wozniak expelled from the University of Colorado Boulder?

He later funded a Woz Lab there and received an honorary doctorate from the university in 1989.

What did Wozniak and a friend name the computer they built in 1971?

It used 20 TTL chips and punch cards; a reporter stepped on the power cable and blew it up.

For which company was Wozniak designing calculators before Apple?

He met Steve Jobs when Jobs worked there for a summer.

Who introduced Wozniak to Steve Jobs?

Fernandez went on to become Apple's first full-time employee.

Which 1971 Esquire article inspired Wozniak's phone-phreaking devices?

It ran in the October 1971 issue of Esquire.

How much did Jobs sell each of Wozniak's blue boxes for?

Jobs later said that without the blue boxes there would not have been an Apple.

Which Atari arcade game's circuit board did Wozniak help Jobs slim down in 1973?

He cut 50 chips by using RAM to represent the bricks.

How much was the Atari bonus that Jobs told Wozniak was only $700?

Wozniak got $350 and only learned the truth ten years later.

Which hobbyist group did Wozniak design the Apple I to impress?

Its video capability drew a crowd when unveiled to the Palo Alto group.

Which real computer did Wozniak's hoax Zaltair parody?

The fake brochure even carried a shipping label for MITS, the Altair's maker.

What was the fictional programming language in the Zaltair brochure called?

It promised you could define your own language, a feature called perZonality.

How many times did HP turn down Wozniak's Apple I design?

Jobs then persuaded him to start a business selling bare circuit boards.

What did Wozniak sell to raise money for the first batch of Apple I boards?

Jobs sold his Volkswagen van.

Who was the short-lived third co-founder of Apple Computer in April 1976?

He served as administrative supervisor before dropping out.

Where had Jobs just been when he suggested the company name?

He told Wozniak about his time there shortly before they picked the name.

Who ordered 50 Apple I computers for his Byte Shop?

He insisted on fully assembled machines at $500 each.

What was the retail price of the Apple I?

Wozniak said he just liked repeating digits and had no idea about the number of the beast.

Which $25 CPU did the Apple I use?

The board had 256 bytes of ROM and 4K or 8K of RAM; about 200 units were built.

Roughly how many Apple I computers were produced?

Buyers had to supply their own case, power supply, keyboard and display.

The Apple II was the first personal computer able to display what?

Wozniak put colour into NTSC with a one-dollar chip and still says he does not know how PAL colour works.

How many expansion slots did Wozniak insist the Apple II should have?

Jobs wanted two; Wozniak told him to go get himself another computer.

At which event was the Apple II introduced in April 1977?

Wozniak's first article about it ran in Byte magazine that May.

What did Wozniak's 1978 Disk II replace as Apple II storage?

The floppy drive was designed specifically for the Apple II.

Which 1980 machine did Wozniak say had 100 percent hardware failures?

He blamed its design by the marketing department rather than engineers.

With whom did Wozniak shape the early Macintosh concept from 1979 to 1981?

Jobs took over the project after Wozniak's plane crash.

What aircraft was Wozniak piloting when he crashed in February 1981?

He was not qualified to fly it; the NTSB cited premature liftoff and pilot inexperience.

What condition did Wozniak suffer for five weeks after the crash?

He said Apple II computer games helped him regain his memory.

Under what name did Wozniak re-enrol at UC Berkeley in 1981?

It is the name printed on his diploma.

What was the name of the company Wozniak formed to stage the US Festivals?

It stood for unite us in song, and concert promoter Bill Graham helped.

What share of Apple's sales did Apple II products provide in early 1985?

Yet the January 1985 annual meeting did not mention the Apple II division at all.

What did Wozniak's company CL 9 bring to market in 1987?

The CORE was the first of its kind.

What was Wheels of Zeus, founded in 2001, meant to create?

The goal was to help everyday people find everyday things more easily.

At which flash-memory company was Wozniak chief scientist from 2009 to 2014?

He then became chief scientist at Primary Data, founded by former Fusion-io executives.

Which comics legend joined Wozniak to announce Silicon Valley Comic Con in 2015?

The convention is held at the San Jose McEnery Convention Center.

What problem does Wozniak's company Privateer aim to tackle?

Its space traffic monitoring software debuted on March 1, 2022.

Which sport does Wozniak play with the Silicon Valley Aftershocks?

He is also a super fan of the San Jose Sharks.

Which comedian did Wozniak date, appearing on her show My Life on the D-List?

She called him the biggest techno-nerd in the Universe.

Who was Wozniak's professional partner on Dancing with the Stars in 2009?

He was eliminated on March 31 with 12 out of 30 for an Argentine Tango.

In which sitcom did Sheldon approach Wozniak via a telepresence robot?

Penny already knew him from Dancing with the Stars.

Who played Wozniak in Danny Boyle's 2015 film Steve Jobs?

Josh Gad played him in Jobs (2013) and Joey Slotnick in Pirates of Silicon Valley (1999).

Which two countries' citizenship does Wozniak hold besides American?

He received Polish citizenship in 2017 and Serbian citizenship by exception in 2023.

What condition, meaning face blindness, does Wozniak have?

He has also spoken out for the right-to-repair movement.

What street address does the Children's Discovery Museum of San Jose have?

The city named the street in his honour; he is the museum's founding sponsor.

Which award did Wozniak and Jobs receive from President Reagan in 1985?

It is the country's highest honour for technological achievement.

Where was Wozniak initiated as a Freemason in 1979?

He joined to spend time with his then-wife, who was in the Order of the Eastern Star.

How much of his own Apple stock did Wozniak offer to early employees at the 1980 IPO?

Jobs refused to do the same.