June Carter Cash
Musical Monikers
Madonna
Justin Bieber
My Ghost Story
I Survived
Babe Ruth
Johnny Cash
Georgia O'Keefe
I Survived
Quick Facts
- NAME: Steve Wozniak
- OCCUPATION: Entrepreneur, Computer Programmer, Engineer, Inventor
- BIRTH DATE: August 11, 1950 (Age: 62)
- EDUCATION: University of California, Berkeley
- PLACE OF BIRTH: San Jose, California
- Nickname: "The Woz"
- AKA: Stephen Wozniak
- AKA: Steve Wozniak
- Full Name: Stephen Gary Wozniak
- ZODIAC SIGN: Leo
Best Known For
Steve Wozniak is an American computer scientist best known as one of the founders of Apple and the inventor of the Apple II computer.
Videos see all videos
-
-
Steve Jobs - Mini Biography (3:39)
-
-
Steve Jobs - Innovation (3:08)
Steve Wozniak - Revolution Generation
Steve talks about his love for his childhood erector set, his toys' influence on his success and his memories of the JFK Assassination.
Steve Jobs - Mini Biography
Steve Jobs met Steve Wozniak while in high school and in 1976, they started Apple Computers. Jobs oversaw the development of revolutionary products like the iPhone and iPad.
Steve Jobs - Rivalry with Bill Gates
Biographer Walter Isaacson, author of "Steve Jobs," details the friendship and rivalry between Bill Gates and Steve Jobs that lasted for more than 30 years. Video courtesy of Simon & Schuster © 2012.
Steve Jobs - Innovation
Biographer Walter Isaacson, author of "Steve Jobs," talks about what was most important to Steve Jobs while developing his products--simplicity. Video courtesy of Simon & Schuster © 2012.
Quiz
Think you know about Biography?
Answer questions and see how you rank against other players.
Play NowSteve Wozniak. (2013). The Biography Channel website. Retrieved 01:14, May 23, 2013, from http://www.biography.com/people/steve-wozniak-9537334.
Steve Wozniak. [Internet]. 2013. The Biography Channel website. Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/steve-wozniak-9537334 [Accessed 23 May 2013].
"Steve Wozniak." 2013. The Biography Channel website. May 23 2013, 01:14 http://www.biography.com/people/steve-wozniak-9537334.
"Steve Wozniak," The Biography Channel website, 2013, http://www.biography.com/people/steve-wozniak-9537334 [accessed May 23, 2013].
"Steve Wozniak," The Biography Channel website, http://www.biography.com/people/steve-wozniak-9537334 (accessed May 23, 2013).
Steve Wozniak [Internet]. The Biography Channel website; 2013 [cited 2013 May 23] Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/steve-wozniak-9537334.
Steve Wozniak, http://www.biography.com/people/steve-wozniak-9537334 (last visited May 23, 2013).
Steve Wozniak. The Biography Channel website. 2013. Available at: http://www.biography.com/people/steve-wozniak-9537334. Accessed May 23, 2013.
Synopsis
Steve Wozniak was born in San Jose, California, on August 11, 1950. In partnership with his friend Steve Jobs, Wozniak invented the Apple I computer. The pair founded Apple Computers in 1976 with Ronald Wayne, releasing some of the first personal computers on the market. Wozniak also personally developed the next model, Apple II, which established Apple as a major player in microcomputing.
Founding Apple Computer
The son of an engineer at Lockheed Martin, Stephen Gary Wozniak, born on August 11, 1950, was fascinated by electronics at an early age. Although he was never a star student in the traditional sense, Wozniak had an aptitude for building working electronics from scratch.
During his brief stint at the University of California at Berkeley, Steve Wozniak met Steve Jobs through a mutual friend. The two paired up to form Apple Computer on April 1, 1976, prompting Wozniak to quit his job at Hewlett-Packard.
Working out of a family garage, he and Jobs attempted to produce a user-friendly alternative to the computers that were being introduced by International Business Machines at that time. Wozniak worked on the invention of products and Jobs was responsible for marketing.
Not long after Apple was founded, Wozniak created the Apple I, a so-called "Homebrew" design built largely in Jobs's bedroom and garage. With Wozniak's knowledge of electronics and Jobs's marketing skills, the two were well-suited to do business together. Wozniak went on to conceive the Apple II as part of the company's personal-computer series, and by 1983, Apple had a stock value of $985 million.
Wozniak ended his employment with Apple in 1987.
Personal Life
In February of 1981, Wozniak was injured when the private plane he was piloting crashed while taking off from the Santa Cruz Sky Park. His painstaking recovery lasted two years, as he suffered from a variety of injuries and amnesia.
Not one to flaunt his personal life, Wozniak is married to Janet Hill, an Apple education development executive. The less-notorious of the original Apple duo, Wozniak has nevertheless made appearences on the reality show Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List and ABC's Dancing with the Stars (season 8).
Later Career
Following his accident and subsequent recovery, Wozniak went on to found numerous ventures, including CL 9, the company responsible for the first programmable universal remote control.
Called one of "Silicon Valley's most creative engineers," in 1990 he joined Mitchell Kapor in establishing the Electronic Frontier Foundation, an organization which provides legal aid for computer hackers facing criminal prosecution. Wozniak also founded Wheels of Zeus (WoZ) in 2001, a venture started with the aim of developing wireless GPS technology.
After WoZ closed in 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. Three years later, he joined the Salt Lake City-based start-up Fusion-io as its chief scientist.
© 2013 A+E Networks. All rights reserved.
profile name: Steve Wozniak profile occupation:
Your Connections
Sign in with Facebook to see how you and your friends are connected to famous icons.
Profile Connections
Included In These Groups
-
Modern Titans of Tech
View groupFacebook, Twitter, Google, iPhone— they're the names of technologies so pervasive in our 21st century lives that we've started using them as verbs. Behind these technologies are individuals whose ingenuity and enterprising spirit have profoundly changed our lives. Far from being computer nerds, these tech geniuses are billionaire celebrities, household names and the subjects of hit movies. From Steve Jobs of Apple to Mark Zuckerburg of Facebook, here are the most famous modern titans of tech.
Modern Titans of Tech 16 people in this group
-
Apple Icons
View groupSteve Jobs wasn't the only person in history to turn the apple into a significant cultural symbol. Somewhere in between the origin of the Adam and Eve story and the invention of the iPod, there were dozens of notable people who transformed the forbidden fruit into a significant statement.
Apple Icons 10 people in this group
-
Cast of Dancing with the Stars
View groupThe famous dance-competition show Dancing with the Stars has seen more than a dozen seasons and a gamut of stars, including Apolo Anton Ohno, Kirstie Alley, Joey Fatone, Jennifer Grey, David Hasselhoff, Buzz Aldrin, Brandy, Wynonna Judd, Dorothy Hamill, D.L. Hughley and Aly Raisman. Learn more about the show's contestants, who, for a period, swapped their skills as athletes, actors, musicians, comedians, TV personalities and politicians for a chance to show off their footwork on national TV.
Cast of Dancing with the Stars 92 people in this group
