Woz talks to Google

2006

Google through the mid-2000s was practically a paradise for engineers. As a non-engineer, I’m not qualified to make that judgment, but engineer friends told me it was true. Google was making brilliant advances in computing at scale, inventing new ways to maintain information across data centers around the world, process massive amounts of data, and efficiently work with tables containing billions of rows of data. Plus engineers at Google were treated very well.

One of the engineers Google attracted in the 2000s was Mac legend Andy Hertzfeld, a hero to many Silicon Valley engineers. And in turn, Andy’s engineering hero is Steve Wozniak, virtuoso creator of the Apple ][, and co-founder of Apple. So it made sense that Andy arranged for Woz to speak at Google as part of the Talks at Google program.

Woz is a superstar to many folks at an engineering-focused place like Google. But I wasn’t always sure who Woz was. I had first seen the mysterious word “Woz” in 1978 while reading the legendary Red Book that came with my Apple ][.

Program listing from the Red Book. Who or what was WOZ?

I soon learned that Woz was Steve Wozniak. The more I learned about Woz and his inventions, the more amazed I was: how he enabled the Apple ][ to use cheap cassette recorders to load and save programs; his incredible design for color output that two professional engineers told me "couldn't possibly work" (they told me this after more than 1 million Apple ][ computers using this design had been made and sold); his unique disk controller that somehow used software instead of hardware for timing and eliminated the need for all but 5 chips.

Woz speaking at Google was very exciting. He came to talk about his new book, iWoz: From Computer Geek to Cult Icon: How I Invented the Personal Computer, Co-Founded Apple, and Had Fun Doing It. But really, he could talk about whatever he wanted and we would have been entertained.

There was an enormous crowd of Google folks gathered in the company’s biggest space to see Woz. He arrived about 40 minutes late, then stayed more than twice as long as he was scheduled to, answering every question, signing every book, and talking to everyone who wanted to talk to him (and so I figured he was late in the first place because he must have done the same thing at his previous talk that day).

Woz's talk showed why he is an inspiration to engineers and others. He captivated the crowd with his passion and enthusiasm for what he does, whether it's designing electronics, putting on massive concerts, or talking about his life and work. If you don’t get to see Woz speak in person, you can check out his books and videos.

The crowd at Woz’s talk had a wonderful time. And at the end, my buddies and I got this great souvenir:

From your left to right: the author, Jason Costa, Woz, Annand Sharma. These are the same great guys (except for Woz) who came with me to have lunch at Apple in this story.

You can watch the video of Woz’s 2006 talk here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ctGch5ejjT4

This post is adapted from a post I wrote for the Google Mac Blog in 2006.

Are you still reading this far? Cool!