Steve Jobs
Woz, it’s been a long time. It’s good to see you.
Steve Wozniak
Likewise Steve. I’ve got one of these new iPhones, it’s great. I mean – I can’t program it, but it’s still good.
Steve
Thanks, that means a lot. Hopefully it’ll make up a little cash for the first Mac. Great idea, we really rushed that to market though – the fires etcetera.
Woz
Woah, that’s winding the clock back. We did have different ideas about that one. I never got used to dropping mine to adjust the chip placement!
Steve
I thought it was a great computer. Still do.
Woz
If only customers were as excited as the people at the first Stevenote back then.
Steve
Well, it was a big deal. And you and I can talk about this. Before the Mac you had to know hundreds of commands, we made everything available with the click of a button. And that’s my view on products, understand people, do the thinking and then give them a product that’s better than they could have hoped for. That’s our job, right? To make great leaps forward.
Woz
I mean, your suit that day said it was a big deal! I take your point about leaps forward but I also think we need to give people the tools to do that for themselves. There are people who just want to make a document or spreadsheet, but some want to do things we can’t even imagine with their home computer. Or phone. Or tablet!
Steve
And those people will do those things. We need the crazy ones. But I think the value for us is helping the world to be a little bit crazy with their work, not go crazy with the machine, Steve.
Woz
I know the team has put a lot into this view: to make products ‘effortless’. What has that meant behind the scenes: working with customers and designers?
Steve
Jony and the team have worked really hard to look at what people will be doing with devices for the next five to ten years, sitting with the problems until we can find nail it. And we don’t always get it right, but we’re always ahead. We’ve noticed that if we just listen to what people say they want, we don’t get very far.
Woz
I just want a high-performance device that I can configure myself.
Steve
I know you do, but you’re rare Woz.
Woz
Thanks, I hate it?
Steve
Sure, but millions love them. The iMac, iPod, iPhone and iPad for example. They changed everything. But none of them would have happened if we iterated on what existed. We had to listen to people and then go to new places.
Woz
I think there’s room for people to find those places themself. Some of the best minds I see are my students who make the impossible sound natural in class. Would you ever put out a hobbyist computer in the future?
Steve
Well you could buy the Mac Pro with everything, Woz. You could run a Death Star off one of those. But that’s about $53,000. But… it’s available!
Woz
Can you send one over?
Steve
How would you like to pay?
Woz
:/
