Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Steve Wozniak back at Apple

TSE

TSE

macrumors 601
Original poster
Jun 25, 2007
4,050
3,581
St. Paul, Minnesota
Watching the latest keynote, even before October 5th happened, I couldn't help but miss Steve Job's charisma and speaking ability. It seemed... dull... Nothing against Tim Cook. I am pretty sure Cook has been a big part of Apple's success of the past decade, but an idea came up.

Anyone else think it would be cool if Wozniak came back as a part-time role as just as a sort of spokesman, perhaps being the presenter at keynotes?

He is very charismatic, not quite as much as Steve but still charismatic.
He is still very much involved in the tech world and is still a recognizable figure to a lot of people.
He influenced Apple in a lot of ways in the beginning.

I wish I could contact him somehow and express my ideas towards him. I think it would be good for Apple.
 
Doubt it would happen. He seems to have moved on from Apple, he's always doing new things.
 
Interestingly enough, he was on CNN the night Jobs died and claimed he has never "left" Apple and still gets a paycheck.... albeit only a couple of hundred bucks a month.
 
Woz still has an office and is still an Apple employee, but I would not expect him to take any sort of leadership or even spokesman role. It's not who he is.

His email address is easy to find if you are really interested, and he answers his emails himself.

-t
 
It was a bit dull but it was his first time. Plus add the fact that you were probably informed that morning that one of your best friends was on his death bed in retrospect you can tell they were a bit shook up. Personally I give them credit for doing it, but the Wozniak taking a huge part at apple I don't see happening. As someon said he is an employee already whatever he does I'm sure he enjoys it.
 
Maybe it's just me, but I never found Steve's keynotes exciting either. I always thought they were considerably dry and unexciting. New product? There it is just put up on the powerpoint slide usually without any fanfare leading up to it.
 
i don't see him ever taking on a leadership role at Apple. If that's what he wanted to do; i think he would have stepped up sooner.
 
Woz is too smart to dive into that hornets nest.

He's a more balanced person that's not obsessed with being the center of attention. Nor does he have a need to control people. As wealthy as they come, he's the smart one. Out enjoying life, great variety, while remaining extremely viable as an engineer and well grounded person.

There's nothing Apple has that interests him. Woz is one of the smartest professionals in Silicon Valley. He knows how to live & be happy.
 
mrsir2009 said:
Really? Whats his position at Apple?
Click to expand...

I don't believe he has any specific responsibilities or title. He still has an office and comes in sometimes, more to stay in touch with what's going on than to actually contribute.

I worked there in 1982 and he was known for poking his head into meetings and offering his opinions as well as the occasional bench work. The best story while I was there was his redesigning the Apple II mouse overnight when the project team was stuck. He literally built it on the bench in one night, making a simple and elegant solution with off the shelf parts replacing the monstrosity that the project team had struggled with for months...

He was working without a specific portfolio even then..
 
vitzr said:
Woz is too smart to dive into that hornets nest.

He's a more balanced person that's not obsessed with being the center of attention. Nor does he have a need to control people. As wealthy as they come, he's the smart one. Out enjoying life, great variety, while remaining extremely viable as an engineer and well grounded person.

There's nothing Apple has that interests him. Woz is one of the smartest professionals in Silicon Valley. He knows how to live & be happy.
Click to expand...

Yep. He knows he's not a businessman and has no desire to be one.

If only the many incompetent CEOs and executives realized the same thing about themselves and stuck to something they were good at.
 
Please, with all due respect to the man, his best days are long behind him. Apple would derive no benefit with him as a front man.
 
puma1552 said:
Maybe it's just me, but I never found Steve's keynotes exciting either. I always thought they were considerably dry and unexciting. New product? There it is just put up on the powerpoint slide usually without any fanfare leading up to it.
Click to expand...

I kind of agree. His last keynotes weren't exiting. But some of his older ones, such as the presentation of the original iPhone, are very good.
 
afa Steve's keynotes go, you could tell he was ill for some time. As mentioned, I think his last Old Times keynote was the iPhone in 2007 - although he did a good job on the iPad presentation, considering his illness.

Tim Cook, while I agree he's been part of the recent success for some years, still just reminds me of being a "businessman" - nothing against him; he's just very dry and stale on stage. He's a CEO, and he acts and talks like a CEO.

I'd love to see Woz take a more prominent role, and while I think he could bring some charisma and spark to the company, he'd have to take his speaking skills up a notch. Seeing him talk now is kind of irritating. He seems to bounce around too much.

Outside of Jobs, I think Bertrand Serlet really had some presentation flare; but alas, he's no longer at Apple. I enjoyed watching him speak. Scott Forstall is where it's at presentation-wise now.
 
Melrose said:
afa Steve's keynotes go, you could tell he was ill for some time. As mentioned, I think his last Old Times keynote was the iPhone in 2007 - although he did a good job on the iPad presentation, considering his illness.

Tim Cook, while I agree he's been part of the recent success for some years, still just reminds me of being a "businessman" - nothing against him; he's just very dry and stale on stage. He's a CEO, and he acts and talks like a CEO.

I'd love to see Woz take a more prominent role, and while I think he could bring some charisma and spark to the company, he'd have to take his speaking skills up a notch. Seeing him talk now is kind of irritating. He seems to bounce around too much.

Outside of Jobs, I think Bertrand Serlet really had some presentation flare; but alas, he's no longer at Apple. I enjoyed watching him speak. Scott Forstall is where it's at presentation-wise now.
Click to expand...


While I think there is no way in hell Woz would ever be asked to do them, it makes no sense for Apple. With Jobs death, they're all about looking/moving forward, not bringing back the other guy. Woz has little or no connection to the vast majority of Apple's customers.

Schiller and Forstall are their best presenters. It was Schiller who got to launch the 4S.
 
Last edited:
rdowns said:
While I think there is no way on hell Woz would ever be asked to do them, it makes no sense for Apple. With Jobs death, they're all about looking/moving forward, not bringing back the other guy. Woz has little or no connection to the vast majority of Apple's customers.

Schiller and Forstall are their best presenters. It was Schiller who got to launch the 4S.
Click to expand...

Couldn't agree more
There is a romantic fascination with Woz and the past, but nothing more
The company needs to follow the blueprint laid out

And while the events and presentations are nice, it is the products that ultimately have to perform, not the people
I have been buying Apple since 1987, Macs, iPods, iPhones, iPads and never once did I buy because of Steve or Keynote
I bought because the products did what I wanted them to do
 
rdowns said:
While I think there is no way in hell Woz would ever be asked to do them, it makes no sense for Apple. With Jobs death, they're all about looking/moving forward, not bringing back the other guy. Woz has little or no connection to the vast majority of Apple's customers.

Schiller and Forstall are their best presenters. It was Schiller who got to launch the 4S.
Click to expand...

It would be cool to see Woz in a role at Apple, the same as it would have been good to see Woz in a role at Apple ten years ago. But there's not a snowball's chance in hell it's ever happen. :)
 
would love to see Woz back at Apple

so Tim Cook do the right thing call Steve Wozniak

Woz is only waiting for the call

BRIGHTON, England | Fri Apr 8, 2011 1:37pm EDT

(Reuters) - Steve Wozniak would consider returning to an active role at Apple, the company he co-founded, and believes the consumer electronics giant could afford to be more open than it is, he told Reuters.

"I'd consider it, yeah," the 60-year-old computer engineer said in an interview, when asked whether he would play a more active role if asked.

He founded Apple Computer in 1976 with Steve Jobs and Ronald Wayne, and built the Apple I and Apple II computers that helped revolutionize personal computing.

Wozniak, who was in the English seaside town of Brighton for a computer server conference and to present a software developer award, stopped working for Apple in 1987 but is still on the payroll.
 
MacHamster68 said:
BRIGHTON, England | Fri Apr 8, 2011 1:37pm EDT

(Reuters) - Steve Wozniak would consider returning to an active role at Apple, the company he co-founded, and believes the consumer electronics giant could afford to be more open than it is, he told Reuters.
Click to expand...

Based on what? Because Woz, who hasn't been there since 1987 says so? Woz needs to keep out of Apple. The entire notion of Wozniak returning and Assuming a lead role is distressing, to say the least.

This whole "Apple can afford to do this and that" stuff is what worries me. Yes, Apple can afford to do a lot of things, but Steve Jobs decided what it will and will not do. And you can bet he had excellent reasons.
 
I really am not sure if Woz should get a leadership role at Apple - I don't know enough about his leadership, business, and creativity skills to make a judgement on that.

However, as a spokesman and keynote presenter, I think he would do just fine.

I'm not writing off Tim Cook - I think perhaps he might have been flustered at the news... I'll give him another couple keynotes to get settled in and see. But if he doesn't come around, I could see Wozniak doing a great job in the area.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back