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Imagine if Woz had had access to a UBI and universal healthcare instead of being super broke and living right on the edge. What could he have created with just

by wffurr 6y ago

Imagine if Woz had had access to a UBI and universal healthcare instead of being super broke and living right on the edge. What could he have created with just a few extra resources? How many would-be Wozs are out there now too scared to spend that $300?

JKCalhoun 6y ago
He had a job at HP so no need for UBI (probably would have paid less than HP). Health care costs certainly were not an issue at his young age. Better instead if he had had some investor cash earlier. But as a hobbyist, he wasn't playing the "long game" anyway, just trying to make something cool for himself and bragging rights at the 'Brew.
- gcheong 6y ago
  Doesn't sound like it would have paid much less and he would have had much more free time, but it seems he was so enamored with working at HP he didn't mind getting subsistence wages as an engineer.
  - sumtechguy 6y ago
    Working at HP at that time was a pretty sweet gig. It would have been like getting a job at a FAANG today.
    - gcheong 6y ago
      It seems more akin to working at a game company where the companies take advantage of the fact that so many people want to work in the game industry they can keep salaries relatively low.
      - sumtechguy 6y ago
        true... But also at that time you did not make much as a developer anywhere. When I started this in the 90s if you made 50-60k you were the super elite of programmers and had been doing it for 20+ years. Usually if you stayed at a company they would take care of you. One guy I know went the full route at one of those companies and retired in the 90s his retirement was very nice. The dotcom bubble changed everything with respect to pay and long term comp.
- khrbrt 6y ago
  OP's comment wasn't about Woz specifically but the population of potential Wozs who, but for a few hundred dollars, could have contributed something great to the world but didn't. Right now a generation of young people in the United States are completely priced out of going to college, or facing eviction from COVID related layoffs. The slightly older cohort are seeing a much higher proportion of their wages go to high rents and student loan debt than Woz's generation. As a society, we're are missing out on bottom up innovations because would be inventors are too busy trying to survive than to create.

by wffurr 6y ago

JKCalhoun 6y ago

He had a job at HP so no need for UBI (probably would have paid less than HP). Health care costs certainly were not an issue at his young age. Better instead if he had had some investor cash earlier. But as a hobbyist, he wasn't playing the "long game" anyway, just trying to make something cool for himself and bragging rights at the 'Brew.

gcheong 6y ago
Doesn't sound like it would have paid much less and he would have had much more free time, but it seems he was so enamored with working at HP he didn't mind getting subsistence wages as an engineer.
- sumtechguy 6y ago
  Working at HP at that time was a pretty sweet gig. It would have been like getting a job at a FAANG today.
  - gcheong 6y ago
    It seems more akin to working at a game company where the companies take advantage of the fact that so many people want to work in the game industry they can keep salaries relatively low.
    - sumtechguy 6y ago
      true... But also at that time you did not make much as a developer anywhere. When I started this in the 90s if you made 50-60k you were the super elite of programmers and had been doing it for 20+ years. Usually if you stayed at a company they would take care of you. One guy I know went the full route at one of those companies and retired in the 90s his retirement was very nice. The dotcom bubble changed everything with respect to pay and long term comp.
khrbrt 6y ago
OP's comment wasn't about Woz specifically but the population of potential Wozs who, but for a few hundred dollars, could have contributed something great to the world but didn't. Right now a generation of young people in the United States are completely priced out of going to college, or facing eviction from COVID related layoffs. The slightly older cohort are seeing a much higher proportion of their wages go to high rents and student loan debt than Woz's generation. As a society, we're are missing out on bottom up innovations because would be inventors are too busy trying to survive than to create.