6 ms·

Steve Wozniak – “A Private space company is starting up, unlike the others.”

32 points by andygmb 5y ago

deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
Mountain_Skies 5y ago
I like Woz but am tried of billionaires, be they politicians, idle rich, or activists, playing the "I'm on the side of the little guy" card. Woz and friends might have something great going but I doubt the little guy is truly what motivates them. Drop the proletariat washing and let the science and engineering speak for itself.
- redis_mlc 5y ago
  Woz is probably the most genuine very rich person in the world. Partly that's because he was a world-class working engineer, and partly it's because he likely suffered a serious head injury in a small airplane accident, which is why he left Apple. His combined hardware and software work is truly stunning. I started my career shortly after the Apple 1, and there were almost no books, let alone Internet, for what he was doing. My town library had mainly vacuum tube books at the time! (AThe famous early engineers were not hobbyists - Woz (HP), Peter Norton (industry), etc.) This is not well-known, but when Walleye (which used Sidewinder modules) missile development wound down, several Naval lab engineers joined industry and advanced TV and imaging analog circuit design. Most of the video you've seen from the Gulf War of missiles entering windows and doors was Walleye nose camera footage that used analog edge detection circuits.) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AGM-62_Walleye https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AGM-62_Walleye
- MrDresden 5y ago
  In some way I am happy that we have these billionaires playing an appendix measuring contest over which of their space ventures will be first/best/else in space. These are not easy not cheap problems to solve. So let them pour their money into it. I would gladly also accept a new company into the race that has altruistic motives guiding it. Just have a hard time believing it.
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
  - Jyaif 5y ago
    I'd be happier if they measured their appendix by how much CO2 they are pumping out of the atmosphere.
    - eurasiantiger 5y ago
      How do you know they don’t? I think you meant to imply an inverse relationship.
    - MrDresden 5y ago
      Space launches account for negligible amount of the CO2 emissions at present time compared to the total that our society emits. There is obviously the very strong likelyhood that number of launches will continue to grow, to a point where this will become a major issue. There is however a financial incentive to lower the fuel consumption as much as possible in these rockets, which I believe will push these companies to do so. But only to a degree. Hopefully human kind will be able to use something akin to mass drivers or a space based gravity hook to launch loads without exhaust in the future. But in the meantime we will need to emit something.
skzv 5y ago
What I took this to mean is that this company will not be tied to any nation's military complex or government funding. I'm eager to learn what Woz means by this. All I could find so far was this: > a 3D printing site reported Wozniak's company appeared to be using a printer for high-strength titanium — and suggested the company might have something to do with cleaning up space junk. [0] [0] https://3dprint.com/283866/apples-steve-wozniak-to-clean-up-space-junk-with-desktop-metals-titanium-3d-printing/ https://3dprint.com/283866/apples-steve-wozniak-to-clean-up-... "Not like the others" could also allude to it being a company that removes junk from space instead of putting it there.
SheinhardtWigCo 5y ago
This might be more exciting if Woz hadn't sold his name to pump a scamcoin last year.
steveharman 5y ago
Is it just me or does that video clip feel a lot like "Here's to the crazy ones" / the Think Different campaign from Apple back in the day?
dsq 5y ago
Except for Branson, aren't most of the "space billionaires" of US origin or activity? It seems to me that most other countries have only government funded space programs.
kaonashi 5y ago
So it's not just privatized NASA catching up with decades old tech?

32 points by andygmb 5y ago

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

I like Woz but am tried of billionaires, be they politicians, idle rich, or activists, playing the "I'm on the side of the little guy" card. Woz and friends might have something great going but I doubt the little guy is truly what motivates them. Drop the proletariat washing and let the science and engineering speak for itself.

redis_mlc 5y ago
Woz is probably the most genuine very rich person in the world. Partly that's because he was a world-class working engineer, and partly it's because he likely suffered a serious head injury in a small airplane accident, which is why he left Apple. His combined hardware and software work is truly stunning. I started my career shortly after the Apple 1, and there were almost no books, let alone Internet, for what he was doing. My town library had mainly vacuum tube books at the time! (AThe famous early engineers were not hobbyists - Woz (HP), Peter Norton (industry), etc.) This is not well-known, but when Walleye (which used Sidewinder modules) missile development wound down, several Naval lab engineers joined industry and advanced TV and imaging analog circuit design. Most of the video you've seen from the Gulf War of missiles entering windows and doors was Walleye nose camera footage that used analog edge detection circuits.) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AGM-62_Walleye https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AGM-62_Walleye
MrDresden 5y ago
In some way I am happy that we have these billionaires playing an appendix measuring contest over which of their space ventures will be first/best/else in space. These are not easy not cheap problems to solve. So let them pour their money into it. I would gladly also accept a new company into the race that has altruistic motives guiding it. Just have a hard time believing it.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
- Jyaif 5y ago
  I'd be happier if they measured their appendix by how much CO2 they are pumping out of the atmosphere.
  - eurasiantiger 5y ago
    How do you know they don’t? I think you meant to imply an inverse relationship.
  - MrDresden 5y ago
    Space launches account for negligible amount of the CO2 emissions at present time compared to the total that our society emits. There is obviously the very strong likelyhood that number of launches will continue to grow, to a point where this will become a major issue. There is however a financial incentive to lower the fuel consumption as much as possible in these rockets, which I believe will push these companies to do so. But only to a degree. Hopefully human kind will be able to use something akin to mass drivers or a space based gravity hook to launch loads without exhaust in the future. But in the meantime we will need to emit something.

skzv 5y ago

What I took this to mean is that this company will not be tied to any nation's military complex or government funding. I'm eager to learn what Woz means by this. All I could find so far was this: > a 3D printing site reported Wozniak's company appeared to be using a printer for high-strength titanium — and suggested the company might have something to do with cleaning up space junk. [0] [0] https://3dprint.com/283866/apples-steve-wozniak-to-clean-up-space-junk-with-desktop-metals-titanium-3d-printing/ https://3dprint.com/283866/apples-steve-wozniak-to-clean-up-... "Not like the others" could also allude to it being a company that removes junk from space instead of putting it there.

SheinhardtWigCo 5y ago

This might be more exciting if Woz hadn't sold his name to pump a scamcoin last year.

steveharman 5y ago

Is it just me or does that video clip feel a lot like "Here's to the crazy ones" / the Think Different campaign from Apple back in the day?

dsq 5y ago

Except for Branson, aren't most of the "space billionaires" of US origin or activity? It seems to me that most other countries have only government funded space programs.

kaonashi 5y ago

So it's not just privatized NASA catching up with decades old tech?