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Steve Jobs’ First Device Allowed Illegal Free Phone Service
- ElfinTrousers 4y agoHowever you might feel about stealing from Ma Bell, let's remember that Jobs also stole from his supposed close friend Steve Wozniak. (tl;dr: Wozniak helped Jobs finish a difficult piece of work Jobs was doing for Atari, in exchange for 50% of the payment Jobs was getting from the client. Jobs got paid $5,000. He told Wozniak that he'd gotten paid $700, and hence Wozniak's cut was $350, rather than the $2,500 it should have been.)
- baxtr 4y agoSource?
- pmelendez 4y agoThere are several. If I remember correctly the story is featured in Woz’s book iWoz, but also in Job’s official biography. There is also a mention in the Wikipedia article of breakout: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breakout_(video_game) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breakout_(video_game) I am sure there are many more sources out there. Slightly clarification to OC’s remarks. The original contract was for $700 (so Jobs didn’t lie there). However, what Jobs kept secret is that there was a substantial bonus for reducing the amount of chips needed. Wozniak was specially good at optimizing the amount of chips in a circuit so the end design used substantially fewer chips and hence the bonus was much bigger than the amount agreed before.
- ElfinTrousers 4y agoThanks for the clarification. Keep in mind too that the difference, $2150, would have been a _lot_ more money at the time. Roughly equivalent to $12k today if I can believe these sketchy-looking online inflation calculators.
- karmakaze 4y agoThis story is more concerning than the one about the phreaking device which was a common theme in the scene at the time. Many such hackers can grow up working in ethical businesses--I wouldn't have as much confidence in someone who cheats a close friend. I would say such a person can't have friends or be trusted more than a contract can enforce.