4 ms·

Steve Wozniak's Letters

122 points by simonebrunozzi 4y ago

jayp1418 4y ago
What happened to his crypto currency project?
- simonebrunozzi 4y ago
  I was sad that he endorsed that project. I don't have news, but I would guess it went nowhere.
  - EGreg 4y ago
    Why was it sad? What did the project do?
    - NikolaNovak 4y ago
      It was a Crypto project. (for many people, a celebrity enforcing a random vanity blockchain spinoff is just an automatic No)
- kris_wayton 4y ago
  The site is here: https://efforce.io/team https://efforce.io/team
  - fullsend 4y ago
    The more you look at this “team” section the weirder it gets.
  - phronesis 4y ago
    > Take part into meaningful energy efficiency projects made to help virtuous companies have less impact on energy consumption and the environment. This paragraph near the top of the home page is so poorly written I’d immediately assume it to be a scam if Woz weren’t involved.
nu11ptr 4y ago
Cool site, but I do wish these were date stamped. Sometimes you can get an idea when they were sent based on content, but other times it is a bit hard to know.
- revskill 4y ago
  ChatGPT can guess based on writing style ?
  - Chinjut 4y ago
    ChatGPT is not some magic oracle that uncovers correct answers to all questions. I see little reason to imagine ChatGPT being useful here at all.
    - jxramos 4y ago
      ChatGPT will reach omniscience once every human on the planet submits to it a 1000 word biography, specifically a paragraph on their choice drink at Starbucks.
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
seizethecheese 4y ago
I’m seeing Woz content everywhere. Does he have a book coming out or something?
- bink 4y ago
  I hope so. I found his autobiography a really tough read. I'd love to read something a little more balanced.
  - coopsmoss 4y ago
    Tough because of the subject matter or the writing? Would you recommend it?
  - NovaPenguin 4y ago
    Gina Smith who wrote most iWoz said that on the first day sitting down with Woz it was at a restaurant. Woz just said "Good luck Gina. This is the fifth time I have tried to get this book done". Gina just said, Woz is wonderful but it is difficult to make his stories into anything really engaging at times.
- ffhhj 4y ago
  The Woz Files, where he presents different old school computer pranks and hacks. A skinny guy without shoes shows up to help in a few episodes. I'd totally watch that.
- BirAdam 4y ago
  I do not believe he does, but there are some old things relating to him and Jobs up for sale at auction. https://search.brave.com/news?q=%21news%20steve%20wozniak&source=web https://search.brave.com/news?q=%21news%20steve%20wozniak&so...
pncnmnp 4y ago
I recently stumbled upon a blog post by Mike Birken where he describes a 2006 meeting with Steve Wozniak at a Barnes & Noble. (https://meatfighter.com/woz/ https://meatfighter.com/woz/) Apparently, Wozniak had played a prank in the 70s where he created a fake advertisement for Zaltair, a fictitious successor to the MITS Altair computer built around the Zilog Z80 instead of the Intel 8080. He copied some of the worst ads he could find for wording and distributed the brochures at the West Coast Computer Faire. Birken recreated the brochure and was able to get Wozniak to sign it. Interestingly, Wozniak was carrying laser-cut stainless-steel business cards, which he handed out at the Barnes & Noble event.
dorfsmay 4y ago
Repeating my comment from another thread: I can't help but wonder if the lack of https on woz.org is intentional or simply overlooked.
- dist1ll 4y ago
  I know some bloggers who intentionally avoid https because it's "bloat". It requires lots of additional code compared to http, TLS handshake consumes lots of resources and decrease max RPS, etc. You can even find some arguments in previous HN posts. [0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21811406 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21811406 [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17599022 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17599022
EricE 4y ago
Woz is awesome and I'd love to meet him someday. Some other cool Woz stories: https://www.folklore.org/ProjectView.py?project=Macintosh&characters=Steve%20Wozniak https://www.folklore.org/ProjectView.py?project=Macintosh&ch...
codepoet80 4y ago
I got to virtually meet Woz during the pandemic. He was as friendly, nerdy and approachable as rumored. Story here: https://www.jonandnic.com/2020/05/08/that-time-i-talked-to-apples-co-founder/ https://www.jonandnic.com/2020/05/08/that-time-i-talked-to-a...
eklavyaa 4y ago
Will be awesome if people who wrote the emails are here and can introduce themselves.
pkdpic 4y ago
After reading three of these I decided to just start listening to the audiobook of iWoz. Free on my library app. Very cool description of his excellently nerdy childhood. Especially if you're a parent his dad relationship seems like solid gold. Anyway so far so good :thumbs-up:

What happened to his crypto currency project?

simonebrunozzi 4y ago
I was sad that he endorsed that project. I don't have news, but I would guess it went nowhere.
- EGreg 4y ago
  Why was it sad? What did the project do?
  - NikolaNovak 4y ago
    It was a Crypto project. (for many people, a celebrity enforcing a random vanity blockchain spinoff is just an automatic No)
kris_wayton 4y ago
The site is here: https://efforce.io/team https://efforce.io/team
- fullsend 4y ago
  The more you look at this “team” section the weirder it gets.
- phronesis 4y ago
  > Take part into meaningful energy efficiency projects made to help virtuous companies have less impact on energy consumption and the environment. This paragraph near the top of the home page is so poorly written I’d immediately assume it to be a scam if Woz weren’t involved.

Cool site, but I do wish these were date stamped. Sometimes you can get an idea when they were sent based on content, but other times it is a bit hard to know.

revskill 4y ago
ChatGPT can guess based on writing style ?
- Chinjut 4y ago
  ChatGPT is not some magic oracle that uncovers correct answers to all questions. I see little reason to imagine ChatGPT being useful here at all.
  - jxramos 4y ago
    ChatGPT will reach omniscience once every human on the planet submits to it a 1000 word biography, specifically a paragraph on their choice drink at Starbucks.

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

seizethecheese 4y ago

I’m seeing Woz content everywhere. Does he have a book coming out or something?

bink 4y ago
I hope so. I found his autobiography a really tough read. I'd love to read something a little more balanced.
- coopsmoss 4y ago
  Tough because of the subject matter or the writing? Would you recommend it?
- NovaPenguin 4y ago
  Gina Smith who wrote most iWoz said that on the first day sitting down with Woz it was at a restaurant. Woz just said "Good luck Gina. This is the fifth time I have tried to get this book done". Gina just said, Woz is wonderful but it is difficult to make his stories into anything really engaging at times.
ffhhj 4y ago
The Woz Files, where he presents different old school computer pranks and hacks. A skinny guy without shoes shows up to help in a few episodes. I'd totally watch that.
BirAdam 4y ago
I do not believe he does, but there are some old things relating to him and Jobs up for sale at auction. https://search.brave.com/news?q=%21news%20steve%20wozniak&source=web https://search.brave.com/news?q=%21news%20steve%20wozniak&so...

pncnmnp 4y ago

I recently stumbled upon a blog post by Mike Birken where he describes a 2006 meeting with Steve Wozniak at a Barnes & Noble. (https://meatfighter.com/woz/ https://meatfighter.com/woz/) Apparently, Wozniak had played a prank in the 70s where he created a fake advertisement for Zaltair, a fictitious successor to the MITS Altair computer built around the Zilog Z80 instead of the Intel 8080. He copied some of the worst ads he could find for wording and distributed the brochures at the West Coast Computer Faire. Birken recreated the brochure and was able to get Wozniak to sign it. Interestingly, Wozniak was carrying laser-cut stainless-steel business cards, which he handed out at the Barnes & Noble event.

dorfsmay 4y ago

Repeating my comment from another thread: I can't help but wonder if the lack of https on woz.org is intentional or simply overlooked.

dist1ll 4y ago
I know some bloggers who intentionally avoid https because it's "bloat". It requires lots of additional code compared to http, TLS handshake consumes lots of resources and decrease max RPS, etc. You can even find some arguments in previous HN posts. [0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21811406 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21811406 [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17599022 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17599022

EricE 4y ago

Woz is awesome and I'd love to meet him someday. Some other cool Woz stories: https://www.folklore.org/ProjectView.py?project=Macintosh&characters=Steve%20Wozniak https://www.folklore.org/ProjectView.py?project=Macintosh&ch...

codepoet80 4y ago

I got to virtually meet Woz during the pandemic. He was as friendly, nerdy and approachable as rumored. Story here: https://www.jonandnic.com/2020/05/08/that-time-i-talked-to-apples-co-founder/ https://www.jonandnic.com/2020/05/08/that-time-i-talked-to-a...

eklavyaa 4y ago

Will be awesome if people who wrote the emails are here and can introduce themselves.

pkdpic 4y ago

After reading three of these I decided to just start listening to the audiobook of iWoz. Free on my library app. Very cool description of his excellently nerdy childhood. Especially if you're a parent his dad relationship seems like solid gold. Anyway so far so good :thumbs-up: