12 ms·
Steve Wozniak wants to become Australian
- Matsta 14y agoMy mum got to meet Woz when he came to New Zealand a few months back. He also told her how much he liked NZ/Aussie. He gave my mum his business card (which is awesome btw, all made of aluminium), and specifically told her if we email her, to include New Zealand in the subject so he would actually open it :p Another random fact, Woz's son applied to YC in the last Summer term and didn't get in.
- markyc 14y agothe sound of emails with "New Zealand" in the subject flooding Woz's inbox
- MojoJolo 14y agoI'm intrigue with the business card all made of aluminum. Like an iPhone 5!
- seiji 14y agoSee http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/76007/september-28-2006/steve-wozniak http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/76007...
- skeletonjelly 14y agoSo is canned spam :P
- tedunangst 14y agoYou buy one of your very own (with your name on it, or even his name I suppose) from a bunch of places.
- deleted 14y ago[deleted]
- pyrotechnick 14y agoLittle does he know here in Australia is Babylon.
- karolist 14y agoAmazing that he still has to stand in queue to buy Apple hardware. Does he enjoy it? What's the story behind it? To me it seems Apple should deliver it straight to his door day one just for the goodwill.
- veemjeem 14y agoAccording to the article, he didn't want to pull any strings to get broadband to his home, so it seems like he enjoys being a citizen like everyone else.
- raverbashing 14y agoOf course Apple can deliver him an iPhone if he wants, but he prefers to queue, and IIRC Woz is still an Apple employee 'Wozniak permanently ended his full-time employment with Apple on February 6, 1987... He still remains an employee and receives a token paycheck, est. to be roughly 120k per year' http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Wozniak#Employment_with_Apple http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Wozniak#Employment_with_A...
- rmc 14y agoA token paycheck of $120k per year?! Nice to have!
- nicholassmith 14y agoHe's discussed it in interviews before, I think (fuzzy memory) he said he enjoys the experience of a launch. Must be nice if you're an Apple nerd to be queuing and see Woz roll up on his Segway.
- skeletonjelly 14y agoDid he bring it to Australia though? I didn't see any reference to it in the local media here.
- nicholassmith 14y ago
- salem 14y agoAwesome, I hope he can do something to improve the startup scene while he's there.
- wisty 14y agoEvery Australian startup scene suffers from Australia's heavy cyclical nature. Look at movies. I bet it works like this - there's a single hit, then everyone goes nuts for the segment. Lots of funding gets poured in, and more hits come out (because they are well funded). But the returns aren't so good (because of the higher investment) and the funding dries up. And then all the talent goes overseas. Hollywood can churn out lots of films, and some of them will be hits. This gives the studios more predicable returns. More importantly, they don't have crazy irrational expectations of massive returns, or nothing but flops. A patient investor could arbitrage this. Fund lots of stuff over a number of years, and simply accept that they'll only get a big hit every now and then. But investors aren't that rational, no-one is.
- cturner 14y agoI think the base of the problem you're describing is the small population base and (less so) tyranny of distance. If you're in the US and come up with a product there are lots of options for accessing new markets fast. If you're in Japan then you have a much larger audience, captive, most of it in close proximity. Australia has low population. It's heavily concentrated in the cities, but they're a significant distance apart. I became aware of this when I read "Barbarians at the Gate". Early on, it describes the rise of RJR Reynolds. I found it amazing that you could just get on your horse and ride on to the next city with your capital and ideas and make acquisitions and expand. Australia could chase edge by becoming a low-tax or low-red-tape capital. But never does :)
- modernshoggoth 14y ago>Australia could chase edge by becoming a low-tax or low-red-tape capital. Although our country was founded and grew up with a "low red-tape" mentality, the last 30 years of global-scale mining boom has forever removed that possibility from our environment. Combining socialised welfare, healthcare and (finally!) decent network infrastructure with the Western selfish love of toys, there's not a chance we are ever going to return to a low-tax, low-red-tape society.
- mahmud 14y agoWelcome to the club Woz, or should I say WOz :-)
- skeletonjelly 14y agoWoz = Wizard of Oz?
- modernshoggoth 14y agoAs a bearded Australian, I gotta say that that's an old joke. That keeps getting used ^_^
- skeletonjelly 14y agoDammit. Here I was thinking I'm funny.
- mahmud 14y agoOld jokes return to circulation when told to the young :-)
- haakon666 14y agoAs a bearded Australian, I'm sure you will enjoy this song by The Beards.... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RmFnarFSj_U http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RmFnarFSj_U
- beedogs 14y agoHe's gonna need a 110v step-down transformer for that Segway. I'm almost 4 years in on a permanent visa, and going for citizenship this year. It's been an amazing experience so far.
- thejosh 14y agoApart from the proposed filter, I guess everything else is good.
- Smerity 14y agoThe proposed filter was ludicrous and I'm happy to report it has essentially lost all political steam. It appeared primarily as a bargaining tool for the Labour party to work with a number of independents but even those independents have removed support for the proposal now. Last it appeared in the media, it was "delayed indefinitely". I'm hopeful that the proposed filter is history, thanks in part to a number of ISPs supporting the cause and loud community support. What is worrying for Woz is that the National Broadband Network (NBN) will likely be axed if the current party (Labour) falls in the coming election. Compared to his situation in California however, where he says no political party is interested in broadband internet, at least the opposition have a broadband plan (even if it's substantially less ambitious and possibly ill conceived). Either way, I'd be happy to buy Woz a beer if he ever comes over to Sydney :)
- spauka 14y agoIt'll be interesting to see where the opposition takes their broadband policy. With Turnbull at the helm of opposition telecommunications policy, it is certainly beginning too seem like they are less likely to completely tear down the NBN. Given that it is becoming abundantly clear that something needs to be done, I think it's probably more likely that they will simply change the scale of the project. At any rate, they seem to have given up on the ridiculous notion that wireless is a suitable replacement in urban areas, and actually seem to be moving towards a more comprehensive plan... I'm holding out hope that even with an opposition government that in urban areas there will be optical. The question will be how they manage the future of the infrastructure, and whether or not they adequately provide for rural areas. P.S. If you do invite Woz out for beers, count me in :P
- megablast 14y agoAs long as you aren't Julian Assange. Or a boat person. Or a refuge. Or an aboriginal. Or not white. Or like fast good internet from overseas. Or want to raise money. There are many reasons why Australia is great, but there are still problems.
- damian2000 14y ago"It turns out that I get to keep my American citizenship" I'm not sure if it works the other way, e.g. if an Aussie tries to become a US citizen I always thought he had to give up his Aussie Citizenship.
- kondro 14y agoAustralia doesn't care which other country you are a citizen of, as long as that country doesn't care you are a citizen of another country. Therefore, the only time Australia makes you give up your citizenship is when the other country tells them they should.
- damian2000 14y agoThanks. I just found out my misguided opinion was from when Rupert Murdoch was forced to get rid of his Aussie citizenship - that was due to him wanting to own a US TV station.
- jacalata 14y agoPrior to 2002, Australians who took up a foreign citizenship automatically lost their Australian citizenship. Murdoch was required to be a US citizen to own the TV station, which forced him to give up the Aust citizenship. I have heard the law was changed partly because of his high profile situation. [http://www.citizenship.gov.au/current/dual_citizenship http://www.citizenship.gov.au/current/dual_citizenship]
- Nick_C 14y agoIt used to be, but they changed it quite some time ago, a decade or two if I remember right.
- rmc 14y agoIt's hard to actually "give up citizenship". A British friend (who travels lots), said that if you are ever required to renounce British citizenship, you go down the local embassy/consulate, tell the offical that you are renouncing British citizenship, and hand over your passport. They do some writing, give you back your passport and a letter saying "$NAME has renounced their British citizenship at $DATE..." and wish you well. You now have the proper paperwork, and your passport! Some countries essentially don't let you give up your citizenship. If you were a citizen of Iran and fled and got citizenship of another country, the Iranian government still views you as an Iranian citizen, and go back to Iran, then they might feel free to arrest you.
- jval 14y agoHopefully Woz comes to Melbourne, we have better coffee and 85% more awesomeness.
- ivanvanderbyl 14y agoYeah Brisbane is still too much of a country town
- dsymonds 14y agoNah, he doesn't strike me as pretentious enough. ;-)
- jeza 14y agoThe media has certainly quoted Melbourne as being a potential place: http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/apple-co-founder-steve-wozniak-could-be-calling-melbourne-home/story-e6frf7kx-1226481805541 http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/apple-co-founder-s...
- shimon_e 14y agoSurprised he didn't pick Europe. China is also rolling out a NBN (to be completed by 2016!). At least he didn't try to become Chinese. :P
- mlvljr 14y agoOr Russian :O (I'd be happy to assist that with a little bribery, though)
- gaoshan 14y agoSince China does not permit dual citizenship this wold be tough for Woz. Not to mention that even if one were to move to China full time Chinese people would never consider you Chinese. You would always be the foreigner. China just doesn't work like the immigrant friendly countries in this regard.