Steve Wozniak: From the crazy life of a tech icon

Steve Wozniak will be 70 years old on August 11th. The Apple co-founder has seen a lot in his life – a lot.

The smartphone or tablet in hand, laptop or PC on the desk – Steve Wozniak, born on August 11, 1950 in Sunnyvale, California, is a direct and indirect pioneer for almost all of these devices. The computer engineer, who is often just affectionately called "The Woz" or "Woz" by fans and the media, is celebrating his 70th birthday today, Tuesday. On his special day, Wozniak can look back on a life that would provide enough material for several films.

The apple made him famous

Electronics have always played a central role in Wozniak's life. His father Jacob, an engineer with the aerospace company Lockheed Corporation, is said to have helped his son with numerous inventions at an early age. The smart playfulness of the future computer engineer was expressed in a few pranks that later also got him into trouble.

In his first year at the University of Colorado Boulder, he was kicked out of the university in 1969 for hacking the computer system in use there and sending prank messages. In addition, Wozniak used a method with which telephones could be manipulated, for example to be able to make international calls free of charge. He contacted the Vatican, posed as Henry Kissinger (97) and wanted to speak to the Pope. A bishop who was supposed to act as translator prevented the conversation shortly before Wozniak was put through.

Even here, at the end of the 1960s and in the course of the early 1970s, it should slowly become clear that Woz was destined for great things. Wozniak was hired by Hewlett-Packard, but that was just a stopover for him. In early 1976 he developed today's classic arcade video game "Breakout" for his friend Steve Jobs (1955-2011), who was working at Atari at the time. But this should not remain the only joint project of the two. Shortly thereafter, Wozniak, Jobs and Ron Wayne (86) founded what is now the tech giant Apple.

The Woz was instrumental in the development of the personal computer (PC) as it is known today. The Apple I he developed was about the first affordable device intended for private households that was operated like a modern computer using a keyboard and monitor. The Apple I was available for around 666 US dollars at the time, which corresponds to a converted current price of a little more than 2550 euros. And indirectly, without Wozniak as co-founder of Apple, the iPhone, first presented by Jobs in 2007, would not have existed, which pioneered modern smartphones.

He survived a plane crash

In February 1981 an accident was to change Wozniak's life. Shortly after taking off a Beechcraft Bonanza flown by Woz, the small plane crashed. Wozniak and three passengers, including his then fiancée Candice Clark, with whom he was married from 1981 to 1987, were injured. The computer engineer suffered severe facial and head injuries. After the accident, he suffered from anterograde amnesia for several weeks – he could neither remember the crash nor save any new information. During his time in the hospital, he should not have remembered his own name.

Today Wozniak is also known to many people who are not very concerned with technology. The 70-year-old was not only with the American actress and comedian Kathy Griffin (59) for a while, in recent years he has also made guest appearances on shows such as the popular sitcom "The Big Bang Theory". In 2009 he also took part in the eighth season of "Dancing with the Stars", the US version of "Let's Dance".

In a way, he even shaped the world of sport. The world championships in the team sport Segwaypolo, which have already taken place several times in Germany, bear the title "Woz Challenge Cup". And Woz also plays himself. His team are the Silicon Valley Aftershocks.

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