Path: chonsp.franklin.ch!usenet From: Neil Franklin Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers Subject: Woz and Allen (was Re: Hayes Corp. heads for last download) Date: 17 Jan 1999 21:58:44 +0100 Organization: My own Private Self Lines: 50 Sender: neil@chonsp.franklin.ch Message-ID: References: <7735r9$h2f@freenet-news.carleton.ca> <369706a3.491871543@news.dell.com> <77j97o$21e$0@205.138.136.83> <77qlrg$iuq$0@205.138.136.167> X-Newsreader: Gnus v5.3/Emacs 19.34 "Richard G." writes: > > Mike Swaim wrote in message ... > > > > How about when Jobs forced Woz out? > > Does anyone know exactly why Steve Wozniac was forced out??? I'm not > farmiliar with this whole story. According to an interview with Byte (Jan 1985, page 170): Byte: Why did you leave Apple? Woz: We had a hundred angineers at that point, and I was no longer really important to the company. I didn't want to be a manager; I was just an engineer, and I wasn't really needed there. But I didn't feel comfortable going to Steve Jobs or Mike Markkula and saying I wanted to take off. The plane crash [in 1981, according to previous question - NF] was a good excuse. After five weeks of amnesia I simply didn't go back. So it seems he was simply pissed off and went. Not forced out. > It's almost like to whole Microsoft > history. A brilliant programer and a young business geek (Billy Gates -- > who did do a lot of programming) tweaked the DOS operating system. If > memory serves me, I think they bought the OS from a Professor for $50,000. > But, Paul Allen (the brilliant programmer) wasn't a business man, and so he > left to go bigger and better things. Wow. That is a twised version. PA and BG wrote the original MS Basic for the Altair together and founded the firm. By the time MS did DOS they were both in management. DOS was hacked up by MS staff, after being bought from Tim Paterson, who had written it as an CP/M compatible OS for his/SCPs 8086 based micros. No professor in sight. Paul Allen left MS to found the firm (that made ToolBook (an also-ran HyperCard clone for Windows 3.x). -- Neil Franklin, Nerd, Geek, Unix Guru, Hacker, Mystic neil@franklin.ch.remove http://neil.franklin.ch/ Programming: when you stop hammering around on the computer as if it were a piece of dumb matter and instead tell it what to do for you ###### From: jvarela@mind.spring.com (John Varela) Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers Subject: Re: Woz and Allen (was Re: Hayes Corp. heads for last download) Date: 18 Jan 1999 22:54:22 GMT Organization: MindSpring Enterprises Lines: 28 Message-ID: References: <7735r9$h2f@freenet-news.carleton.ca> Reply-To: jvarela@mind.spring.com NNTP-Posting-Host: cf.45.23.f0 Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit X-Newsreader: ProNews/2 Version 1.00 Path: chonsp.franklin.ch!pfaff.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!news.belnet.be!newsfeed.wirehub.nl!remarQ-easT!supernews.com!europa.clark.net!4.1.16.34!cpk-news-hub1.bbnplanet.com!news.gtei.net!firehose.mindspring.com!not-for-mail On Sun, 17 Jan 1999 20:58:44, Neil Franklin wrote: > According to an interview with Byte (Jan 1985, page 170): > > Byte: Why did you leave Apple? > > Woz: We had a hundred engineers at that point, and I was no longer > really important to the company. I didn't want to be a manager; I was > just an engineer, and I wasn't really needed there. But I didn't feel > comfortable going to Steve Jobs or Mike Markkula and saying I wanted > to take off. The plane crash [in 1981, according to previous question > - NF] was a good excuse. After five weeks of amnesia I simply didn't > go back. > > So it seems he was simply pissed off and went. Not forced out. From the above it doesn't sound to me like he was pissed off. Rather, the company grew and changed, he could no longer be an individual contributor but didn't fit in as a manager, felt superfluous but didn't want to seem disloyal by leaving, so when a convenient opportunity presented itself he took advantage of it to go away. He makes it sound like no one's fault, just something that couldn't be helped. Which is not necessarily to say that's the way it really was. -- John Varela (delete . between mind and spring to e-mail me) ###### Date: Tue, 19 Jan 1999 08:38:26 -0800 From: akw@best.com (Tony Wingo) Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers Subject: Re: Woz and Allen (was Re: Hayes Corp. heads for last download) Message-ID: References: <7735r9$h2f@freenet-news.carleton.ca> Organization: Bear River Associates X-Newsreader: MT-NewsWatcher 2.4.4 Lines: 38 NNTP-Posting-Host: 198.211.78.13 X-Trace: nntp1.ba.best.com 916763906 16675 198.211.78.13 Path: chonsp.franklin.ch!pfaff.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!news-ge.switch.ch!newscore.univie.ac.at!news-spur1.maxwell.syr.edu!news.maxwell.syr.edu!newsfeed.berkeley.edu!news2.best.com!news1.best.com!news.idiom.com!news3.best.com!nntp1.ba.best.com!not-for-mail In article , jvarela@mind.spring.com wrote: >On Sun, 17 Jan 1999 20:58:44, Neil Franklin wrote: > >> According to an interview with Byte (Jan 1985, page 170): >> >> Byte: Why did you leave Apple? >> >> Woz: We had a hundred engineers at that point, and I was no longer >> really important to the company. I didn't want to be a manager; I was >> just an engineer, and I wasn't really needed there. But I didn't feel >> comfortable going to Steve Jobs or Mike Markkula and saying I wanted >> to take off. The plane crash [in 1981, according to previous question >> - NF] was a good excuse. After five weeks of amnesia I simply didn't >> go back. >> >> So it seems he was simply pissed off and went. Not forced out. > >From the above it doesn't sound to me like he was pissed off. Rather, the >company grew and changed, he could no longer be an individual contributor but >didn't fit in as a manager, felt superfluous but didn't want to seem disloyal by >leaving, so when a convenient opportunity presented itself he took advantage of >it to go away. He makes it sound like no one's fault, just something that >couldn't be helped. > >Which is not necessarily to say that's the way it really was. > Actually, he was still on the company payroll (and in the company directory) when I left Apple several years ago. I think it was largely a symbolic postition, since he was never around much. Actually I don't think I ever saw him in the six years I was there. -t