prototypes for what would
eventually become the first
home computer. Wozniak
spoke so effortlessly about
those early days, about his
passion for engineering,
about early design ideas
and trying to sell his work
(Hewlett Packard passed
on his first computer de-
sign five times), that as
a listener, it sounded al-
most…easy. After all, the
definition of genius is tak-
ing the complex and mak-
ing it simple.
“I had magic pouring out
of me for 10 years,” he said
of his years engineering
Apple’s first computers. “I
somehow taught myself
how to design a computer
without any books at all.
It took me at least several
weeks or months the first
time.”
Being a pioneer in electri-
cal engineering lends it-
self to devising some epic
pranks. He told one story
about building a transistor
disguised as a black marker
that he could use to disrupt
a TV set in the classroom.
JUNE 2017
H
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