I’m making a new category of my blog away from my site and my iOS Development so I can just geek out for a minute.
Tonight I had the pleasure of getting to enjoy an evening listening to Steve Wozniak in conversation as the keynote speaker at a conference presented by the American Middle East Institute. I loved every minute, every tangent, every story he had to tell. It was fascinating hearing about some of his technological feats, as well as the more philanthropy-related things he’s done with his success.
Steve Wozniak is easily one of my biggest idols in the world of computers. Sure, I heard of Steve Jobs before I heard of the Woz, but the more I learn about Wozniak the more I admire his accomplishments. Sure, I want to make an elegant product. But the things he spoke about really spoke to me on a deeper level, something I understand and strive for: make a product that you want, because you know what a user wants. If you want it, others will. This also made me think about the things I’ve learned about entrepreneurship: Find the problem you want to solve, as opposed to the solution to a problem that might not even exist.
Beyond this ideal, which he emphasized by talking about how the Apple II was a computer that he wanted, I also admire how well Wozniak can think outside the box, and make it work. His thinking is so outside the box, especially with the way he brought color into computing displays, that the box is in California, but his ideas were straight from the moon. I like to imagine that I can also think outside the box, and come up with a crazy solution when my back is against the wall, and make it work despite it being crazy. Often times, these are the ideas I’m most proud of coming up with.
Anyway, listening to Steve Wozniak was a fantastic opportunity and I’m so glad I had the privilege. Geek out over. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
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