Michal Marek Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak and Atari founder Nolan Bushnell participated in an hour-long interview at the C2SV technology conference. The whole event took place in San Jose, California, and both participants talked about many topics. Together they reminisced about Steve Jobs and the beginnings of Apple.
The interview began with Wozniak reminiscing about the first time he met Nolan Bushnell. Their acquaintance was mediated by Steve Jobs, who tried to get into Bushnell's company Atari.
I have known Steve Jobs for a very long time. One day I saw Pong (one of the first video games, note editorial office) and I immediately knew that I had to have something like this. It immediately dawned on me that I know how television works, and I can design basically anything. So I built my own Pong. At that moment, Steve returned from Oregon, where he was studying. I showed him my work and Steve immediately wanted us to go in front of Atari management and apply for a job there.
Wozniak then recounted his great gratitude that Jobs had been hired. He wasn't an engineer, so he had to really impress Bushnell and Al Alcorn, who proposed Pong, and prove his enthusiasm. Bushnell nodded to Wozniak and added his part of the story about how Jobs came to him after a few days on the job and complained in horror that no one at Atari could solder.
Jobs said at the time: Such a team cannot work without failure even for a few weeks. You should up your game a bit. I then asked him if he could fly. He replied that of course.
Regarding this story, Wozniak mentioned that during their work together for Atari, Jobs always tried to avoid soldering and preferred to connect the cables by simply wrapping them with adhesive tape.
Later, the conversation turned to the lack of capital in the early days of Silicon Valley, and both Wozniak and Bushnell recalled with nostalgia the situation at that time and the events surrounding the Apple I computer, Atari and, for example, Commodore. Wozniak recalled how at a crucial moment they were trying to find investors, and Bushnell responded that he himself wanted to be the person to invest in Apple. Wozniak immediately reminded him that he should not have rejected the proposals that Apple presented to him at that time.
We sent our offer to both Commodore and Al Alcorn. But you were too busy with the upcoming Pong and focused on the millions of dollars that your project brought with it. You said you don't have time to deal with the computer.
The two subsequently debated what the original offer actually looked like at the time. Bushnell claimed it was a $50 buyout of one-third of Apple. Wozniak disagreed, claiming at the time that it was a potential deal worth several hundred thousand dollars, Apple's stake in Atari and their right to run the project. However, the co-founder of Apple finally admitted that he was far from being informed about all of Steve Jobs' business intentions. He also recounted his great surprise when he learned that Jobs was trying to extort $000 from Commodore.
Some time later, Bushnell praised Wozniak for the design of the Apple II, noting that the use of eight expansion slots proved to be a far-sighted idea. Wozniak replied that Apple had no plans for such a thing, but he himself insisted on it because of his geek soul.
Finally, both talked about the strength and passion of a young Steve Jobs, noting that future books and movies should deal with this very topic. However, Wozniak pointed out that Jobs' passion and intensity of his work were also the reason for some of the failures. Namely, we can mention the Lisa project or the beginnings of the Macintosh project. Adding a drop of patience is said to have enabled Jobs to get the most out of that intensity and passion.
