subject: A Computer History Museum Tour By Steve Wozniak [print this page] Version 2.0 of the 8-year-old Computer History Museum, scheduled to reopen to the public on Jan. 13, is the valley's answer to the Smithsonian. The 25,000-square-foot exhibit is jam-packed with more than 1,100 inventions from tiny circuits to giant supercomputers that trace the evolution of technology and innovation.
Among the gems: ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer), the first general purpose electronic laptop ; UNIVAC I (Universal Automatic Computer), the first commercial computer produced in the U.S.; a butcher scale designed by IBM; German-production encryption machines used during World War II; plenty of early Macintosh models; and RAMAC, the first hard disk drive.
"Blows the mind, doesn't it?" says Dag Spicer, the museum's senior curator. The $19 million renovation was bankrolled by 65 private donors, including Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates. Many items were donated by individuals and other museums, including the Smithsonian.
Tech wizardry has always been paramount to Woz, the engineer who shaped the design of Apple's first personal computers. He is one of 45 fellows named by the museum for his contributions to the laptop computer world. Other recipients include Intel co-founder Gordon Moore, Internet pioneer Vint Cerf and Linux creator Linus Torvalds.
Cradling a cup of tea as he battled the remnants of a nagging cold, Wozniak mused on:
Apple. "Its (success) is astounding. It has done incredible things in music, smartphones, tablets and retail, while still making great computers. Apple used to be one company. Now, it's, like, 10 and doing them all well."
Advice for Apple(after a long pause). "Try to be a little more open and flexible for other people to make your product good."
Steve Jobs. "He does not want to be a celebrity, but he's known as someone who builds great products." (Wozniak, however, said he and Jobs rarely talk.)
Today's technology. "It's such an exciting period with mobile. IPhone did it right."
Dancing With the Stars "I never saw the show until I appeared on it. There were silly, made-up skits we had to participate in for our characters. But I let my emotions show, and it was a fun event in my life."
Kathy Griffin. "I was on her (popular reality TV) show as a favor to her as a friend. I helped to sell her cheap laptop show. Would I do another reality show? Probably not, unless it involved science and helped educate kids."
US Festival, the Woodstock-like music and culture extravaganzas he underwrote in 1982 and 1983. "We almost did one recently. I spent $1 million looking at three sites in the West. Kansas was considered because we want to bring people together in the middle of the country. Who knows? It might still happen."
