Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak Speaks at Today’s Fall Convocation Ceremony
Apple co-founder, Steve Wozniak, will be speaking at Elon University’s Fall Convocation ceremony this afternoon, to encourage students’ creativity and promote innovation. The convocation ceremony will be held in Alumni Gym at 3:30 p.m. and will be preceded by a discussion with students in Whitley Auditorium at 1:15 p.m..
Wozniak joins Elon from Silicon Valley in California where he serves as the chief scientist for Fushion-io, a computer software company. The computer scientist is recognized for revolutionizing the computer industry by working hand-in-hand with Steve Jobs to establish the Fortune 500 company, Apple.
Other recognitions include, being inducted into the Inventors Hall of Fame and being awarded the National Medal of Technology, known as “the highest honor bestowed on America’s leading innovators,” by President Ronald Reagan in 1985.
Additionally, Wozniak is also a New York Times best-selling author for his autobiography iWoz and competed on Dancing with the Stars in 2009.
Outside of computer technology, Wozniak’s passions include encouraging childrens’ free thinking and creativity and counseling adolescents “against forces of conformity and drugs.”
Mr. Wozniak arrived on campus yesterday evening and was hosted by President Leo Lambert at the Maynard House. In a tweet, President Lambert described the keynote speaker as “delightful and engaging.” He also wrote, “Convocation tomorrow should be splendid.”
Wozniak invites President Leo Lambert back to the stage, who dismisses the crowd.
Wozniak talks about merging humility and technology. He was dazzled by Siri’s capability to not just do, but to understand. He feels that this is exactly the direction that technology is headed in.
After hitting the big time, Woz went back to school to finish his degree. He enrolled under the fake name, Rocky Racoon Clark.
The duo managed to borrow $5,000 from a friend which they used to buy computer parts. Working out of a garage, they would manufacture the devices in 10 days and immediately sell the them immediately in order to repay their startup loans. Soon they knew they had a revolutionary product on their hands.
When working on the Apple II, Wozniak said he “refused to cheat on Hewlett Packard” and felt a strong sense of loyalty towards the company (where he was still working.) He begged the company to take on his newly invented personal computer, but was turned down five times. Wozniak said its a good thing they turned him down because it would have been “a boring computer made for engineers.”
Wozniak calls Jobs “a true hippie.”
Even though they differed in lifestyles, Wozniak says he admires and appreciates anyone who has the ability to see life from a different perspective.
Wozniak said he was too confident in his own genius to use drugs or other substances to explore.
Wozniak’s close friend, Steve Jobs, got a job working night shifts at Atari. Wozniak would visit Jobs and play the newest arcade games before they were released.
One evening, Jobs told Wozniak that the company needed someone to create a single-player pong video game. Wozniak jumped on the opportunity and loved the idea. The catch was that he had only four days to create it. At the time, programs such as this took approximately six months to complete.
Wozniak stayed awake for four days and nights. Consequently, he contracted mononucleosis.
Wozniak decided to take a year off from college in order to work and save money to pay for his fourth year of college. He then received a call from Hewlett Packard and was called in for an interview. Wozniak was hired on the spot to be an engineer to design some of the company’s most influential products.
The crowd is cracking up! Woz discusses how he would use his knowledge of technology to play pranks on his classmates. Eventually he swapped the practical jokes for practical innovation and began creating computer programs. One of his first programs involved a game of chess.
To start the ceremony, the “Long Maroon Line” proceeded through a sea of applauding students, faculty and community members. The line is comprised of 125 Elon Alumni of all ages in honor of Elon’s 125th anniversary. The oldest member of the line is 103 years old.
Stay with Elon Local News as we continue our live coverage of Fall Convocation from Alumni Gym later this afternoon.
Students begin to exit as final questions are answered.
Woz says everything you do should always be fun, regardless of what your career is.
Wozniak discovered Siri when trying to find information on Lake Tahoe with his wife. He needed to know “What are the 5 biggest lakes in California?” He was astounded at the app’s ability to interpret human language.
Wozniak talks about specialized education. He believes that computers can help personalize education for students and that the future is headed in this direction.
Wozniak secretly taught as a fifth grade teacher at the height of his career. He wanted to keep it out of the press in order to develop genuine connections with his students.
Students and faculty crowd the room as Wozniak answers students’ questions.
Wozniak says the moment he realized he “made it” was when he realized he had made more money than his parents did in their entire lifetime.
Woz says he was “too nice of a guy” to be a manager, so he decided to dedicate his career to engineering.
Wozniak tells how he began speaking at Universities such as Elon. After not traveling for almost a decade, he decided speaking to youth would be a way to both travel and inspire.
Wozniak begins the Q&A discussion by discussing his Segway hobby.
ELN
October 3, 20135:28 PM
The recessional has completed for Fall Convocation and guests have exited Alumni Gym.