Yesterday I had the privilege to meet and listen to Apple co-founder, Steve Wozniak, as he came and spoke at Stevenson University. Since I do photography and video production there I get the chance to see some neat people visit campus.
My first impression, as he chatted with a few of us before the event, was his desire to talk about his achievements. I like his passion for inventing new ways to use technology and innovate how internal technology components operate. He also has a strong desire to spark a passion in others for learning and tinkering with things on the side as a hobby.
I asked him about a new sport he helped to create called Segway Polo. He went into great detail about the new sport and how he and his wife both play for a team called the Silicon Valley Aftershocks. In fact, the first international championship is named the Woz Challenge Cup. The New Zeland Pole Blacks and tied the Aftershocks 2-2 in the first ever Woz Challenge Cup. Since then other countries have joined including Germany, Barbados & Switzerland.
This sport might interest me where I to come across a Segway. I’ve played water polo and polo on horseback, but never Segway Polo.
If you are interested in learning more about the International Segway Polo Association (ISPA) you can check out the Segway Polo Wikipedia article.
As far as other interesting aspects of the day, I came to realize that people are people no matter how much pomp and reverence we give them. He was a very successful technology engineer, but at the same time, he could have been my uncle telling stories of his military career.
One thing that stood out to many people was his take on Steve Jobs. He was not a fan of how the movie Jobs with Ashton Kutcher portrayed the life of Steve Jobs or himself. He explained the lack of technical knowledge Jobs had and the desire to turn everything into profit. In contrast, Woz explained his desire to create and improve computer technology, often doing things for free. Still, neither of them could have founded the company by themselves. Woz created the product and Jobs brought the product to the consumer for a profit. The new company, Apple, needed an engineer and a salesman.
Anyway, at Stevenson University, he had a genuine interest in speaking with and answering questions from students. In fact, he stayed about 45 minutes after his address to the crowd to sign autographs, answer questions and try to instill a desire for students to experiment and think creatively. I think just about everyone there had a good time and enjoyed his spirit and passion for his work.
Is there someone you really look up to? Someone you admire for their knowledge and passion?
For more photos I took of the event check out the Stevenson University Flickr profile.
And for local coverage of the event check out: WBAL, Fox 45 & the Baltimore Sun
Jake Wattenphul 