115 Steve Wozniak Facts: All About The Iconic American Engineer

Steve Wozniak is known as a computer genius.

He has been dealing with computers and technology from a very early age. His interest in anything electronic made him pursue a career as an electronic engineer.

Wozniak co-founded Apple along with Steve Jobs and Ranald Wayne. His work at Apple garnered him a lot of attention. He was the main designer for the first few series of Apple computers. He is not just an engineer, but also a programmer and a technology businessman.

After he permanently left the position of Apple co-founder and left the company, he founded the Electronic Frontier Foundation. This foundation is a non-profit organization that focuses on promoting and defending user privacy as well as free expression in the field of technology.

Although he was not as rich as his partner, Steve Jobs, Wozniak did not define success with financial gain. He believed that making other people's lives better was more important. He was a real philanthropist.

On an interesting note, Wozniak once also organized musical events or festivals during 1982-1983. These festivals became a mesh of technology and rock music involving computers, music, and people.

This was done in collaboration with Bill Graham who was a professional concert promoter. With his help, Wozniak had founded the UNISON company, an abbreviation for 'Unite us in song' which was the sponsor for the festivals.

If you find this fun facts article interesting, you might also enjoy reading the articles Bob Ross facts and Bob Fosse facts, here at Kidadl.

Steve Wozniak's Early Life

There are some incredibly interesting facts about Wozniak's personal life. Wozniak was born on 11 August 1950. His actual full name is Stephen Gary Wozniak.

Wozniak was born in San Jose, California. He was brought up in the Santa Clara Valley, whose current name is Silicon Valley. His father was also an engineer who encouraged young Wozniak to experiment with small science fair projects too. He gifted Wozniak a crystal set, which was his first set when he was only six years old.

Apart from being a computer geek, Wozniak was also known to be a prankster in his teenage years. He was 18 years old when he met Steve Jobs and they later co-founded the Apple computer company in 1977. However, even before building the personal computers at Apple, he had already invented other computers and devices.

Why is Steve Wozniak famous?

Steve Wozniak is popular for being an Apple co-founder. He was considered the chief scientist at the Apple company. He made major contributions to the inventions of the first Apple computer and the second Apple computer.

The Apple computer was an alternate personal computer to the traditional ones. The first Apple computer, the Apple I, was the first personal computer designed and invented by Wozniak after he co-founded Apple with Steve Jobs.

In fact, the Apple I was sort of a side project that Wozniak worked on while he was still working at Hewlett Packard (HP).

Although the Apple I did not gain as much attention as they were hoping for, the second apple computer, the Apple II computer, brought much popularity. Wozniak is considered to be the primary inventor of Apple II computers.

The prototype of the Apple II computer was made in 1976, however, it was first sold in 1977. The series of these Apple computers, which included the Apple I, Apple II, and Apple III, gained popularity until the early 1990s, after which they were discontinued.

Steve Wozniak Education

The educational life and qualifications of Steve Wozniak are quite interesting. Although his partner, Steve Jobs, was a college dropout, Wozniak was not.

Wozniak attended the University of Colorado for a year before he dropped out. He was actually put on probation for overspending the budget meant for his class.

Moreover, the reason behind his dropout was that he needed to earn the money required to pay for college. During this time, he interned at Hewlett Packard (HP) and many other places. Later on, he joined the University of California, Berkeley in 1971.

He then met Steve Jobs and went on to work with him. Wozniak was unable to complete his degree at one time.

After he lost his memory due to an accident and resigned from the Apple company, he went back to the University of California, Berkeley to complete his education. He was later awarded a degree in electrical engineering and computer science. Apart from this, he also received many other degrees from Michigan State University and Kettering University.

Steve Wozniak Inventions

Steve Wozniak has invented many products in his lifetime. His inventions are a product of his curious mind. You can find some of his more popular inventions mentioned below.

Apart from the Apple computers, which Wozniak created during his time at the company, he also experimented with similar technology earlier in his life. The very first computer that Wozniak invented was when he was 18 years old. It was called the 'Cream Soda Computer'. This computer was comparable to the Altair.

Later on, when he recovered from his injury caused by the accident, he became a part of many technology organizations and was also involved in the CL9 development. The CL9 was actually a universal remote control that was the first of its kind that could be programmed.

While at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Wozniak also designed a GPS technology called the Wheel of Zeus (WoZ) in 2002. However, unfortunately, in 2006, WoZ was shut down and Wozniak then went on to develop many other technology projects and is also an inspiration for inventions made by other people.

Did You Know...

Steve Wozniak has won many awards and honors for his inventions as well as the work he did for the community in general. He has been a role model for many technology-driven people looking to use the digital platform in an innovative manner. Let's look at some of the awards Wozniak has won.

Along with Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak was awarded the National Medal of Technology in 1985 by American President Ronald Reagan. In the year 2000, he was admitted to the National Inventors Hall of Fame while in 2001, he received the Heinz Award for Technology, the Economy, and Employment.

In 2011, Steve Wozniak was also awarded the Isaac Asimov Science Award by the American Humanist Association. These are just some notable mentions and in fact, this great personality has received more honors and awards for his influence in the technology field, his work, and his contribution to the rest of society.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly factsfor everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for 115 Steve Wozniak Facts: All About The Iconic American Engineer then why not take a look at Bob Woodward facts, or Boba Fett facts. 

(Credits for the hero image go to Viappy/Shutterstock)