14 DAY TRIAL // The BBC has scored an interview with Apple Co-Founder Steve Wozniak, who offered his impressions on Apple's evolution, the company's aim to lock everything down to one solution, third-party apps for jailbroken devices, Google's Android and more.
Talking about the early days of Apple, Woz revealed that he and Steve Jobs (currently CEO of Apple) were two of the very few realizing the potential of computers and computer programming. Since the subject has been publicized so many times, we suggest moving on to Woz' thoughts on Apple locking down its software.
During the video interview, Woz disclosed that Apple was somehow forced to take certain steps, such as tying the software to its hardware, because of the competition with Microsoft. Although Woz himself revealed that things changed in the meanwhile, the concept remained the same. It was also the case with the iPhone, according to the Apple co-founder. Woz had stated before that he loved third-party apps making their way onto the iPhone, whether they required a jailbreak or not. And that time was no different.
However, Apple does not only need to be able to control what apps land on the iPhone, but it also has to secure its relationship with carriers, since the iPhone is not only a nice toy to play with, but also a communications device. Therefore, it cannot allow everything to be dropped onto it. However, should Android's openness prove successful, Apple would only have another thing to learn from, according to Wozniak.
As far as the big computer company model was conerned, Woz was still disappointed that engineers did not get half as much credit as they should for their work. Noting that it had not been exactly his case, Woz said that it was always the Company that usually got the credit. He also admitted that CEOs like Steve Jobs were indeed what mattered, as they were able to “spot” the good engineer, driving the company forward.
Talking about his accomplishments with Apple, Woz mentioned the Apple II as the computer he was, and continued to be, most proud of. The Apple II was the company's first highly successful, mass produced microcomputer.