Steve Wozniak On Jobs’ Biopic
Following the first trailer for Steve Jobs biopic, Steve Wozniak has made his comments on the film.
On the protrayal of Jobs he said:
I have a little bug in me that says that this movie will portray Steve as a saint who was ignored, rather than one of the key people who led Apple through failure after failure (Apple ///, LISA, Macintosh) while the revenues poured in from the Apple ][ that Jobs was trying to kill. It’s nice to have the luxury to fail. The Macintosh market was created in the 3 years after Jobs left, with a lot of effort, by some who Jobs disdains.
Jobs came back as the saint and god we now recognize and did then head the creation of other products as great as the Apple ][, like the iTunes store, the iPod, the retail stores, the iPhone and the iPad. But he was a different person, more experienced and more thoughtful and more capable of running Apple in those later years.
We truly could have used the later Jobs in earlier years at Apple, is what I feel.
On his own role, and supporting characters:
I was ok with how it showed me, unlike the first preview.
Other characters like Sculley and Markkula are wildly exaggerated in ways that tend to portray them as sleazy or something. In fact, they both had the same high ideals of where computers could lead us as Steve did.
On the interaction between himself and Jobs:
Not close…we never had such interaction and roles…I’m not even sure what it’s getting at…personalities are very wrong although mine is closer… it’s totally wrong. Personalities and where the ideas of computers affecting society did not come from Jobs. They inspired me and were widely spoken at the Homebrew Computer Club. Steve came back from Oregon and came to a club meeting and didn’t start talking about this great social impact. His idea was to make a $20 PC board and sell it for $40 to help people at the club build the computer I’d given away. Steve came from selling surplus parts at HalTed he always saw a way to make a quick buck off my designs (this was the 5th time).
The lofty talk came much further down the line.
I never looked like a professional. We were both kids. Our relationship was so different from what was portrayed. I’m embarrassed but if the movie is fun and entertaining, all the better. Anyone who reads my book iWoz can get a clearer picture.
Whilst I’ve personally found little interest in the Jobs biopic, it’s always interesting to hear the opinion of a figure who was actually involved in the story.
The Woz’s statements are a little disconcerting, but its important to remember that whilst this film has been made to depict the lift of Jobs, it’s also a film, and so artistic interpretation has to be nurtured, otherwise the film simply won’t be appealing to anyone outside the immediate die-hard fan base built around the personality of Steve Jobs.
The film should most likely very entertaining, and I’ll certainly be interested to see the reaction and reviews of critics and the public alike once it’s released.
