Fall Convocation
On October 3rd, I
attended Fall Convocation featuring Steve Wozniak. I was quite excited to hear
what he had to say because technology is so prevalent in today’s society. Also,
I am going to be looking, as of now, at the impact of technology in regards to
the teaching of handwriting, so the topic is actually relevant to my potential
research.
Wozniak
organized his presentation in chronological order based on his life. He began
with discussing his childhood and how he was a very inward person. This forced
him to believe in his own self and trust in his own thinking. He spent much of
time learning about computers from the information his father, an engineer, had
on hand in the house. Even though he was only in elementary school, he realized
that everything could be understood if one could understand simple math. He
used clear and logical thinking to figure out the more complex topics adults
had difficulties understanding.
He made the
point that his father let him understand and learn things for himself. He would
guide Wozniak in certain aspects, but still allow him to think for himself.
Through this parenting style, he was able to come to his own conclusions
without his father forcing his own values upon him. Wozniak used this same
parenting style with his own children, allowing them to make their own decisions.
His
childhood consisted of exploring with various types of electronics and building
his own products with his friends. Wozniak earned his HAM radio license because
he found the information to receive it. This self-motivation allowed him to
work hard to develop his own concepts and keep himself out of trouble, even
when he was pulling pranks on a consistent basis. Throughout his school years,
he would pull pranks, but since he didn’t want to be caught, he made sure he
was never put in that situation. I found this interesting because I would have
assumed such an independent, inward person would have not bothered with pulling
pranks. I found his entire persona and attitude very infectious, which didn’t
seem to match his description of himself.
He continued
to teach himself about computers by reading books and magazines from a
supposedly locked place. He was surprised it was always unlocked since they
were some of the smartest people in the world, but he took advantage of it. He
realized there is always a better method to do things and fewer parts is always
better. With this new knowledge, Wozniak realized one has to work with the
parts that are available and you need to make it in the cheapest manner
possible.
Once in
college, Wozniak continued his trickster ways while taking advanced computer
classes and excelling. He worked to pay for his education and continued to work
on building actual computers. He meant Steve Jobs and they bonded over their
pranks in school. They quickly bonded and became best friends. When working on
new technology, security was not often a high priority. Jobs always wanted to
sell their new inventions. Wozniak touched on the fact that one should always
build in an element of fun into whatever one is doing. This makes life more
interesting and work doesn’t have to be work.
Looking for
a job to pay for his fourth year of college, he was hired by HP on the spot to
work on the handheld scientific calculator as an engineer. He loved working
there and thought that was how he was going to spend the rest of his life. I
found this fascinating because I had never considered the fact that someone
from Apple could have possibly started worked for a rival company. After lots
of work and other projects, the Apple One was created. This is the point in
time when the technical guys were becoming successful because they were very
important in the scheme of things. They were on the verge of a technological
revolution. They ended up simply giving out the first version they created. I
found this confusing because all Jobs wanted to do was earn money, so clearly
Wozniak won that battle. The Apple Two used color but turning numbers into
actual visible colors. They basically created their own language for this
computer that was completely different from others.
Jobs
returned from college and wanted to create their own company, but Wozniak
didn’t want to cheat on HP. He proceeded to beg the company to make the
personal computer, and they continuously denied him, but let him keep his job.
They continued to work on the computer and they knew they had a hot product.
They started their own company and continued to develop their product. The
computer had eight slots to allow for growth and expansion instead of the two
slots Jobs initially fought for. Eventually, the company went public and they
kept their products secret from others. Products such as the IPod, ITunes, and
the IPhone allowed the company to succeed.
Wozniak
thinks that technology needs to become more human like. He compared an IPhone
to an actual human: it has a sense of hearing, sight, touch and direction. This
is the direction we are heading with these new technologies. Though it was a
long-winded way to reach this conclusion, I completely agree with what he was
saying about technology. Though our overreliance on these technologies is
concerning to me, I think it is going to be hard to slow down this transition
to a completely technology driven society.
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