Woz Is First In Line For iPhone 4S 287
An anonymous reader writes "Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak is already camped out in front of an Apple store for the new iPhone 4S. From the article: 'Woz and his trusty Segway showed up at his local Apple store in Los Gatos Thursday and said he will stay there overnight. He added he already has two phones coming to his house, but doesn't mind hanging out for one more for his wife.'"
Woz has not fallen (Score:5, Insightful)
...how the mighty have fallen
He has not fallen. He is a supremely talented engineer and never imagined himself qualified to be an executive. His aspirations were quite different from Jobs. When Woz had a boatload of money he decided to go give back to the community and teach at a public school for a while. He still occasionally gets involved in a startup but it is usually in some engineering or scientific capacity not some kind of executive or management capacity.
Re:3 *new* iPhones? (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Camping out? (Score:5, Insightful)
I can't imagine there's a single Apple "first-in-liner" that wouldn't let Woz cut to the front of the line if he showed up at the last minute.
I can only imagine the kids in line saying, "Who the fuck are you?" Kids these days...
Re:That son of a bitch (Score:4, Insightful)
What he's doing is being a publicity hound. He could walk into Apple, talk to Tim Cook, and have a box of them placed in his lap. I find these antics humorous and highly manipulative. He's a billionaire. He can fly in private jets anywhere in the world on a moments notice. He can buy some whole towns. Why would a billionaire stand in line all night long to get a cellphone that his company sells?
One final note. Be wary of the practical joker. Those around him should probably get ready to have him buy theirs as well, as a good gesture.
Yes, Woz, we'll miss you too.
Re:Strange (Score:5, Insightful)
Yeah, if only they could do something more constructive like spending their evenings criticizing people on the internet.
Re:That son of a bitch (Score:5, Insightful)
Can a guy have fun?
Quit being a buzz kill
Re:That son of a bitch (Score:5, Insightful)
You lost all respect for someone you've never met, based on what you imagine his intentions to be, surrounding actions taken during events at which you were not present.
No offense, but I get the impression that your respect isn't really worth a whole lot in the first place, if you treat it so arbitrarily.
Re:3 *new* iPhones? (Score:4, Insightful)
As is so plainly evidenced by his eagerness to sit in line overnight with other iphone-geeking gadget-happy wonks. He could get another phone delivered, and he's hanging out all night.
<sarc> Yeah, the dude has so-oo completely forgotten what it is to be a nerd. </sarc>
He's always had my respect (Score:5, Insightful)
Wow, lots of unexpected harsh comments regarding Woz here.
Woz is just a nice guy. He likes to talk to people, especially when they share similar interests (Apple products in this case). This is the same guy who was so into computers that he regularly attended the Homebrew Computer Club, and sought out people who knew things he didn't (like about the phone system). It's also the same guy who works with young people to get them interested in programming and computers. He's a people person, even if he can seemingly be a bit shy sometimes.
So why do people have to insert some kind of agenda into the guy's actions? He makes like $400 a month from Apple to not do anything, so he isn't exactly working for their marketing department. Whether his appearance makes a 30-second spot on the local evening news (which going by the media's interest in Woz compared to Jobs, maybe not), and if he's lucky sells a few more iPhones in his town to fans who were probably on the fence about buying it anyway, doesn't benefit him personally. And Woz standing in a line simply isn't going to generate any significant sales nationally either to make any noticeable impact on Apple's bottom line. Especially when you consider that the average Apple fan these days quite frankly (and sadly) may have no idea who the guy is.
Jobs wasn't a very nice person. Not only do I understand peoples' dislike of the guy, I share it. But I honestly can just never understand any strong negative feelings about Woz. I personally have no interest in Apple or their products these days, but Woz is still a role model to someone like myself who's interested in programming and electronics. And I love to hear about his pranks, since I've been known to pull one here or there as well. People can blow Steve Jobs up into a visionary or Jesus or whatever other nonsense and I'll still never respect the guy. But Woz will always have my respect.
Seriously, how many respectable role models are even left out there anymore, especially for young people?
So sad (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:That son of a bitch (Score:5, Insightful)
Why would a billionaire stand in line all night long to get a cellphone that his company sells?
As you said, for the publicity. Cults being what they are, I'm sure it all helps to perform minor miracles to keep the sheep spending until the day they can revive Zombie Jesus.. i mean Jobs.
Or you know, it could just be that Woz is a pretty fun cool guy and likes to hang out with people in lines and makes new friends. Believe it or not, Woz doesn't need the money and the iPhone doesn't need the publicity to sell out in less than an hour. Frankly Woz is more the engineer, nerd and geek than any of us will likely ever be if the guy wants to stand in a line overnight for shits and giggles, more power to him. But no, it's cool, you twist that into some strange reason to insult a dead man. I'm just surprised you didn't mention Apple users being shee... OH wait, you did. I guess you bought an Android phone, installed someone else's ROM that they made nice and simple for you to understand and told yourself you're a "hacker" and more of a nerd than an Apple user.
Re:He's always had my respect (Score:4, Insightful)
Maybe they're annoyed that Woz keeps getting all the credit for being the 'nice one' when Jobs gets looked down on still for something he did 30 years ago.
Dude, even "get these damn scribble pads out of my office!" *throw* isn't 30 years ago. Jobs was well-known for being an asshole, and only his bout with cancer was enough to get people to stop saying so, because they felt guilty. But he brought us a walled garden and no shortage of arrogance ("you're holding it wrong") so from where I'm sitting he was the same guy he always was right up until he died.
Speaking of holding it wrong, I note that the iPhone 4S has a redesigned antenna that makes the iPhone 4 case accessories not fit it, so you have to buy them all over again. I figure they redesigned it to solve the problem of people holding it wrong - you're supposed to shove it up your arse.
Also, it doesn't have to be one or the other. Both Woz and Jobs are guys who did amazing things. You can like them both.
Or you could think Steve Jobs was an asshole who did amazing things, and that Wozniak is a nice guy who did amazing things. That's OK too.
Re:That son of a bitch (Score:4, Insightful)