Steve Wozniak Turns His 70th Birthday Into a Charity Event

In 2000 Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak answered questions from Slashdot readers. More than 20 years later, CNET writes: Party on, Woz. Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak turned 70 on Tuesday, and invited the world to his virtual birthday party. The event raised funds for singer Jewel's Inspiring Children Foundation, which provides mentorship and mental health resources for at-risk youth. And while the star-studded event is over, you can watch the replay online.

Wozniak and his wife, Janet, can be seen in party footage watching the event from their Northern California home. The celebration featured recorded performances and birthday greetings from such celebrities as William Shatner, Kristi Yamaguchi, Shaquille O'Neal, Chris Rick, Nancy Pelosi, Emmylou Harris and more.

There's now a three-hour-plus video of the party, complete with comments from those who already watched, available to view online. If you want it in shorter slices, Wozniak has been sharing brief videos from the party on his Twitter account...

The party may be over, but it was the kickoff event for "11 Days of Wozdom," a series of social media challenges, with prizes for some participants.
There's also a terrific biographical video on the site — plus a link to 24 special auctions supporting Woz's favority charity. Bid on a dinner with both Woz and comedian Drew Carey, a tour with Woz of comedian Jay Leno's classic car garage, or a private concert with Jewel that's hosted by Woz. (And there's also a meeting with Woz on Zoom, and a chance to have him record a personalized video message.)

It looks like everyone's celebrating. In 2010 Jonathan Mann, who writes a song a day, recorded the viral hit "That's Just the Woz" to celebrate Steve Wozniak's 60th birthday. This week -- now up to song #4,235 -- Mann recorded a follow-up song, also pointing his viewers to the URL for Woz's favorite charity.

"Instead of presents, help save and transform children's lives," Woz tweeted on Monday.

Re:

[Anonymous Coward]

Us: "Happy B-day Woz! Thanks for the expansion slots!"

You: "Waaaaaah! Waaaaaah! Slashdot is become TMZ! Waaaaaaah!"

Re:Celebrity gossip.

[garyisabusyguy]

FWIW, I would much rather hear about what tech icons are doing while they are alive, than just some obit when they pass

That indeed, is just the Woz.

[RyanFenton]

He's awesome - one of those industrious nerdy folks who legitimately does work almost completely on the basis of wanting to help people as much as he can with his life. There's few of those folks prominent in culture - but they're amazing when you see them. Folks like Adam Savage, Margaret Hamilton, James Randi, Norman Borlaug - maybe not always the most famous, or always heroes - but always putting others way ahead of greed, and working their whole lives at it.

Happy Birthday dude - keep on being an amazing nerd!

Ryan Fenton

Woz is a class act.

[grub]

The guy never fails to be cool in my books. Even when on Dancing with the Stars.

Re:

[Anachronous Coward]

Any friend of Chris Rick is a friend of mine.

Re:Woz is a class act.

[quanminoan]

His book "iWoz" is a great read for any interested.

Re:

[Anonymous Coward]

Spam [imgur.com]

Class act

[erp_consultant]

I always thought that Woz was the real genius in the early Apple days. Jobs got most of the credit, and he certainly was very good at design principles and marketing, but to me Woz has always been the geek's geek. A guy that got into computers purely for the love of it, the challenge, and the reward of helping out your fellow man.

Eventually Apple got so big that it sort of passed him by but I think he's just as happy to tinker away in his basement. I don't think it was ever about money for him, although I'm sure he's quite well off from the early Apple stock. At some point he just figured I've got enough money. Time to start doing some charity work and help out others less fortunate.

He's on the Mount Rushmore of tech heroes in my books. Just a good guy with a good heart that has been blessed with amazing skills. Happy birthday Woz!

Re: Class act

[lord_mike]

His design for both the Apple I and Apple II were amazing, maximizing the available hardware available at the time. He wasn't just a wiz with hardware, he wrote some amazing software, too (in assembly without an assembler, so basically direct machine code as he hand assembled the software), and used it to further optimize his hardware designs. He truly is a genius and deserves way more credit than Steve Jobs who only managed to merely supply am external case.

Re:

[tlhIngan]

I always thought that Woz was the real genius in the early Apple days. Jobs got most of the credit, and he certainly was very good at design principles and marketing, but to me Woz has always been the geek's geek. A guy that got into computers purely for the love of it, the challenge, and the reward of helping out your fellow man.

Eventually Apple got so big that it sort of passed him by but I think he's just as happy to tinker away in his basement. I don't think it was ever about money for him, although I'm

Happy birthday, Woz!

[RealNeoMorpheus]

Nothing but the upmost level of respect to you!

Really hate how Jobs gets all the credit and blind devotion, yet Woz is ignored.

Re: Happy birthday, Woz!

[NoMoreACs]

Nothing but the upmost level of respect to you!

Really hate how Jobs gets all the credit and blind devotion, yet Woz is ignored.

I couldn't agree more!