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I think just about everyone agrees, including Woz, that Woz would still be building calculators at HP if it weren't for Jobs. But Jobs would've never had the necessary early success without Woz's genius.


Are either of those points actually true? I don't think so.


So the second point, about Jobs not succeeding without Woz, is only speculative (but highly likely, given Woz made technically possible). But the first point is as indisputable as history can get.

When Jobs decided to create Apple, Woz declined to quit HP at first. Only when Woz was convinced that he could remain an engineer even while heading the company did he consent to join.

So back to the speculative point: Jobs was incredibly desperate to have Woz come on board, even to the point of having a crying fit. IIRC, both Issacson's biography and iWoz (Woz's autobiography) say that Apple's third man, Mike Markkula, was convinced that they should go on without Woz.

To Jobs' credit as a genius, he apparently realized that Woz was essential to his success.




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