Woz not sold on Intel switch
Posted by Dennis Sellers 
Feb 23, 2006 at 7:00pm
Apple co-founder Steve (“Woz”) Wozniak was shocked by Apple’s switch to Intel chips and also thinks the company might spin off the iPod division, according to The Globe and Mail (free registration required).
Woz told the newspaper that that move to Intel chips was surprising, but necessary from an engineering standpoint. Why? Apple needed a way to improve performance per watt. However, Woz says he does have some questions about “how much” the change is needed.
“It’s like consorting with the enemy,” he told The Globe and Mail. “We’ve had this long history of saying the enemy is the big black-hatted guys, and they kind of represent evil. We are different, and by being different we’re better. All of a sudden we’re the same in this hardware regard, so it’s a little hard to swallow your words from the past.”
Woz also thinks that the iPod should be spun off into a separate division, as it’s distracting Apple from its focus on computers.”
“We’re a computer company, and we really think computers,” he told The Globe and Mail. “Spinning off a separate division makes a whole lot of sense.”
Object-X Says:
There is a reason why Woz is not the CEO and Jobs is. So, we don’t go forward with better technology because marketing demonized Intel 20 years ago to help achive product differentiation? He seems a bit out of touch with what a pragmatic decision this was.
Posted on February 23, 2006
Article Information
Comment on this Article Print this Article Email this Article Digg This
Contributor
Dennis Sellers
Dennis has been a newspaper editor/reporter (seven years) and teacher (seven years). He has over 4,000 magazine, newspaper and online articles to his credit. He has also covered the Mac and tech industries for over a decade for such online publications as MacCentral, MacMinute and now MacsimumNews.
J. Scott Anderson Says:
I have to say that I am not sure that I agree with Mr. Wozniak on spinning off the iPod division. If the future looked as the past did where, then I could agree. However, we can see what is happening with various devices converging and with computers going into everything.
In fact, I would like to see more divisions within Apple for additional devices. As you readers have seen here on MN before, home server and entertainment products based on the Macintosh environment, auto computing solutions, more consumer and small-medium business computer products, and a greater webs services presence. Apple has the exposure and the base infrastructure to pull these things together now.
No, I am not saying that Apple try to be all things to all people. However, being the successful maker of both highly dedicated devices like the iPod and very powerful yet general purpose and flexible devices like the Macintosh puts them in a wonderful position of being able to serve several different kinds of clients very successfully. In fact, they really need to begin working with potential implementation partners and making even more happen.
Posted on February 23, 2006