Steve Wozniak talks Apple Watch, FBI encryption feud and more in Reddit AMA
- mar
- 16
Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak recently took part in an "Ask Me Anything" (AMA) on Reddit, fielding questions on a wide range of topics mostly centered around Apple. In response to a question concerning Tim Cook, Wozniak stated that he likes the direction that Cook is taking the company, noting the Apple CEO's focus on the consumer is the continuation of a precedent that Steve Jobs set.
Wozniak did express some concern over the Apple Watch, however — particularly concerning its variation in price based on band style:
I worry a little bit about - I mean I love my Apple Watch, but - it's taken us into a jewelry market where you're going to buy a watch between $500 or $1100 based on how important you think you are as a person. The only difference is the band in all those watches. Twenty watches from $500 to $1100. The band's the only difference? Well this isn't the company that Apple was originally, or the company that really changed the world a lot. So it might be moving, but you've got to follow, you know. You've got to follow the paths of where the markets are.
Wozniak was then asked about his thoughts on the ongoing encryption feud between Apple and the FBI. The Apple co-founder sided with Apple from the standpoint of protecting personal liberties:
I was brought up in a time when communist Russia under Stalin was thought to be, everybody is spied on, everybody is looked into, every little thing can get you secretly thrown into prison. And, no. We had our Bill of Rights. And it's just dear to me. The Bill of Rights says some bad people won't do certain bad things because we're protecting humans to live as humans.
So, I come from the side of personal liberties. But there are also other problems. Twice in my life I wrote things that could have been viruses. I threw away every bit of source code. I just got a chill inside. These are dangerous, dangerous things, and if some code gets written in an Apple product that lets people in, bad people are going to find their way to it, very likely.
In addition to his Reddit AMA, Wozniak also sat down for an interview as part of Reddit's Formative series. In the interview, which you can check out in the embedded video below, Wozniak talks about how he became passionate about computers and eventually co-founded Apple.
