Q From e-mail:
In the "Pirates of Silicon Valley" movie, there was literally no mention of the Apple IIGS, nor the Apple IIE! I found this odd, since the IIGS was pushed by Apple pretty hard as the "ultimate audio and graphics computer" for it's time (and it was!). I do realize the entire point of the movie wasn't to discuss Apple's "II series technological advancements," but rather to educate people about how Microsoft and Apple got to where/how they are today. Do you have any idea why the IIGS wasn't mentioned in the film?

WOZ:
It had to be entertaining and was budgeted for 2 hours. What you are talking about would be another movie but wouldn't be as entertaining because it wouldn't be focusing on a person and some personal conflicts.

Q From e-mail:
After watching PoSV it dawned on me that Steve Jobs and John Lennon are molded out of the same batch of clay. Any thoughts?

WOZ:
From all I heard of John Lennon, including being very familiar with his songs back when, I don't think so. He didn't have a reputation for brashness, rather for unusual actions. He was very soft and not pushy. Remember him and Yoko in bed for peace? Both were masters with thoughts and words but not in the same way.

Q From e-mail:
hi. i am an 11th grader from michigan. im not very good at writing things. so bear with me. this past week i have watched pirates of silicon vally a few times. i would just like to say if you are anyhitng like how you were portraid in the movie i think you are are a great person. i think you were a key asset in the computer revolution. you should be exstreamly proud of the role you played in it. from the movie i learned about stuff that i never new happened. i was amazed that all that went on and i never heard about it. it was very interesting. the way they portraid you in the movie has inspired me to bring out the enginering side in me. i have found a new hobbie in electronics. maby in the in time i could make a living off of it. well thankyou for your time. just remeber you will always be apreatiated for what you have brought upon this world. thank you.

WOZ:
I always put being an engineer first. I believed that all engineers were the best people on earth. I also wanted to be good to people wherever I could. Who knows why, it just seemed like I'd have more friends that way and have a better chance at having a girl friend some day too. Thank you for your kind note.

Q From e-mail:
Hi Woz, Loved the TNT show and what you stand for. Why the apple??? Why did you choose an apple with a byte out of it?

WOZ:
When we formed a real company to make the Apple ][, we got a PR/ad agency, Regis McKenna. They didn't like the name "Apple" but we held on. We convinced them that this new type of computer could have a different image than the cold, industrial, business computers of the past. They came up with a bunch of logo ideas and the Apple with the byte out of it looked the best to us. Steve rearranged the colors, from rainbow order, to put the darker blue on the bottom but the lighter green on top.

The reason for the colors was that we were the first to provide color graphics with a small computer. It was almost unheard of and really distinguished us.

Q From e-mail:
I was watching the show last night and noticed the PC you and Steven brought to the Homebrew Computer Club. Was that an accurate model of what you really brought in?!? I turned to my wife and we both were in total amazement at how similar it was to the basic PC setup we use today. You truly were a visionary. I was also wondering about the "Computer Expo" scene where Steven came out in a suit and then later snubbed Gates. Did this really happen? I had to pause for a second and think about how different things would be today if they had sat down and talked to each other. But, then again, they would have had to agree on SOMETHING so, things would probably be about the same. :-)

WOZ:
I remember taking my larger and heavier Sears TV to the Homebrew Computer club, but at one point, maybe later in the garage, I did have a small B&W monitor. My sears TV had a hole carved out of the plastic to fit a cable and a transistor circuit into the TV, where it was soldered to the right places. Back then, TV's didn't have video inputs. There were no consumer VCR's either.

Q From e-mail:
I loved the movie Pirates of Silicon Valley. It brought back some wonderful memories. In grade school, I was possessed by the Apple II computer. My grades in school suffered as a result of my Apple II obsession. I was later diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder. Well, I can tell you now that I didn't have ADD, I had Apple II fever. At the age of 12, I got my first Apple II computer. It was an original Apple II (not a II+). It powered up into the monitor -- It didn't have Auto-start roms. I later bought a broken Apple //+ motherboard and used the ROMS from that instead. I spent all my spare time writing programs for the Apple II. Well, today I'm 27, and I design and develop everything from 'C' compilers, to hard real-time embedded operating systems. I switched to the PC in 1989 because it felt like a super powerful Apple II. I quickly learned 'C', and my first PC program was an Apple ][ emulator. I will never forget all of the fun I had with my Apple ][.

WOZ:
Glad to hear this. I've known many ADD kids, many now adults, that are incredible with computers. And we're just starting on this electronic path.