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0 pointsdboreham6mo ago0 comments

> Woz is a genius who invented the personal computer as we know it.

History being written by the victors here, I believe.

He designed some clever things for example bit-banging the floppy interface which allowed the Apple 2 to have floppies at a lower price point than competitors. Another innovation of the Apple 2 at the time was its use of a switched-mode PSU. It was almost certainly the first personal computer to have that, but designed by Rod Holt not Woz. He didn't invent the switching PSU -- they were commonly used in portable test equipment at the time.

Having been alive at the time and paying attention, I disagree that Woz invented anything very significant. Definitely an important figure, and a clever guy though.

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engeljohnb6mo ago

After looking more closely at the release dates of the earliest home computers, I found you're right. Three major home computers, all preassembled, with keyboard and video display and BASIC launched in 1977. Seems Apple II was not the first, only the most forward-looking of the three.

I still don't credit Steve Jobs with starting any computing revolutions, in 1977 or 2008.

dborehamOP6mo ago

At the time it seemed that the advantage Apple had over the Pet and TRS-80 was the lower price-point for floppies and color, and over time much more software becoming available. Obviously those advantages weren't entirely due to luck -- Woz designed the low-cost floppy interface and someone specified the color modulator and enough memory for color graphics. Someone decided to use a switched mode PSU which made the Apple much lighter and therefore easier to lug around than a Pet. The general idea of "having a computer at home" had existed since the 1960s so I wouldn't credit Jobs with any amazing breakthrough in that regard.

Also worth noting that the Apple 2 was really a US/North America phenomenon. For example although they were sold in the UK (my school, unusually, had one), they were not popular and pretty much nobody had one in their home. So you might as well say that the person at the BBC who decided to commission the BBC Micro was the pioneer of personal computing. Or Clive Sinclair.

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engeljohnb6mo ago

I still don't credit Steve Jobs with starting any computing revolutions, in 1977 or 2008.

dborehamOP6mo ago

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