"The" Woz is awesome i always have liked him (OMFG we are all such nerds) and about the Kathy (Red Headed Bimbo) Griffin I'm sure it was a case of mistaken identity because we all know that "The" Woz would never date anyone like that.

SirNirian

except the Imperials wanted peace in the universe, yet the rebels wanted to keep fighting and make everyone's life worse. Stupid Jedi..

Wegmans

Woz must read this blog, because it's like he's trying to further the "Imperials vs. Rebels" analogy.

MIKEAWESOME

The irony is that the Steves' were prolific phreakers back in the day (isn't that what hacking Ma Bell was called?), working with tone generators to make free calls ;-)

Woz stayed true...as did Jobs, I suppose :-/

abates25

Not sure I would blame ATT for the lock-down. The fact that Apple has recently been negotiating with other telcos in the EU, I'm sure they can write their own contracts that limit their involvement, so it's gotta be all Apple with the lockdown.

contempt

@Oldmanstan: the history of Apple has been one locking things down! Why is there no Apple clone. For the first 20 years of the Apple you needed to have all Apple Branded peripherals to work with their stuff, printer, scanner, disk drives, memory. Ironically, when Apple made the 1984 commercial when the chick through the hammer through the screen with the droning IBM guy; it turns out IBM opens their architecture to the public allowing the development of the personal PC world while Apple has kept its architecture closed ever since. The history of Apple has been a tightly held OS, API, and hardware standard. The iPhone just follows in that tradition.

geschmidtt

woz is the true iGod

gadgetchic

@firesign: not to mention Jobs and him where never very buddy buddy.

Falconfire

remember, woz got his start as a phreaker, so it's not surprising that he supports iphone unlockers.

firesign

Apple gets as much as $18 a month for each subscriber, so you bet Apple wants to keep this thing locked for AT&T.

daedric

How does a semi-celebrity sharing a similar opinion qualify him for presidential candidacy? Cool, we've the same feelings on the subject, by the way wanna run the country? Hang on - you like techno music...? What have I done?

That being asked, in the end everyone's in it for the money.

mettleh3d

I don't quite get what the logic would be for apple to prevent anyone on any network to buy an iphone; this has to be ATT.

There is no doubt in my mind it's in the contract btw ATT and Apple that Apple will make best effort to stop the iPhone being unlocked.

smac1

Woz and Mossberg have it right: the current American cellular paradigm is archaic and stupid.

[mossblog.allthingsd.com]

Nelson

@James: agreed, apple does have a nasty history of locking shit down but they aren't stupid, the iphone would be an absolute must-have for nerds everywhere if it weren't locked (rather than a "would really like to have but will likely wait" as it is now). that's probably ATT's doing, heaven forbid someone actually use their phone for something useful and not give the carrier a cut.

oldmanstan

His last point is a point I've been trying to say for a long time. ATT is involved in this iPhone thing more than anyone cares to acknowledge.

James

We should start a campaign, something like:

"Woz for president"

or

"Woz: 2008 Nobel Peace Prize Winner"

mangochutney

also, AT&T is woth a lot of money. They can easily afford an Apple exclusive to gain so market share - much like the Xbox line can loose millions for years for market share. It's all about market share and a timeline.

AlexNC

It's a timed exclusive, that all. I am sure once the contract is over, every mobile company on earth will be selling the iPhone. Apple is soon going to rule the PC world by using the iPhone trojan horse. Mark my words.

AlexNC

I also think Steve Jobs is a hypocrite. It is completely outrageous for him to lock out ringtones I designed and have been using on my other phones.

niravabhavsar

@geschmidtt: Interesting how you change facts to suit your own idea.

Apple was a closed system because all systems where. The only reason the PC became open was because the machine was legally reversed engineered. Prior to that you had to have a license from IBM to make a PC. And you never needed to have Apple Branded perpetuals ever, people bought them cause they tended to work better and most third parties refused to make two or three sets of drivers (one for C64 one for DOS or Windows eventually, and one for Mac OS)

The only reason the PC is the market leader today is because IBM lost control of their machine in the courts, and couldnt wrestle it back, thus why they dont even exist in the personal computer market pretty much anymore.

Falconfire

@daedric: i highly doubt it's $18/month and don't believe everything you read. all the apple analysts have no clue about anything apple related... and they suck for analysts (read 9to5mac's take on it)

quiksilver180

Apple has to come clean and truly make an SDK that allows for access and not "limited access". If they do they will dominate the camera-phone business for the next decade. Nokia' Symbian, Microsoft's Windows are just too pathetic.

altus

Silly Woz, logic will get you nowhere (with Steve).


It seems like Woz has had a much higher profile the past few years than the previous decade. Perhaps its time for another Nor. Cal. Us Festival...

Vagabum

@geschmidtt: For the first 20 years of the Apple you needed to have all Apple Branded peripherals to work with their stuff, printer, scanner, disk drives, memory.

I have a closet full of printers, scanners, disk drives, RAM chips, monitors and mice that suggests otherwise.

nojo

Whats this giz-split-personality act? Half the time you are total Apple fanboys, annoying those of us who are not, and then you suddenly goes into anti-Apple mode?

Monsterdog

Ying and Yang my friends. Its all about the Ying and da Yang.

kvstud

@geschmidtt: The history of Apple has been a tightly held OS, API, and hardware standard.

And this is the secret of the Mac "just working", being stable, blah, blah, blah. It's much easier getting stability and ease of use if you're not trying to support every damn piece of hardware/software cobbled together since the beginning of time.

Major-General

Stevie-boy is so hip with that popped collar. It's a shame that his hands are chained down by the board and shareholders who want nothing less than lockdown, domination, and submission. You tell 'em, Woz!

beyondthetech2007

Don't underestimate the Kathy Griffin factor in this. She apparently has the gussies to convince Woz to do her bidding (see female drag incident). Woz is apparently feeling his oats again and is willing to speak out about the tech issues more freely. It is unfortunate for him that in the end, Griffin will probably take him for an expensive ride. She has the first dime she ever made and has been notorious for taking financial advantage in all business and personal relationships. As far as the All Powerful Jobs taking the sting, I imagine he is laughing all the way to his Swiss bank . I hope Wozniak wakes up!

dicky49

@James: You might be right, AT&T may be involved with Apples decision to lock down the iPhone. My point is, It doesn't matter. The cruel hard fact of life is that we are judged by the friends we keep, and those we do business with. Maybe AT&T has influenced Apple in their decision to lock down the phone. But at the end of the day, it's still Apples phone. They are not "victims" forced by AT&T to make decisions about their iPhone, not when they make so much money from that decision. Apple should be the ones held accountable for their actions. We shouldn't be looking for a "patsy" to pin the blame upon.

newgalactic

@abates25:
Calling Jobs more than an Ego and a Figurehead insults real phreakers and hackers everywhere. Jobs may have tagged along, but he's far from having been a "prolific phreaker". Woz, on the other hand... has a Segway that'll do 40MPH. Nuff said.

nutbastard

The "rebels"? Sounds like he's making a reference to this protest video that Engadget broke awhile back.

Scott

Netscott

It makes perfect sense that Woz supports the iPhone Rebels. Remember his "Blue Box" gadget that allowed him to make free phone calls? I believe it was called "phreaking". Funny how that was how Steve Jobs and Woz got started out. Now Jobs has sided with the dark side and Woz is supporting the rebels!

Here's a link to the blue box article.
[en.wikipedia.org]

Jeyl