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Woz and I did a one-on one-chat for the Commonwealth Club on November 16, 2006 as part of his iWoz book tour. (Click here to watch a video of it) It was one of the most enjoyable gigs that I’ve ever done. After the event, I compiled this list of the “Top Ten Things I Love Most About Woz.”

  1. He knows what he is; he knows what he’s not; and he’s comfortable with both. (These are very rare qualities in Silicon Valley.)

  2. His design theory is, “Create what you want to use.”

  3. He is unwaveringly loyal to Apple.

  4. He is unwaveringly complimentary about HP.

  5. He’s proof that it can be advantageous to grow up in a less-than-rich family.

  6. He went back to school long after getting a degree was necessary for him to get ahead in the world.

  7. He taught fifth graders instead of becoming a venture capitalist. (Although these jobs are remarkably similar—it’s just that venture capitalists get paid millions of dollars, fly around in private jets, and expense greens fees.)

  8. He believes that your work/writing/code/design—whatever kind of output—is a personal reflection of your being and a window into your soul.

  9. His idea of a cool product is much more than “I’m creating a niche version of MySpace using APIs and will make money with AdSense.”

  10. He’s generous to a fault.

  11. He thinks that Macintosh’s small market share is proof that it’s an elite computer.

Here are a few pictures from the event. The story of the white laptop is here.

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Here is a Spanish version of this entry.