Steve Jobs raised the possibility of Steve Wozniak returning to Apple in conversation that took place during Jobs’ final days in 2011, according to a new interview.
The insight comes from a Bloomberg interview with Woz talking about the new Steve Jobs movie, which opened on limited release last weekend.
Wozniak doesn’t offer many more details, but he does say he turned down Jobs’ offer, saying that, “I’m not the person for it” and that he “love[s] the life” he has today.
Woz definitely has an enviable life today, but as a long-time Apple fan I’ve always wondered why he doesn’t play more of a part in the company today, even if it was only representing the company at more public events like the opening of Apple Stores.
While Jobs definitely shied away from Apple’s history during his tenure at CEO, Tim Cook has been far more willing to embrace Apple’s past — as seen from the massive 30th anniversary Macintosh celebrations from last year.
In Woz’s interview, he also reiterates what has become a talking point concerning the Steve Jobs movie: namely, that “everything in the movie didn’t happen” as it’s portrayed. “Every scene that I’m in, I wasn’t talking to Steve Jobs at those events,” Woz says.
He also notes that scenes involving a clash between himself and Jobs never actually happened. The scenes have been called some of the most dramatic of the movie, and have played a large part in marketing materials. Instead, Woz says that Rogen’s character in the movie says all the “things I could never say.”
Source: Bloomberg
Luke Dormehl is a U.K.-based journalist and author, with a background working in documentary film for Channel 4 and the BBC. He is the author of The Apple Revolution and The Formula: How Algorithms Solve All Our Problems … and Create More, both published by Penguin/Random House. His tech writing has also appeared in Wired, Fast Company, Techmeme and other publications.
6 responses to “Woz talked to Steve Jobs about returning to Apple in 2011”
Wos loves his spotlight
I am sick to death of this guy. Yeah, he did amazing stuff 35+ years ago…. but all he does now is flap his gums with half truths.
Do you suffer so much over other trivial things also.
It’s interesting that the filmmakers chose (and were allowed) to take so much creative license with Steve’s life. Why embellish so many details to the point where it’s nearly fiction?
Hollywood biography and history movies are as real as TV wrestling.
Woz made Apple computers happen with Steve Jobs. I still own a working Woz Apple IIGS, sitting in a bookcase as a memory of my initial exposure to Apple product. Anything beyond the Mac was Jobs and no way would Woz be asked to return. When he left Apple his views were diametrically opposed to those of Jobs and the direction of new product.
Time has a way of distorting history, Hollywood even more so, and those left out of that mix seek ears of gullible writers for inclusion willing to accept their version of perceived history. Without Woz Apple would not exist today, but his relevance or agreement with anything we’ve seen from Apple in the last 20 years is nil.