Image via Bob Pearce/smh.com.au

Steve Wozniak thinks “It is time for the whole computer industry to maybe have a bit of a slowdown,” according to comments published in a wide-ranging interview with the Telegraph UK.

With shares of Apple, Inc. off 45% from August highs at $179, Wozniak thinks the spate of analyst downgrades for the near-term prospects of the company he founded are likely “correct.” He said, “For twenty years we have been in this replacement and upgrade market” that he finds unsustainable.

“Things like [the iPod], if you look back to transistor radios and Walkmans, they kind of die out after a while,” he predicted, referring to a major Apple profit center in recent years.

Wozniak also appeared critical of Apple’s latest groundbreaking product, the iPhone, and the direction development of third-party applications has taken. “Consumers aren’t getting all they want when companies are very proprietary and lock their products down,” he opined, saying, “I would like to write some more powerful apps than what you’re allowed.”

And while, as some analysts believe, Apple may be in a better position to withstand an industry slowdown than other technology companies, because of the near-religious devotion some consumers have toward Apple products, Woniak said neither he nor Steve Jobs was ever comfortable with such attitudes. We “don’t like the fact that it’s a bit of a religion,” he said of the company’s cult followers.

“I would like to have the users influence the next generation,” he said. “With a religion you’re not allowed to challenge anything. I want our customers to challenge us.”

One area of the Telegraph interview with a disturbingly false ring to it, however, concerned Wozniak’s description of Steve Job’s position in Apple’s stream of internal intelligence. He claimed that, when it comes to the introduction of new products, “nobody, not even Steve Jobs” knows what’s next.

“I think he would be sitting there [unaware] right up until the day it is introduced.” Ya think?

The BBC web site ran an interview with Woz yesterday, but to be honest there’s not much in it that the average Cult reader won’t know already.

Some of the better quotes:

“You become what you want to be in life. I wanted to be an engineer. I didn’t want to run a company.”

“Lack of resources forces you to do a lot more original thinking.”

“I wanted to do a great engineering job and every time I designed something great, several times in our life, Steve would come and say: Let’s sell it!”

The only fact in the piece that was new to me was the number of cellphones Woz owns: 10. I’m surprised it’s only 10.

Picture of Woz by Eric Rhoads, used under Creative Commons license.

BoingBoing guest blogger Lisa Katayama has tracked down an amazing work by Japanese cartoonist Mitsuru Sugaya, recounting the story of the founding of Apple from the 1970s to about 1984. The full series of comics is on uagaya’s web page, and it must be seen, if only for the scene of young Woz speaking to an octopus alien via Ham Radio.

Sugaya via BoingBoing

Steve Wozniak spoke to Intel developers in San Francisco yesterday, telling them maintaining a vision without compromise, is “the right way of going through life.”

In a wide-ranging on-stage interview at the annual Intel Developer Forum, Wozniak also said being poor helps inspire creativity. As a computer designer, “I would do any trick I could think of to try to save money,” he said. “Not having any money helps.”

In the end, the man who began work on the first Apple computer as an engineer working at Hewlett-Packard (and offered his invention to that company five times before accepting rejection and taking it on himself with Steve Jobs), waxed philosophical about technology’s impact on our lives.

“Technology is always supposed to improve our lives,” he said. “I don’t know. Are we happier than we were 100 years ago? Are we happier than we were 1,000 years ago? Do we smile more?”

As part of the launch of new how-to video site Neulio, Steve Wozniak, the Woz himself, has created a brief course on the basics of his favorite sport, Segway Polo. Having been nearly run down by Woz and his Segway, I can confirm that he knows what he’s doing.

Thanks, Christina!

DListed gets the pics as Woz and his lady love Kathy Griffin show up together at the new Diablo’s Cantina at the Monte Carlo in Las Vegas. I guess this is real. Weird, huh?

Via the Raw Feed.

Woz’s apparent girlfriend, Kathy Griffin, recently went on Larry King Live to talk about controversial remarks she made at the smaller awards ceremony that precede the main Primetime Emmy Awards. In the clip pasted above, she talks about her relationship with Woz, and the couple’s appearance on the red carpet is shown. Check it out.

Though no photos have surfaced yet, Entertainment Weekly reports that Emmys host Ryan Seacrest interviewed Kathy Griffin on the red carpet tonight, and a certain burly, bearded founder of Apple named Woz a few minutes ago. This is contrary to several denials of the relationship between Woz and Griffin.

Apparently, Seacrest had no idea who Woz was and suddenly opened his eyes after being informed through his ear piece. The clip should air on the west coast around 7 p.m., so keep your eyes peeled for it. I’ll post the red carpet clip as soon as it makes it to the Internet. In the mean time, enjoy a video of Woz explaining Griffin to a fan.

More than 25 years later, Steve Wozniak has returned to the scene of his greatest triumph, re-making his enthusiastic endorsement of the Nissan (and then-Datsun) Z car. The new version promotes the 350Z, which he was selling off for charity to benefit his alma mater, UC Berkeley. And it. is. AWESOME.

Via Macenstein 

There are many measures of Apple fandom. Some people hoard old machines and keep them in pristine running condition. Others get tattoos and unfortunate haircuts.

And then there are those who drop cash on limited-edition lego replicas of Steve Jobs and Woz. No, I’m not making this up. According to Ars Technica, the sets go on sale tomorrow at 9 p.m. Eastern. You can be one of the few, the proud, the Mac proud.

Via Digg.