When Ethan heard the name Steve Wozniak, the smile on his face grew even wider.
To be honest, a few hours earlier—when Jobs had called the chubby boy Stephen in front of everyone—Ethan had already guessed his identity. This wasn't just anyone. This was the real founder of Apple, the man who had personally built the first Apple computer with his own hands.
But since they didn't know each other at the time, Ethan hadn't called him out directly. Now, however—
"Oh~ Stephen, nice to meet you~"
"I'm glad too."
After shaking Ethan's hand, Wozniak flapped his arms dramatically and said with a grin, "Yo~ don't you believe it? I'm serious! Steve probably didn't tell you, but I spent several days playing Snake Game after seeing it! The little snake you designed is fascinating—so addictive! I didn't want to work at all!"
"Really? I thought you hated what I made." Ethan smiled, half-joking. "After all, when Steve introduced me to you just now, you didn't react at all."
"Oh, that?" Wozniak puffed up his cheeks, waving his hands in mock protest. "I was furious at the time! When I'm that angry—like a salmon showing its teeth—even if you were the friendliest guy in the world, there's no way I could've smiled at you!"
"Hahahaha~ You're hilarious, Stephen!" Ethan laughs at Wozniak's exaggerated expression. Pressing his palms down as if to calm himself, he said loudly, "I get it, I totally understand your mood."
At first, Ethan had thought Wozniak was arrogant—especially since he seemed willing to spend money rather than waste time fixing the Altair. But now, seeing his genuine joy and humor, Ethan felt he was far more approachable.
Since it was already dinner time, Ethan suggested they find a place to eat.
Both Steves readily agreed, and after a bit of searching, they walked into a small restaurant in Menlo Park.
Ethan ordered a salad and a glass of lemon juice. Jobs chose an apple pie and apple juice. Wozniak went for a hamburger and a Coke.
Once their orders were placed and the three of them sat by the window, Ethan finally asked about the truth behind what had happened earlier.
The whole incident had seemed strange to him. By common sense, even if Wozniak and his friends had broken someone else's machine, people who weren't the actual owners shouldn't have been so aggressive.
Jobs sighed helplessly. "Isn't it all because of Stephen? At that party, while he was taking apart the Altair to show me how it worked, he also kept saying there were flaws in the design. He said the Altair's designers were wasteful—using five circuit boards when one would have been enough. And then he claimed that if he had built it, he would've done it way better than that guy!
Although I believe what he said was true, I also know his words upset the others. Ethan, you saw it yourself—those people we met today all deeply respect Edward Roberts, the inventor of the Altair. So when they heard Stephen's criticism, they were offended and picked a fight with us on the spot. That day ended in a quarrel… and today's mess is the result."
"Is that so?" Ethan chuckled.
To him, Jobs's situation could be summed up two ways.
"You're just telling the truth, but others think you're bragging."
"Exactly! Altair's craftsmanship is garbage!" Wozniak suddenly perked up.
Ethan nodded with a smile as Wozniak continued, full of energy:
"A so-called microcomputer worth several hundred dollars, and after just a few months of use its solder pads are falling off? That's a disaster! It's like buying a million-dollar airplane only for it to fall apart after one month of flying! That's not innovation—it's a production accident!"
"Okay, okay," Jobs cut in, exasperated. "We all know you're right. Just stop harping on it, will you?"
As though coaxing a child, he added: "Stephen, everyone knows how talented you are. The Altair isn't even on par with what you built back in high school. The only reason you didn't beat them to it was because, back when you were designing, there wasn't even such a thing as a central microprocessor on the market."
"Exactly!" Wozniak jumped up in excitement. "When I was in high school, Intel hadn't even been founded yet! If Intel had existed then—no, even if Motorola had had a central microprocessor—I would have built a personal computer long ago! There wouldn't even be an Altair today!"
Jobs closed his eyes, exhausted. His original plan had been to praise Wozniak to calm him down. He hadn't expected the opposite effect—Woz only got louder.
Ethan, watching the whole exchange, feel amused. Jobs was always so confident in front of others, yet when facing Wozniak he was completely at his mercy.
At the same time, a question popped into his mind. He knew Wozniak was a true genius, but he was curious: how had this guy started designing microcomputers back in middle school? Talent might explain a lot—but not that much.
So he asked. Jobs, eager to drop the Altair topic, quickly seized the chance. "That's simple. His father taught him electronics and computers when he was a kid."
"What?" Ethan turned to Wozniak. "Your father?"
"Yeah, my father!" Wozniak replied eagerly. "When I was little, he told me that computers would inevitably develop toward miniaturization. With the pace of technological progress, he said personal computers would appear in ten, maybe twenty years at most. If I remember right, he told me this back when I was still in elementary school."
"…???"
Ethan's head filled with question marks. For a moment, he even wondered if his ears had deceived him.
Because Wozniak and Jobs were the same age, there wasn't much of an age difference between them.
And in that case—Wozniak's father was already introducing him to computers when he was just a child?
When was that? Ten years ago? Fifteen years ago? Late fifties? Early sixties?
"Fuck! Could you even predict computers era? What kind of family is this!?"
Ethan suddenly felt that something was off. In his memory, hadn't countless media outlets in his previous life promoted Apple as the embodiment of the true American dream? Because in the entire tech circle, only Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak were said to have started from scratch!
But now? Ethan could no longer hold back and blurted out:
"Let me ask you, Stephen… who exactly is your father?"
It seemed like Wozniak had answered this countless times before, so he didn't bother hiding anything. "Oh, my father used to be an engineer," he said casually. "But these days he doesn't do much research work anymore."
This answer left Ethan unsatisfied. He was about to keep pressing when Jobs cut in with the truth:
"Oh, Stephen, why are you being so modest now? Isn't your father the R&D team leader at Lockheed? You even said yourself he worked on connecting the Polaris Hercules!"
"Shh!" Wozniak quickly pressed his finger to his lips, winked, and said, "That kind of talk—only at home."
"...!" Ethan raised his eyebrows, understanding. Well, this was the result he wanted.
After all, a truly ordinary family doesn't just happen to own a slightly bigger house.
At the same time, he cursed inwardly— "Fuck, no one is self-made!
Norman Fucking Rockwell!"
Only then did Ethan finally understand why Steve Wozniak, unlike so many other big names in tech, had no bizarre or scandalous anecdotes floating around him.
This was America. If the media was the uncrowned king, then the military–industrial complex was its father.
While they were still chatting, the waiter brought over the food they'd ordered.
As they ate, Ethan watched Wozniak chew slowly and another question crossed his mind.
"Stephen, are you in a hurry today? If I remember right, you mentioned more than once that they were wasting your time?"
"Yeah~" Ethan's words acted like a stimulant, perking the fat man up.
"They were just wasting my time!" he said emphatically, then continued: "Because after seeing Altair, I once again got the urge to make a personal computer. These past few days I've been redesigning it. In fact, at the start of this month, I already finished drawing all the circuit board diagrams!
And let me tell you—after my optimizations, the personal computer I designed only needs one circuit board! Not five like the Altair! It'll be much cheaper to manufacture!"
"More importantly, I also found a CPU that's cheaper than the Motorola 6800 and the Intel 8080!"
At this, he first glanced around. Seeing no one paying attention, he leaned forward and whispered:
"Do you know how much it costs? Just 42 dollars! Forty-two! Not 142!"
The number made Jobs' eyes nearly pop out.
"How much?" he said in disbelief. "Forty-two dollars for a CPU? Are you sure? Can that thing even be used?"
Meanwhile, his treasure trove of memories told him—what he'd just heard could only be the seed of Apple.
Note ①
In his autobiography iWoz, Steve Wozniak talked about his childhood experiences. When he was six years old, his father took him to tinker with transistor radios. By the fifth grade, when he was eleven, he was already experimenting with them on his own.
While reading one of his father's corporate magazines, he came across an introduction to ENIAC—the world's first computer. Curious, he asked his father about it, and that was when his father explained what a computer was and how computers calculated missile trajectories.
In The Innovators, written by Walter Isaacson (editor of Time magazine and former CEO of CNN), Woz's father is also mentioned. The book also recounts the story of 1971, when Wozniak built a "blue box"—a device that could make long-distance calls while bypassing carrier charges—which he later sold together with Steve Jobs. To prove the device worked, Wozniak once even prank-called the Pope in the Vatican, pretending to be "JXG."
Strictly speaking, selling the blue box infringed on AT&T's rights. And calling the Pope in such a manner was practically a diplomatic incident. Yet Wozniak was never held accountable. The reason many parties chose not to pursue the matter was because, immediately afterward, Woz called his father and explained that it had all just been a prank.
There is also a rumor: when Apple suffered repeated failures in the 1980s, the board wanted to kick Steve Jobs out. However, Wozniak supported Jobs, and as long as Woz stood by him, the investors dared not act. It was only after Woz began to feel that Jobs's ideas no longer aligned with his own and voluntarily stepped away, that the capitalists finally dared to oust Jobs. Within three months of Woz's departure, Jobs was forced out.