In Springfield, Steve Wozniak talks Apple's early days, the future of humans and machines

SPRINGFIELD - Steve Wozniak captivated the crowd Friday night at the MassMutual Center, telling stories from the early days of Apple, promoting technological advances like self-driving cars and describing the philosophy that has driven him to such success.

The Apple co-founder participated in a question-and-answer session moderated by NECN's Latoyia Edwards. The talk was put on by the Springfield Public Forum with help of sponsors including MassMutual, Wilbraham & Monson Academy and Paragus Strategic IT. MassLive was the media sponsor.

"Everything you do should have a little bit of fun," said Wozniak. "What is success in life? ... I don't want to frown."

Money didn't motivate the man who's credited with inventing the personal computer; he said he just loved working with computers and he wanted to make something useful to people. Wozniak applauded the entrepreneurs in attendance, adding that not every idea needs to be world-changing in order to be important.

"When we started, we had a really lousy idea of what a computer was for," he said, referring to himself and Steve Jobs, who founded Apple in the Jobs family garage in 1976. They thought about people using home computers to store recipes and balance their checkbooks, but that would be just "a $2,000 word processor if we ever came up with a printer."

Time, tenacity and talent grew the company from its meager roots into the world's leading technology giant. When Jobs died in 2011, some analysts wondered if the company would suffer. Wozniak said that shouldn't have been a concern because the people who run it now are top-notch, and the sheer financial power "buys a lot of opportunities for failure."

Wozniak spoke openly about Jobs' death, saying it "hit me emotionally." Jobs would call Wozniak in the later days of his life and the two would look back at the times they shared.

Wozniak came to Springfield through chance and generosity. He had events in Buffalo and Boston, with a few days off in between, so he came to the city for a discount. Sponsors leapt at the opportunity to put on the event.

Demand for the free tickets was so high that they vanished in just hours, so the talk was moved to a larger space and more people were allowed in.

And Wozniak didn't disappoint. The crowd laughed at his jokes. They applauded when he mentioned his donations to children's museums. They went along for the ride when he pontificated about marijuana legalization (he's for it) and more familiar topics like driverless cars (he can't wait).

"I love technology, to try it out myself," said Wozniak. "I've got at least 5 iPhones. ... I have some Android phones."

He imagined a world in which these kinds of devices would be able to teach our children for us.

"A lot of our schools slow students down," he said. "We put computers in schools and the kids don't come out thinking any better."

Rather than just putting more gadgets and gizmos in the classroom, he said, each classroom needs to have fewer students, and kids who are further ahead than their peers should be nurtured, not forced to fall in line.

Dismissing the concern over giving artificial intelligence too much intelligence, he said that's already happened.

"The machines won 200 years ago. We made them too important," said Wozniak. "That makes us the family pet."

Before his talk at the MassMutual Center, Wozniak visited Tech Foundry, the computer education program downtown. He met dozens of high school students and some of the winners of Thursday's Valley Venture Mentors Accelerator Awards.

"Creativity is the most important thing we have," Wozniak told the students. He added that knowledge does not always come from other people and books; you can teach yourself everything you need to know to make your dreams a reality.

At the end of the evening, Edwards asked Wozniak how he would like people to remember him after his own death.

"I really want them to remember me as being a caring person, gave a lot, cared about others, and shared," he said. But he acknowledged that most people will remember his role at Apple.

If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation. By using this site, you consent to our User Agreement and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy.