What kind of religious beliefs do you have?
Question from E-mail
I was still in diapers when you and Steve Jobs started Apple in his parents garage. When I was in grade school my father bought me an ADAM computer (Z80) made by Coleco. Soon after that I was turned to the Apple //e. I remember very vividly the first time, at a convention, the first LISA. I was mesmerized. I first start using the MAC 512 in school, the newspaper. I used them until I graduated from school. I had every thing from the 512 to the Power Mac. Then because of the ever rising price of computers I was forced to turn the enemy, IBM. I now own both.
I was wondering how much you used the IBM compatible computers if ever?? Also, who decided to leave the bite out of the Apple in the logo?? You have seemed to be a very concerned person, kudos on your outlook on life. What is your outlook on the afterlife? What kind of religious beliefs do you have? Please reply, and thank you for your contributions to world that I grew up in .
Woz
I barely used the IBM compatables in early times. I kinda’ liked the “junior” or something but nobody else did. I use them once in a while these days, when they are needed for my network administration. But I work around them as much as possible. I have a friend who has to use them and develop for and on them and he hates them just as much and always uses a Mac if there’s any way. In his case, he’s definitely expert enough on both platforms, the PC’s are just more difficult.
I talked myself into some very strong religious beliefs around the start of college, and before too. I was very good and pure and generally only crossed streets at the corners and didn’t drink or smoke or use drugs or participate in wild things. My religion was a pact with myself. I was very independent and had been strongly influenced by writers like Emmerson and Thoreau. I wasn’t to be a follower. I wouldn’t conform to my peers and do things just because they did them. If I was to get drunk it would have been alone only, because I had a reason and not just to follow others. I wouldn’t join any church because then you’re just going along with a bunch of other people. Is it that hard to figure out what’s good and bad? I had nothing against the bible but didn’t really read it. I admired Jesus. He must have been great to be so well remembered 2000 years later, and his turning the other cheek meant something akin to being good to those who are bad to you or say bad things about you. I picked up a lot of my internal religion cues from Dylan songs and Paul Simon songs (the “Boxer”) and Dave Mason (“We just Disagree”) and others to this day. I love popular music for these sorts of insights.
My favorite religious person was an engineer at Hewlett Packard who was also a Mormon (but not the former Mormon who was the lab manager and who turned down the idea of a computer, not as the movie shows but rather because he couldn’t justify it as an HP product despite the fact that he loved it very much). Bill said that when people say that they have inner goodness, how can you tell if they’re telling the truth. Outer things like the clothes they wear or the college they graduated don’t mean as much as how they feel about and treat people, what’s in their heart. He explained that he didn’t forego coffee and other things because they were evil or bad or unhealthy. But these sorts of sacrifices are on the outside where everybody can see. Others can’t see your inside but they can see these things. If you make such sacrifices for you religion and never waver, people can see that you hold true to your religion’s tenets and beliefs, they can see that you must be true to these other tenets of being good as well.