Jobs Movie Inaccurate Say Steve Wozniak and John Sculley

By now everyone knows there is a movie called Jobs which celebrates the life of Steve Jobs and tries to recreate the events which surround the tech legend’s life. Of course whenever such an ambitious project is undertaken, the challenge you have is getting agreement on what happened and just as importantly trying to get everyone involved in the happenings to work collaboratively.

It is apparent this movie faced some challenges in both regards. For example, Ashton Kutcher who plays a pretty convincing Steve Jobs complained recently that Apple cofounder Steve Wozniak aka “The Woz” is being paid by another company to support a different Steve Jobs film.

Steve Wozniak

Steve Wozniak - Head-Shot.jpg
According to Kutcher, The Woz wasn’t very available as a resource during the shooting of the movie. He continues, “His account isn’t going to be our account because we don’t know exactly what it was. We did the best job we could. Nobody really knows what happened in the rooms.”

The reality is of course, Steve Wozniak does know and says the movie is inaccurate. Specifically he says:

Not close…we never had such interaction and roles…I’m not even sure what it’s getting at…personalities are very wrong although mine is closer…don’t forget that my purpose was inspired by the values of the Homebrew Computer Club along with ideas of the value of such machines and Steve J. wasn’t around and didn’t attend the club so he was the one learning about such social impact of the future.

He goes on to say:

It’s ok to make up a dramatic scene but is much better if it sort of happened and had the meaning portrayed. But this is only one short clip of the movie. The entire movie may be very good. But the initial exposure to the social meaning of a technology revolution went in a very different direction in those early times.

A more accurate portrayal would be myself in the Homebrew Computer Club (with Steve Jobs up in another state and not aware of it) being inspired by liberal humanist academics from Berkeley and Stanford and other places speaking of these high social goals. I decided then and there to help them reach those goals by designing a computer that was affordable. I gave it away to members of this club to help them. My goal was not money or power. In fact, when Steve came down and came to the club and saw the interest, he did not propose making a computer. Rather, he suggested we make a PC board so that others could build my computer easier. This PC board is just a component, like the ones Steve would sell at Haltek, a surplus electronics store. By the way, the Apple I was the 5th time I designed something just for fun that Steve found a way to turn into money, and the Apple ][ was the 6th time. We always split the proceeds.

John Sculley interviewed at ITEXPO earlier this year in Miami, “I didn’t fire Steve Jobs” he says

Former Apple CEO John Sculley had some thoughts on the movie as well – he was happy it vindicating him as not firing Steve Jobs. He said the same thing this past February in Miami at ITEXPO. He went on to say the movie was “Very loose on the facts.” Moreover he says Woz was not portrayed fairly as he was a genius engineer and that didn’t come through at all.

John Sculley speaks out about the Jobs Movie – says it is loose on the facts

At ITEXPO Steve Wozniak will be delivering a keynote address and this will likely be the first place you will be able to see the Woz live since the debut of this movie.

For me, being a tech enthusiast, the ability to have access to the Woz is a highlight of my career. TMC has been fortunate to have amazing keynotes in the past like Al Gore, Carly Fiorina, Ron Insana, Tom Ridge, the past two FCC Chairmen Kevin Martin and Michael Powell, John Sculley and many others. This particular keynote however may be the most difficult to top because The Woz was so instrumental in starting Apple and this company literally changed the face of computing.

Recently I wrote about how tech leaders are making a difference beyond the world of tech and how tech wealth is good for society and the entire economy. Steve Wozniak is one of the original tech inventors – one of the first technology legends to change the face of computing and technology while literally rekindling a revolution in Silicon Valley.

It will be quite an honor to see him at ITEXPO and introduce him onstage – I can’t wait to hear the questions the audience will ask, what he has to say about his life, the movie and where he thinks tech is headed.

I hope you’ll join me at the keynote yourself. As an FYI, ITEXPO keynotes require no registration fee.

Have a question for Steve Wozniak? Send us a Tweet @ITEXPO and use hashtag #SeeTheWoz

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