Apple co-founder Wozniak urges students to pursue technology for its own sake

Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak encouraged students to pursue their passions, reflecting on his love of technology and the value of a college education, at a talk on Monday.

The event was hosted by Stanford’s chapter of Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and moderated by Ethan Song ’28, its student chair. Over 300 students, faculty and members of the community attended the event.

When asked about his personal educational journey, Wozniak reminisced on his time at University of Colorado, Boulder.

The institution “just struck [his] heart so much,” Wozniak said. It was a place “where [he and his friends] could throw snowballs in [their] underwear,” making for a lighthearted moment that drew laughs from the crowd. 

Wozniak commented on the cost of education, talking about how his “parents said they could only afford one year” at Boulder, which led him to transfer to UC Berkeley. Wozniak mentioned that he “rewards institutions that were a part of [his] life.”

Song wrote in an email to The Daily that his questions were meant to provoke stories and insights, rather than “generic founder advice.” 

“We asked about his pranks and projects, why he built things just for the fun of it and not for exits and IPOs,” he wrote. 

Wozniak completed coding and engineering projects for “people all over the world” — including the first effort to bring movies into hotel rooms — even as a college student. His price for every project: a flat fee of 5 cents.

During the talk, Song noted that he “thinks students do things a little differently” now. 

“Maybe it’s less for fun. Students say they’re building GPT wrappers, they’re trying to get an exit pitch to VCs and make that million bucks,” Song said. For Wozniak, however, founding Apple was motivated more by impact than income. He “wanted to be an engineer to help the average Joe,” Wozniak said.

The highlight of the night for Song was “geeking out with [Wozniak] on the future of semiconductors and silicon photonics.”

Engineering professor and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) chief scientist Philip Wong sat in the front row, which was “surreal” for Song. It “felt like a moment of bridging between the past and future of hardware,” Song wrote The Daily, referring to a moment when Wozniak spoke on new transistor architectures.

“We wanted to give him a platform to recount those pure engineering moments and inspire the next generation to build with the same curiosity and enthusiasm,” Song wrote. 

“It was powerful to hear someone speak who has had such a foundational contribution to tech,” attendee Micky Chahcoi ’27 told The Daily. “This is the biggest university inside Silicon Valley, so it was cool to speak to the roots of that and hear [from a] pioneer.” 

Wozniak stressed the importance of learning for learning’s sake. According to Wozniak, he taught primary school classes throughout his adult life, for the purpose of engaging with students even after Apple took off.

While he had originally dropped out of UC Berkeley in 1973, he returned to complete his degree, officially graduating in 1986. To continue his education anonymously, Wozniak said he used an alias listed on his diploma in the name “Rocky ‘Raccoon’ Clark.”

Adam Kogen ’29, thought the talk was quite inspiring. “Listening to [Wozniak] speak reminded me that beyond his technical brilliance, he was just a regular person with a genuine passion,” said Kogen.

Wozniak encouraged students to pursue their passions freely. As a student, he “wanted a computer even more than a house,” he said. 

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