The first scene from iJOBS—the biopic on Steve Jobs starring Ashton Kutcher—may be pretty decent, but it never happened. Not even close, according to Steve Wozniak, who says they "never had such interaction and roles."


Woz had this to say in a Gizmodo comment:

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.


So, in fact, it was precisely the contrary. Woz knew the value of these machines, the democratization of technology. Steve learned about it later.

He also added this in an email:

Totally wrong. Personalities and where the ideas of computers affecting society did not come from Jobs. They inspired me and were widely spoken at the Homebrew Computer Club. Steve came back from Oregon and came to a club meeting and didn't start talking about this great social impact. His idea was to make a $20 PC board and sell it for $40 to help people at the club build the computer I'd given away. Steve came from selling surplus parts at HalTed he always saw a way to make a quick buck off my designs (this was the 5th time). The lofty talk came much further down the line. I never looked like a professional. We were both kids. Our relationship was so different than what was portrayed. I'm embarrassed but if the movie is fun and entertaining, all the better. Anyone who reads my book iWoz can get a clearer picture.

Steve is referring to his book, which explains how he Invented the personal computer, co-founded apple, and had fun doing it.


So while the movie may be good enough to watch (or not), it looks like it will be pretty inaccurate. I wonder about what other poppycock they will be pulling out of their asses. I don't think I would be able to enjoy it if these Hollywood hacks got the truly important stuff wrong. After all, is it there anything more important to the core history of Apple than the collaboration between the two Steves? I don't think there is.


Update 2: Steve had this to add, to those saying that this is "just a movie."

It's only one clip. The movie should be very popular and I hope it's entertaining. It may be very correct, as well. This is only one clip. But you'll see the direction they are slanting the movie in, just by the dialog style of this script. I never wore a tie back then. I wore blue jeans and the same style blue button-up shirt every day of my life. I was not like a professional in demeanor ever. Here is a reply I gave to someone on Facebook a few minutes ago: The fact that it didn't happen is unimportant. The important thing is whether the meaning portrayed is correct. 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.