i Woz

Chapter 44 i Woz

Ethan Jones had already figured it out: Steven Levy and his group probably didn't really want to cause trouble for Jobs and his crew. Their biggest demand was simply to find a scapegoat for Altair 8800's malfunction, trying to prove their innocence in this way. After all, this valuable machine had broken down in their hands.

Therefore, when Ethan Jones slammed his fist on the table and declared, "I'm rich," Steven Levy and the others immediately fell silent. They huddled together and discussed for a while before taking Ethan Jones and his companions to Menlo Park, to the owner's house.

Upon arrival, the owner was not at home. After making some inquiries, they finally found him at a nearby post office.

After a brief negotiation, the owner understood their purpose and gladly accepted the repair proposal.

Before taking everyone home, the round-faced guy said apologetically to Steve Jobs and his friends, "Oh Steve, I'm so sorry. If I hadn't been so busy these past few days, having to organize my personal files and mail them to the SSA, I would have definitely opened Altair for inspection."

"I always thought it would be a minor problem that could be fixed with a little time."

"Perhaps the items are quite valuable, which caused them to become a bit overly emotional. Please forgive them."

These words made Steve Jobs and his colleagues feel much better.

The other group kept their lips pursed and remained silent.

This situation also made the owner turn his gaze with a smile, and when he looked at Ethan, a smile also appeared on his face.

He extended his hand and said, "Ethan Jones? The inventor of the Snake Game? Oh~ I've read the Los Angeles Times report~ and even played your game~ It's fantastic! I love it! It's just that your game is a bit too difficult; I spent over ten dollars and still didn't succeed, which really saddened me..."

"Really? That's such a shame."

Ethan smiled and shook hands in return, saying, "Of course, thank you for your liking, thank you for liking my game."

Since the owner is so friendly, the next steps are very simple.

Back at the owner's house, the group was led to Altair 8800 in his study.

It was a metal box about the size of a modern computer mainframe, but placed horizontally. The front panel had several joysticks, each with one or two red indicator lights.

After plugging in the power, Steven Levy and his team quickly discovered the malfunction in the machine.

[At this point, I hope readers will remember our domain name: 202ᴋᴋs.ᴄᴏᴍ]

That's the third joystick from the left; no matter how you move it, the indicator light above it won't light up.

"We're not sure if it's a problem with the joystick or the indicator light," Steven Levy said. "Because we've never dealt with this before, and it's quite expensive, we can't troubleshoot it based on our experience."

This fact prompted Gordon, the owner, to nod slightly, his gaze sweeping over the object before turning to Jobs' friend.

After sensing the other person's gaze, the chubby boy asked directly, "Do you have a teletype machine?"

"Yes, in the next room," Gordon said.

"Then let's move Altair there," the chubby boy decided.

Following his movements, the group moved to the next room. Under their watchful eyes, the chubby boy used a black wire to connect Altair to a teletype machine. After completing this step, he plugged both machines into the power supply. As he fiddled with them, the indicator lights on Altair's control panel flashed continuously, but unfortunately…

No matter what he did, there was no response from the teletype machine.

"Then it's not a problem with the indicator light display," the chubby boy said.

This result led him to disassemble the machine immediately.

As the screwdriver danced across his slightly chubby hands, Ethan finally got a clear look inside the microcomputer of this era.

Inside the steel box, five circuit boards were neatly arranged.

Although Ethan didn't know the function of each board, the chubby young man muttered the function of each motherboard while checking the current with a multimeter, "Parallel interface board, normal; serial interface board, normal; teletypewriter interface board, normal; 8080 processor board, normal; memory board... Oh Fxxk, why is the current of this thing abnormal?"

Although his words carried a hint of doubt, his actions were even faster than his words.

He turned off the power, pulled out the circuit board, and then gestured for everyone to find him a desk lamp. He shone the lamp on the circuit board, and after searching for a while, he shouted, "Oh, it's just that the solder pads have come off! What rubbish!"

"You think you can make money with this kind of skill? You'd better study for a few more years!"

The confident words prompted the owner to ask, "The solder pads have come off? Is the problem serious? Can it be repaired?"

"certainly!"

The chubby boy shrugged and said, "Only a few solder pads came off; they can be re-soldered, it's quick and easy..."

"This is the 4096 memory version, it costs almost three hundred US dollars!" someone expressed their concern.

The owner smiled at the person, as if to thank them for the reminder.

Then he said to the chubby boy, "Stephen, thank you for your help."

Since the original owner of Altair has spoken, no one else will say anything.

The chubby boy didn't waste any time either.

Take out the materials and clean off the original solder.

Then reapply solder and solder the pads to the circuit board.

A wisp of smoke drifted by, and the chubby boy reinstalled the circuit board.

After tightening the screws and connecting the teletype machine, the chubby boy skillfully manipulated it, and the machine immediately began to creak and groan. When the long roll of paper emerged from the machine like an earthworm, cheers erupted from the crowd.

"Oh my god, it's actually fixed?"

"This is unbelievable!"

"As expected of Stephen!"

The sudden praise made the chubby boy smile smugly.

Steve Jobs, however, raised his head and reiterated, "I said, this isn't our problem!"

"You were just slandering me!"

The words of accountability made everyone present somewhat embarrassed, while Ethan, who had witnessed everything, patted Jobs on the shoulder.

"Steve, I don't think they did it on purpose. Anyone would try to find the person responsible after discovering that something valuable has broken. This behavior is neither right nor wrong; it's just a human instinct, an instinct that cannot be changed."

Those who had previously criticized Jobs froze.

They opened their mouths, wanting to speak, but no one managed to utter a sound.

This sight made Jobs scoff. He glanced at his friend, and seeing the chubby boy shake his head in acknowledgment, he said, "Since Ethan is speaking up for you, and Stephen doesn't want to pursue this matter, then we'll let you off this time!"

"I'm telling you, if you talk nonsense again, I'll smash your car!"

"If you don't believe me, you can try it!"

"Let's see if my fists are harder, or your heads are harder!"

Ethan was both amused and exasperated by the street thug-like threats.

He waved goodbye to everyone, and then led Jobs and the others away from the owner's house.

While Ethan was wondering why Steve Jobs had such a bad temper...

The man, now exonerated, laughed, opened his arms, and hugged Ethan.

"Oh, Ethan, thank you. Actually, I didn't want to fight them, but their words were too much. If you hadn't suddenly appeared, I think we might not have been able to resolve this issue anytime soon."

"so?"

Ethan breathed a sigh of relief, thinking he had done what he hated most: being the nice guy.

However, before Jobs could finish speaking, the chubby boy next to him said, "Actually, it can be solved."

These words caught their attention.

"Like Ethan said, as long as I lose money, I can afford it."

"? 』

The answer was so simple that it made Ethan Jones's eye twitch.

Steve Jobs rolled his eyes and punched him in annoyance. "Oh! Fxxk! Are you crazy? We can't pay for this! Paying for it means we admit we're wrong! But we're not wrong!"

"But who cares?"

The chubby boy shrugged and said, "It's not like I haven't lost money before. If losing money can solve the problem, then I'll gladly accept it, because that way we won't waste so much time."

"..."

His nonchalant attitude left Steve Jobs speechless.

After staring at his friend for a long time, he waved his hand and admitted defeat.

"Ethan, I'm sorry, that's just his personality, don't take it to heart."

He then gesticulated wildly as he explained, "Don't let my thuggish appearance fool you; what he did was far worse than mine. When I first met him, he bragged about his exploits. He said he made a bomb in high school, trying to blow up the school—of course, it was a fake bomb with an electronic metronome to simulate the sound!"

"When I was in college, I even made a signal jammer to block all the public signals on campus! Then I hid next to the cell tower, and whenever someone came to repair it, I would turn the jammer off. After the repairman left, I would turn the jamming back on, giving the entire school a real-life version of 'The Ghost Comes'!"

At this point, Steve Jobs immediately shook his head.

Ethan looked at the chubby boy with surprise, "Wow~ Bro, you're that good?"

Ethan's astonishment brought a look of pride to the chubby boy's face. "That's right! I did all of this!"

"May I have the honor of knowing your name?" Ethan asked with a smile.

"Of course!" The chubby boy raised his eyebrows, then added, "If you genuinely think I'm amazing."

"Hahaha~"

The chubby boy's narcissistic behavior made Ethan laugh and nod. "Oh~ I think after hearing about your deeds, no one can help but give you a thumbs up for your excellence. After all, everyone has probably had the thought of blowing up the school, but only you actually did it. When the 'Boom~' sound rings out, that feeling must be absolutely amazing!"

"Oh~Oh~Oh~Ethan~~I love your description~"

The chubby boy's round face was full of wrinkles from smiling.

Not only that, he also happily showed off his triple chin.

He raised the corner of his eye and extended his right hand.

The chubby boy said happily, "Since you think I did a great job, then we will definitely become friends."

"Like Steve, my name is also Steve, but his last name is Steve Jobs and mine is Wozniak. So, to make it easier to distinguish, you can call me Stephen or Woz, but it doesn't matter, right? Whatever you call me, as long as I know you're calling me, that's enough."

Thank you to [Book Friend 20221023233116964] for the 100 Qidian Coins reward.

Note: ① Steve Wozniak's name is quite interesting because he has three names. His birth certificate lists him as "Stephan Gary Wozniak," but his mother said she originally wanted to name him "Stephen." This became the name his close friends and family called him. However, after he became friends with Steve Jobs, because the two names sounded similar, people who knew them started calling them "Steve"—Steve Jobs' Steve—and referring to them as the two "Steves." Wozniak thought this name was good and continued to use it, even in formal settings. He used it when publishing books, on his official website, and when creating his Wikipedia page.

He considers Steve Wozniak to be the most appropriate name, and in his own words, it represents his friendship with Steve Jobs, while the name on his birth certificate has never been used.

(End of this chapter)