Wheels of Zeus (wOz), which was started in 2002 by Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, has shut down. Al Luckow, the companyis former creative director, told The Mac Observer via e-mail: "Sometimes, a product is ahead of its time, not necessarily because it is breakthrough technology, but because the public isnit ready for it."

Wheels of Zeus was developing affordable GPS (global positioning system) technology that could be used by average consumers to track SmartTags placed on individuals or objects. A handheld TagDetector device would monitor all SmartTags associated with it, while the wOz Service would enable users to set various control parameters as well as receive status notifications via e-mail, pager or other means.

Mr. Luckow likened the product to a programmable remote control. "Great idea right now," he said. "But go back 20 years when Woz [Steve Wozniak] first created and marketed such a product to the public (the CL9 Core Remote Control). People didnit really seem to think they needed something like that. End of story, end of company. It happens."

News of Wheels of Zeusi demise first came last Friday via a report on Macworld UK, but that article didnit cite a source. The Mac Observer decided to wait until the news could be confirmed with a company representative. As this article was posted, the Wheels of Zeus Web site contained no information about a shutdown.