Steve Wozniak was misquoted by Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf, according to an interview he gave to Engadget regarding a story published by the paper. De Telegraaf reported The Woz as having said that Android would dominate the smartphone business, but Mr. Wozniak noted to Engadget that, “[Android] can get greater market share and still be crappy.”
Mr. Wozniak was especially concerned about any impression that he was saying Android was better than iOS, noting, “The impression people get, especially back at Apple is that I’m saying, [faux voice] “Oh, the Android does more,” and that I’m really praising it. No, I pointed out one that it does that I’d love to have on my iPhone, and I even gave the reporter examples of why I think it’s coming.”
He added, “I have used both phones quite a bit. And I know them well, way too well to say something like [Android is better]. Almost every app that I have is better on the iPhone.”
Engadget published a recording of its conversation with The Woz, but didn’t publish a transcript. In order to avoid the possibility of misquoting him ourselves, we’re posting our transcript below:
I saw a lot of headlines all over you know that are not something I say. And that happens occasionally. I gave the reporter maybe an hour, an hour and a half. I spent about 20 minutes talking about my vision of how comfortable it is to speak commands to an iPhone. And I gave him many examples. And I pulled out my iPhone. I spoke into several different apps to show the sort of things that are really changing my life. And at the end of 20 minutes I said, well, one thing I can’t do that you can do on Android phones is you can say, “Navigate to Joe’s Diner,” or something.
And then I pointed out that Apple had purchased Siri, and they had purchased a mapping company. So it’s likely we can expect that on the iPhone. Pointing out one thing that Android does…that interpretation? I’ve never said anything like that to anyone. Because I have used both phones quite a bit. And I know them well, way too well to say something like that. Almost every app that I have is better on the iPhone.
But the impression people get, especially back at Apple is that I’m saying, [faux voice] “Oh, the Android does more,” and that I’m really praising it. No, I pointed out one that it does that I’d love to have on my iPhone, and I even gave the reporter examples of why I think it’s coming.
The specific thing you were misquoted saying is “Android will be the dominant smartphone platform.”
Those are not exact words I used. The reporter asked more like, Which platform do you expect to have the greater market share or be the dominant platform, maybe. And I said, probably Android, but that’s based on what I’ve read, nothing more.
I said the Android is probably going to be a lot like Windows, and we got a lot of junk from Windows. At least the iPhone is good. That was the way I drew it. And I’m not trying to put Android down, but I’m certainly not saying that Android is better than iOS [pronounced as eye-aus], by any stretch of the imagination. It can get greater market share and still be crappy.