Distributor of semiconductors and electronic components, Smith & Associates, hosted Steve Wozniak, co-founder of Apple, at its week-long series of events in May celebrating the distributor’s 30th anniversary. Wozniak spoke to employees about the importance of quality—quality of design and products that led to the success of Apple I and II, which he originally designed. The group discussed many topics with Wozniak, who was open about his experiences in the early days of personal computing, according to Smith & Associates. Wozniak also commented on growing demand for wearable devices and touched on the importance of intuitive software and products. He explained that the market needs something unexpected and radically different.
Smith & Associates co-founder and owner, Bob Ackerley, expressed the group’s excitement about having Wozniak speak.
“At Smith, we have directly benefited from his innovation by supporting the global electronic manufacturers as they’ve grown and changed over the years,” Ackerley said. “It is important to recognize that his innovations, as well as the innovations of those like him, have moved computing beyond a business and industry tool and made the personal computer ubiquitous.”
Marc Barnhill, Chief Trading Officer for Smith & Associates, continued to say that Wozniak was a motivating part of the event and will continue to be so as the team discovers new ways to support customers in future computing challenges.
