Steve Wozniak is best known for co-founding Apple, Inc. with fellow businessman Steve Jobs. While Wozniak has certainly left his footprint on the world of personal computing, he also realizes that his advances have had some negative side effects.
Speaking to CNN’s Piers Morgan, Wozniak says he feels “a little guilty” for contributing to the rise of computer’s which in turn has increased the ability for the NSA to spy on American citizens.
Woz calls what the NSA is doing a “crime,” and he says his love of computers and the advances he helped usher in were meant to “free the people up, give them instant communication anywhere in the world, any thought you could share it freely.”
Wozniak further reveals:
“That was going to overcome a lot of the government restrictions. We didn’t realize that in the digital world, there are a lot of ways to use the digital technology to control us, to snoop on us. In the old days of mailing letters, you licked it, and when you got an envelope that was still sealed, nobody had seen it. You could have private communication. Now they say because it’s e-mail, it cannot be private, anyone can listen.”
So what did Steve Wozniak think of Edward Snowden’s turn as an NSA whistleblower when he first heard the news? According to Woz:
“I felt about Edward Snowden the same way I felt about Daniel Ellsberg.”
In case you have been out of the loop, that statement essentially gives Snowden his support as a champion of the people.
Wozniak has proven his love of technology time and time again. The fact that he feels a little guilty for his creations is just plain wrong.
So what do you think about Steve Wozniak’s feelings of guilt? Does he deserve any of the blame for ushering in an era of easier government spying?
[Image via Apple Magazine ]