Chapter 43: Woz

Ethan Jones had already figured out that the group led by Steven Levy might not really be looking to cause trouble for Steve Jobs and his associates. Their main concern seemed to be finding a scapegoat for the malfunction in the Altair 8800 computer, attempting to prove their innocence, given that this expensive machine had developed issues under their possession.

So, when Ethan Jones slammed the table, expressing his wealth, Steven Levy and his group fell silent. After a brief huddle, they decided to take Ethan Jones and his team to the owner's house in Menlo Park.

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

After a short negotiation, the owner understood their intentions and gladly accepted the proposal for repair.

Before taking everyone back home, the guy with round cheeks, full of apologies, addressed Steve Jobs and his friends, "Oh, Steve, I apologize. If it weren't for me being too busy these days, needing to organize my personal files and mail them to the SSA, I would have definitely dismantled the Altair 8800 for inspection."

"I always thought it was a minor issue, something that could be fixed with a little time."

"Perhaps the item is quite valuable, and their emotions got a bit intense. I hope you can forgive them."

This reassured Jobs and his friends.

The other group remained silent.

Seeing this, the owner turned to them with a smile. When he looked at Ethan, his face lit up with joy.

Extending his hand, he said, "Ethan Jones? The inventor of 'Snake Game'? Oh, I read about you in the Los Angeles Times and played your game. It's fantastic! I really like it! It's just that your game is a bit too challenging; I spent over ten dollars and still couldn't succeed. It really saddened me..."

"Is that so? That's truly regrettable."

Ethan smiled and shook hands, saying, "Of course, thank you for liking my game. I appreciate your support."

With the owner being so friendly, the rest of the process became straightforward.

Back at the owner's house, led by him, everyone entered his study and saw the Altair 8800 computer.

It was a metal box about the size of a modern computer, but positioned horizontally. The front panel had several switches and lights.

After powering it up and under the guidance of Steven Levy's group, they quickly identified the malfunction.

It was the third switch from left to right; no matter how it was manipulated, the corresponding light wouldn't turn on.

"We're not sure if it's a switch problem or a light issue," Steven Levy said. "Since we haven't dealt with this before, and it's an expensive machine, we couldn't troubleshoot it based on experience."

Owner Gordon nodded in understanding and looked at Jobs' friends.

Feeling the gaze, the chubby one directly asked, "Do you have a teleprinter?"

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

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

As he moved, everyone followed to the next room. Under their watchful eyes, he connected the Altair 8800 and a teleprinter with a shiny black wire. After completing this step, he powered up both machines. However, despite his efforts, the panel lights of the Altair kept blinking, but unfortunately...

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

"It's not a display issue with the lights," the chubby one said.

This result prompted him to disassemble the machine.

As screws danced in his slightly chubby hands, Ethan also got a glimpse of the internal workings of this microcomputer from that era.

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

Although Ethan didn't know the specific functions of each board, the chubby guy, while checking the current with a multimeter, muttered about the functions of each motherboard. "Parallel interface board, normal. Serial interface board, normal. Electric typewriter interface board, normal. 8080 processor board, normal. Memory board... Oh, darn it, why is the current not normal?"

Despite his puzzled words, his actions were faster than his mouth.

Turning off the power, he pulled out the circuit motherboard, then signaled everyone to find a desk lamp for him. After searching for a while, he exclaimed, "Oh, turns out a solder joint came loose. What kind of rubbish craftsmanship is this?"

"Just this level of skill and you want to make money? Learn for a few more years!"

Confident words provoked the owner to ask, "A solder joint came loose? Is it a serious issue? Can it be fixed?"

"Of course!"

The chubby guy shrugged and said, "Only a few solder joints have come loose. Re-soldering will do, and it's quick..."

"This is the 4096 memory board, worth nearly three hundred bucks!" someone expressed concern.

The owner smiled at that person, thanking him for the reminder.

Then he said to the chubby guy, "Stephen, can you handle this?"

Since the original owner of the Altair had spoken, others naturally didn't say anything.

The chubby guy didn't waste any time.

He took out materials, cleaned off the original solder, applied new solder, and connected the solder joint to the circuit board.

A puff of smoke later, the chubby guy reinstalled the circuit board.

Tightening the screws, connecting the electric typewriter, and with the chubby guy's organized adjustments, the typewriter suddenly made creaking sounds. As a long strip of paper, like a worm, emerged from the typewriter, cheers erupted on the scene.

"Oh darn, it's really fixed?"

"This is incredible!"

"No wonder it's Stephen!"

The sudden praise made the chubby guy smile proudly.

Meanwhile, Steve Jobs raised his head, emphasizing again, "I told you, this is not our problem!"

"You guys were just making baseless accusations!"

The confrontational words made everyone a bit awkward. Ethan, who witnessed it all, patted Jobs on the shoulder.

"Steve, I think they didn't mean it on purpose. Whoever finds a valuable thing broken will naturally try to find someone to blame. It's not about right or wrong; it's just instinct, an instinct that can't be changed."

The guys who accused Jobs earlier looked awkward.

They opened their mouths, wanting to speak, but none succeeded.

This appearance made Jobs snort lightly. He glanced at his friend, saw the chubby guy shaking his head, and then said, "Since Ethan spoke for you, and Stephen doesn't want to pursue this, we'll let it go this time!"

"I'm telling you, if you speak carelessly again, I'll smash your car directly!"

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

"I'll see if my fist is harder, or your skull is harder!"

Ethan couldn't help but find the street thug-like threats amusing.

Waving his hand and bidding farewell to the others, he then pulled Jobs and their group out of the owner's house.

While Ethan was pondering why Steve Jobs had such a temper.

The guy who regained innocence laughed, opened his arms, and hugged Ethan.

"Oh, Ethan, thank you. Actually, I didn't want to fight with them. It's just their words were too much. If you hadn't appeared suddenly, I think we might not have resolved this issue for a while."

"Is that so?"

Ethan sighed in relief, thinking he had played the role of the annoying do-gooder.

However, before Jobs could respond, the chubby guy beside him said, "Actually, it could have been resolved."

This statement caught the attention of both.

"Like Ethan said, just compensate with money. I can afford it."

"What?"

A simple and straightforward answer made Ethan Jones twitch at the corner of his eye.

Steve Jobs, on the other hand, rolled his eyes and gave the chubby guy an annoyed punch. "Oh! Darn! Are you crazy? You can't solve this with money! Paying means admitting our mistake! But we didn't make a mistake!"

"But who cares?"

The chubby guy shrugged and said, "I've compensated before. If money can solve the problem, I'd gladly accept it. That way, we wouldn't waste so much time."

"..."

With an indifferent attitude that almost choked Steve Jobs, he stared at his friend for a while, then waved his hand in surrender.

"Ethan, sorry about that. This guy just has that kind of personality. Don't take it to heart," he explained while gesturing animatedly. "Don't let my appearance fool you; what he does is even more outrageous than what I do. Back when we first met, he bragged about his achievements. He claimed to have made a bomb in high school, attempting to blow up the school. Of course, it was a fake bomb simulating the sound using an electronic metronome!"

"In college, he also made a signal jammer, blocking all public signals in the school! Then, he hid next to the signal tower. Whenever someone came to fix it, he turned off the jammer. Once the repair person left, he activated the blocker again, turning the whole school into a real horror movie!"

Steve Jobs shook his head at this point.

Ethan, looking surprised, turned to the chubby guy. "Wow, brother, you're that impressive?"

The chubby guy's face lit up with pride. "Absolutely! I did all of that!"

"Can I at least know your name?" Ethan asked with a smile.

"Of course!" The chubby guy raised an eyebrow and added, "If you genuinely think I'm awesome."

"Haha." Ethan laughed. "Oh, I think after hearing about your exploits, everyone would give you a thumbs up for your excellence. I mean, thoughts of blowing up the school, everyone has had them, but only you actually did it. When the 'Boom' sound rang out, that must have been an amazing feeling!"

"Oh, Ethan, I love your description," the chubby guy chimed in.

His round face wrinkled with laughter, revealing three layers of chin.

Smiling, he extended his right hand. "Since you think I'm great, we're definitely going to be friends."

"Like Steve, my name is also Steve, but while he's Steve Jobs, I'm Steve Wozniak. So, for the sake of distinction, you can call me Stephen or Woz. But honestly, it doesn't matter, right? Call me whatever, as long as I know you're calling me, that's enough."