Updated below

Y’know, it’s not everyday that you get to interview someone like woz. I mean, he’s a geek’s geek. A deadset legend in developer ranks. He basically invented the PC, for crying out loud. And for me, he was the guy who designed the Apple IIe, the very first computer I ever used. Kinda bizzare, that.

So anyway, 30+ years after he and Steve Jobs co-founded Apple Computer, I find myself interviewing him in the corner of a funky cafe in Sydney’s Shangri La hotel during the Broadband and Beyond conference. A video interview for afr.com and misaustralia.com, that is, recorded by my multimedia partner in crime, Fairfax Business Media’s multimedia producer Marc Tewksbury. Expect to see it online later this week. I also recorded the audio on my Zoom H4 for potential podcast material, and knocked out an old skool print yarn for Tuesday’s AFR – so go buy a copy!

You probably won’t believe me, but I didn’t feel “star struck” as such. Yes, he’s an amazing guy. But I guess a better way to describe it is that I had great fun – one of those “I get to do this as a job?” moments, where everything just seems to click. I had questions, and guess what, he had great controversial answers.

But that said, I did succumb to the temptation that faces people in such situations – get stuff signed.

As it happens, I use an old PowerBook G4 perched on my knee to display my interview questions. Thanks to some marvellous foresight on the part of yours truly, I brought a permanent marker with me. Here’s the result… (and I wonder what the 5 yr old machine is worth now?..

Woz also gave me a signed *metal* business card, which I’ll do him the respect of not showing here since it contains his home address and mobile number…

But one of the AFR’s snappers, Peter Braig, was on hand to capture the moment for the paper… and (below) caught Woz signing a card for a very clearly chuffed Mr Tewksbury while I fumbled for a business card of my own.

Say cheese… Marc, Woz, Mark…

Finally, thanks to Jeff Bird, Rachel Slattery and Telstra’s Martin Barr for making it happen.

UPDATE:

The video has gone live on afr.com and misaustralia.com

You can find it on AFR.com down the bottom right hand corner of the home page (here’s a screenshot for reference, and the image links to the video on MISaustralia):

And finally, if you missed the story in Tuesday’s AFR, the online version is here.

Steve Jobs’ famous Reality Distortion Field apparently struggles to include his lieutenants and PR people, according to this blog post by Fortune.

The post includes a video (below) that offers a telling insight into the way Apple’s PR troops handle the media. Ask the wrong question, and sorry folks, the interview’s over!

Of course, these sorts of situations have been happening for years. My own experience dealing with Apple has nearly always been positive, but it’s no secret that their PR people really live by the company’s “think different” motto. I recall the weeks it took to negotiate a series of exclusive interviews around the launch of Apple’s Xseries server boxes circa 2002 when I was at InfoWorld. In order to get the exclusive, questions had to be submitted in advance, our schedule was tightly controlled, they made their own recordings of what was said, we had to be careful of what we spoke about, and so on.

Here in Australia the PR distortion field includes various rules like “thou shalt not quote an Australian Apple executive” (my paraphrase). The PR folks themselves are good people and typically explain their perspective well, and on rare occasions will even give the media a sound bite from a “spokesperson.” The simple reality is they’re acting under orders from On High – and it’s a question of whether you want to keep your job.

What’s changed now, however, is that these backroom/off-record conversations can now easily be digested by everyone thanks to the wonders of social media like blogs and YouTube. And that, as the PR people are now all too aware, is a game-changer.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=44w-RYurbN4&rel=1]

(Fortune link, perhaps ironically, is courtesy of PR agency Dateline Media‘s e-newsletter)

I’m not holding my breath, but the AFR reports today on Apple Australia’s plan to introduce iTunes, possibly by September. I guess that’s progess of sorts!

btw, I’m not sure why the Fin thought this was a story today. Both The Aus, and El Reg had the story on Sept 19.

I read a lot of Gadget news, but don’t make a habit of posting too much. But the iBoom story at Gizmodo has caught my eye. Sure, the idea of plugging your iPod into a portable boom box deserves some credit. But what continually amazes me is the extent to which Apple and third party companies can develop creative branding around the letter “i”. The “iBrand,” as it were, has become one of the biggest consumer marketing success stories in recent years. And no, Apple didn’t pay me to say that.

Apple and Motorola are working on a deal to put iPod technology on Motorola cell phones. According to published reports, the hope is to create a cell phone/iPod sub-platform that can be licensed to other makers such as Nokia and Samsung. The idea is to develop a proprietary music delivery system with the phone carriers. This gives them a new opportunity to add additional fees to the already burgeoning cell phone bill, this one for music.

Worthwhile read over at AlwaysOn regarding the latest angle on the Apple vs Real saga: “It’s not about the music and the player. It’s about a scheme afoot to monopolize music delivered to cell phones.”

Apple can’t be too happy about this one. I can think of only one other vendor that regularly generates copy containing the words “proprietary” and “monopolize.”

I don’t have too many causes or bandwagons. But in case you’ve not noticed, iTunes is one. Not only is iTunes not available in Australia, but as this SMH article points out, Apple is knowingly making criminals of its users by selling the iPod in Australia.

Under Australia’s archaic laws it’s illegal to copy music from a legally bought CD to your iPod.

As I’ve noted before, legal online music sales/downloading are very much a mainstream gig these days. Memo to Apple: I’m one of many people who are willing to buy songs from you if you will only get your act together. Your continued indecision to launch iTunes in Australia is perpetuating the illegal download phenomenon. Sure, it won’t eradicate illegal downloads, but it’s a start.

This WSJ story about Steve Jobs’ successful cancer operation included the full text of the email he sent to Apple staff. Here’s the sentence that caught my eye:

PS: I’m sending this from my hospital bed using my 17-inch PowerBook and an Airport Express.

Talk about dedication to the cause! And in case you stumble across this post from the comfort of your hospital bed, Steve I hope the recovery progresses well.

ps. Reuters story here if you don’t have WSJ sub.

Apple’s a little upset about RealPlayer’s ability to let users buy music from its site and upload them to your iPod. (TechDirt and Slashdot are just two of many sites carrying the news.)

Oddly enough, I just downloaded RealPlayer today to watch a webcast. In the process of poking around and checking out its features, I attempted to buy a song online. Do you think they will let Aussies buy songs from the US? Nope. Does Apple iTunes store let Aussies buy songs? Nope. Apple’s been dragging its feet on this issue for months.

So while Apple worries about losing a few dollars to Real, the rest of the world outside the US remains a lost opportunity for both companies.

Video conferencing at 35,000 feet, Apple style.

The DOT-POD software, available in server and client versions, lets users share tracks from their iPod with others via the Internet. The software betters a standard Web server by displaying track data in HTML, and offers specialised searches and user controls.

Very cool. Full story at PC World Australia.