Connection: Steve Wozniak and Philo Farnsworth

One thing that Steve Wozniak and Philo Farnsworth have in common is that they are both technological geniuses.  Everyday life would be much more complicated without the wonderful inventions these men thought of. While I read the article The Televisionary I realized that Philo Farnsworth was in a very similar position as Steve Wozniak because they both aren't greatly remembered.  How were these two geniuses who played major roles in developing new technologies forgotten? These two had different yet similar reasons for being forgotten.

 Philo Farnsworth was the original man to come up with the idea for the television, but does not get the credit for it.  He believed that if you had the vision of the invention, it was yours.  That was one of his mistakes, he did not understand that the execution of the invention was just as important.  Another mistake he made was that he believed that an invention belonged to one person, but an invention required a collaboration of ideas.  Farnsworth liked total control and that kind of mindset just does not work.  Farnsworth did not want help, if he had help he would have been much more successful.  On the other hand, Wozniak's story was a little different.

When people think of apple computers, the name that immediately comes to mind is Steve Jobs.  Although Steve Jobs contributed a massive amount to apple computers, he did not invent the original design, Steve Wozniak did.  Why is it that Wozniak is so easily forgotten? Wozniak was in an unfortunate plane crash and quit Apple computers.  He then went on to finish college to get his degree in electrical engineering and computer science.  From then on he did not take on a roll in the apple computers industry which is why he is not as well known today.  With such a different reason to not execute his vision, they both ended up in the same position, not remembered.

One thing that is similar to why these two aren't well known is because they both had the vision of the invention but did not pursue it all the way.  In Farnsworth's case he just did not want help, similarly, Wozniak just did not put in the effort that Steve Jobs did to make the company super successful.  Their stories show some very good lessons that anyone could use daily.

Both of their cases show me that an idea is not everything.  If I have an idea I should act on it.  Also, another thing to take out from their past experiences is that help is always better.  Two brains are better than one.  In any situation I am in, I should keep it in mind that asking for help is always an option, and I will be more successful if I just ask for help.