The Twilight Years of Cap'n Crunch

Carl Bialik from WSJ writes "Tech pioneer John Draper, a legendary, eccentric figure in Silicon Valley better known as Cap'n Crunch, has slipped to the margins while his peers became rich, the Wall Street Journal writes in a profile. Draper was a 'phone phreak' and helped develop the technology for word processing and voice-activated telephone menus; meanwhile, he eluded the mainstream by tampering with the phone system, frequenting the rave scene and shouting at anyone smoking anywhere near him. 'Once tolerated, even embraced, for his eccentricities, Mr. Draper now lives on the margins of this affluent world, still striving to carve out a role in the business mainstream,' says the WSJ. More from the article: 'Contemporaries who've gone on to riches and fame say they've tried to help Mr. Draper over the years. Mr. Wozniak says Mr. Draper's problem is that his skills lie in technology rather in making business deals or starting a company. "He didn't come from a business orientation," says Mr. Wozniak.'"

Comments

Re:Talk about evil

[LMacG]

The amazing thing is the his screen displayed "Dear aunt, let's set so double the killer delete select all."

Moo

[Chacham]

Woz is amazing.

A genius at electronics, he could not start a business for his life. So, he created an alter-ego, by taking everything that he isn't, and putting it into one new character. He names his new character as any techy would, by its function, and Mr. Jobs came to be. For a first name, he simply chose his own.

Think about it:

1) Can you imagine how two people so opposite can get together so well?
2) Have you ever seen the two of them together?

Apparently, he tried pawning off his DUPED (dual-user personality electronic disorder) to the cap'n, but it a bit of a crunch Drapier refused. Now, Woz is taking his sweet revenge with public humiliation.