In a recent interview with Bloomberg tech legend and Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak predicted that the next big moonshot technology will come out of Tesla; saying “I think Tesla is on the best direction right now. They put an awful lot of effort into very risky things.”
Recently Tesla is moving more into the energy sector with ventures including electronic cars, self-driving cars, and more efficient transportation systems. Tesla founder and CEO Elon Musk has put weight behind innovative transportation projects such as the high-speed Hyperloop transit system which accelerates traffic and helps minimize the necessity of airplane flights. Also among Musk’s ventures is the Boring Company, which aims to tunnel under big cities to provide alternative transport systems for commuters.
Wozniak noted that disrupting public transportation and the way people travel could have a massive world impact. “I’m going to bet on Tesla,” said Steve.
Tesla as a company is not directly involved with The Boring Company, the tunnel-digging project Elon Musk began in Los Angeles earlier this year, or with the high-speed Hyperloop rail he first envisioned in 2013. But these innovations work well with the self-driving, energy efficient technology that Tesla is developing.
In the interview, Woz also noted that Tesla benefits from having someone like Musk who imagines products that he himself would like to use and then oversees the design process–Much like the role Steve Jobs played in the creation of Apple. “When thinking comes from yourself,” says Woz, “knowing what you want very much in life and being in control of it, not letting everybody get every little aspect in, that’s where you get the best products.” Take for example Tesla’s Model S, the first car he company built after going public in 2010, it was really built for Musk’s own life–what he would like to personally have in a car.
The fact that Steve Wozniak, co-founder of Apple, is placing his bet on Tesla says a lot. Apple Insider reports that “a considerable rivalry exists between Apple and Tesla”. Last year, Apple recruited Tesla’s former VP of Vehicle Engineering, Chris Porritt, to work on “special projects” while Tesla brought on MacBook Air designer Matt Casebolt in January.
Woz’s prediction comes in part from the fact that large companies have a lower tolerance for risk. He suggested the chances of major firms like Apple coming up with the next major breakthrough were slim, due to the risks involved. “Look at the companies like Google and Facebook and Apple and Microsoft that changed the world–Tesla included–They really came from new people who didn’t know that what they were doing was so risky,” once a company gets really big, they take fewer risks.
