Apple Computer has been in the news lately with the coming and going of Mac World. A jeans-clad Stephen Jobs introduces the new iMac with its new OS X operating system, and there are the continuing discussions about Apple's market share and niche appeal.

For those of us who entered the computer world via Apples and then the Mac, there is another name that resonated within this graphic universe that was Apple Land. That name is Stephen Wozniak, legendary co-founder with Jobs and truly the original designer of the Apple computer.

Amidst all the hype of Mac World, a small news story went virtually unnoticed. Wozniak, who in the 1980's retired from Apple, was brought back again in 1997 as chief exec, but has remained very much on the sidelines. He now has startup fever again. Funded by the biggest venture capital firms in Silicon Valley, Wozniak has started a new company to develop consumer products based on wireless and global positioning satellite (GPS) technologies.

Named the Wheels of Zeus, a take-off on Wozniak's nickname (Woz), this new company reaffirms him as the Gadget Guru of the world. It was he, even more than Jobs, who designed the Apple I, which was billed as the people's computer and was designed to appeal to those users who didn't want to deal with the arcane DOS operating system.

There is no question that Microsoft's development of Windows was in direct reaction to the appeal of the Macintosh. One of Wozniak's investors is quoted as saying that the decision to invest in Wheels of Zeus was easy, based on Woz's passion for "technology that has an impact on people's lives. What we're investing in here is Steve's vision for next-generation devices."

To date, the new company has not announced what products will be developed but Woz has stated generally that "the focus is on designing new consumer electronics products to help everyday people track everyday things."

The Global Positioning System was originally developed by the US Department of Defence to help in missile targeting. The system uses satellites as reference points to calculate positions accurate to a matter of metres or even, in advanced implementations, centimetres. GPS has also been used by hikers, bush-wackers and sea navigators.

Whatever Woz has up his sleeve, we wish him well. If he can wrestle star wars technology away from the war-mongers and put it to use improving quality of life for the world's citizens, then more power to him.

One thing's for sure. That massive US Son of Star Wars investment didn't prevent the ultimate act of terrorism and it also hasn't located Osama bin Laden. My money's on Wozniak.