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Apple Computer co-founder Steve Wozniak bit into the company yesterday, calling its recent pact with Intel "like consorting with the enemy" and advising it to spin off its iPod business as fast as possible.

In an interview with the Globe and Mail, Wozniak recalled Apple's long tradition of "saying the enemy is the big black-hatted guys." That tradition will be difficult to maintain, he asserted, when Apple computers run on the same chips as Microsoft. From an engineering standpoint, however, Wozniak admitted that the move to use Intel chips could be beneficiary, though he said he still had lingering questions about whether or not the move was truly necessary.

Wozniak had strong words for the iPod as well. The devices have enjoyed phenomenal success--iPods accounted for 78% of U.S. sales of digital music players last year and about half of world sales, according to analysts--and they have also helped diversify the company's offerings. And while he conceded the iPod's technical excellence, Wozniak asserted that they distracted Apple from its focus on computing. "We're a computer company, and we really think computers." His advice? Consider spinning off the business.
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Read More / Source: Forbes