Editor’s note: Steve Wozniak, affectionately known as “The Woz,” delivers a rousing act packed with wisdom and insight at the Southeast Venture Conference in Charlotte. What did he have to say? Our Insiders get the details from our Allan Maurer. Maurer covered SEVC and the Charlotte Venture Challenge this week. For his exclusive reports, check the links included with this story.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Steve Wozniak, affectionately known as “The Woz” to techies everywhere, is enthusiastic about drones, self-driving cars, education, and engineers who have a history of making new things, he told the combined Southeast Venture Conference (SEVC) and Digital Summit audience of about 1,500 in Charlotte.

The Woz, interviewed by Grant Thornton’s Mike McGuire, keynoted the luncheon at the event.

Among the things he had to say:

  • Drones need a lot of improvement because now you need to both fly one and operate a camera. “You should just have to fly the drone,” he said. But he added, “I want drone delivery, rather than having things shipped overnight,” he said.
  • Driverless cars are a “Sure thing.” But they may end up being used primarily for things such as deliveries.
  • Making a car makes “A lot of sense for a company like Apple that needs to make a lot of money.”
  • “Wait until we have self-driving Uber,” he said. “I think a lot of people will give up cars the way some young people have given up cable TV.”
  • Schools often discourage innovation by grading people for doing the same thing. “I worked out my own designs in high school, trying, trying to figure out how something is done. That doesn’t necessarily come from schools.
  • Engineers should be given access to the spare parts and other resources they need to build things on their own, even within large companies.
  • “Sometimes when you tackle the impossible, you succeed. Sometimes, it’s impossible.
  • He has tried smart watches but found the screen inadequate and holding his wrist to his ear to make a phone call awkward. But he plans to buy one of the cheaper Apple watches anyway.
  • Apple leaving larger phone screens to other makers until recently “was a mistake.”
  • “We spoke about the paperless world coming 30 or 40 years ago. Now we’re actually getting there somewhat.
  • “Everything I did at Apple wasn’t work. I was so lucky. My job was what I would do with my own time.
  • His advice to entrepreneurs: make something you want passionately yourself.
  • “I wish privacy were respected,” he said. “If I email my wife and tell her blue is my favorite color, that should be between me and her.