Last week, iPod Observer linked to a Globe and Mail article in which Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak said: "Spinning off a separate [iPod] division makes a whole lot of sense." Last weekend, however, Mr. Wozniak said "I heartily deny saying this," prompting reporter Peter Nowak on Friday to print part of the transcript of his interview with the legendary programmer.

"The reporter asked some such question and I laughed it off as ludicrous," Mr. Wozniak wrote in a listserv post. "Why would Apple spin off something so successful? Well, organizationally, it must be so already and I acknowledged the question I was asked in that way ... I did NOT say that the iPod division should be spun off and I feel used in that regard."

In the transcript, Mr. Nowak asks "What about iPods?" and Mr. Wozniak replies with comments about how he's "blown away" by the "entire iPod auxiliary world." When Mr. Nowak queries if Apple should "be putting more emphasis on that aspect of the business," Mr. Wozniak brings up the issue of diversification, ending his statement with the comment that "maybe it should be a separate division."

Mr. Nowak then asks "Do you think so?" and Mr. Wozniak responds: "We're a computer company, we really think computers. Of course every product nowadays has a computer inside every technical product, so it's not too hard. I think spinning off a separate division for iPods makes an awful lot of sense." They then discuss how Apple would go about that, with Mr. Wozniak referring to his time with Hewlett-Packard in the 1970s.

Mr. Nowak also provided the recording of the interview in MP3 format so that readers can hear the relevant parts of it. "I recommend listening to the audio to hear the full context, flow and nuance of the conversation," he wrote.