So you’re the dude who co-created Apple. You don’t really have a formal role at Apple anymore and you just kind of hang out with cool people and talk about Apple a lot and, in the McDonald Land of Apple, you’re kind of like the goofy, lovable Grimace to Steve Jobs’ maniacal and dangerous Mayor McCheese. So you talk to a local NBC affiliate and make an off-hand remark about liking the Nexus One. What do you think happens next?

Splashy headlines! “Apple Cofounder Confesses: He Loves the Google Phone!” Wild subheads! “Steve Wozniak admits he’s jumped to Google’s ship!” The belief that general approval and usage of competing technology equates to varletism! Efforts by a mainstream news organization to stir up fanboy in hopes of gaining traffic!

Well, all of that worked and how. Because Woz said, and this is the quote:

Wozniak made his latest revelation with a coy laugh and without actually speaking the Google device’s name. Instead, when asked what his favorite gadget is, Wozniak said, “Well, it’s the latest one. It’s a non-Apple product, but it’s a gadget that just came out yesterday.”

He is a traitor to the cause. He must be liquidated. His refusal to shower unyielding praise on his former company is tantamount to high treason. Or maybe NBC Bay Area could cover more pressing stuff, like California’s budget crisis or the wars going on or earthquakes around the world. Oh well. Woz sells.

That said, they basically got what they wanted. Sadly, Steve Wozniak could say that dogs are great pets and all cat-loving Windows users would throw bricks through his window. Why not milk that division?