iWoz: Computer Geek to Cult Icon: How I Invented the Personal Computer,…

This book is a transcription of many recorded interviews and it reads that way. It would appear that Woz’s simple way of speaking does not translate well to the the written word. That said, this book was worth reading if only to get Steve Wozniak’s true story from the original imperfect source. ( )

I really enjoyed reading Steve's story of his life, and the development of technology, especially the early Apple products. Steve has a very casual story telling method that includes some repetition. However, I generally enjoyed his voice and message. ( )

Solid autobiography of and by Steve Wozniak; essentially the modern era Leonardo da Vinci. Interesting both due to the information included and what he chose to include, both of which are good insights into his psychology. ( )

In iWoz: Computer Geek to Cult Icon: How I Invented the Personal Computer, Co-founded Apple, and had Fun Doing It, Steve Wozniak recounts his life from his boyhood experiments engineering basic electronics with transistors through the early 2000s and seeing the changes in Apple with the iMac and iPod. He describes his ethical background and desire to develop products that improve the lives of ordinary people as well as the simple joy of solving the engineering problems necessary to accomplish that desire. Woz details the first motherboards he constructed, his experiments with phone phreaking and what it taught him about understanding systems, his work with Hewlett-Packard, and more, offering a candidness that’s refreshing for the reader. He also challenges some of the narratives that have built up around his early years with Apple, such as he and Steve Jobs building the Apple I in their garage (they only did the final assembly in the garage), or his leaving the company because he was dissatisfied (he had other ambitions, though he recognized that some employees were dissatisfied). Though Woz wrote this in 2006, it’s a good history of the early days of Silicon Valley from someone who was there and is likely to inspire readers to go out and find a way to make a difference, whether or not they choose engineering. He and co-author Gina Smith’s writing is very readable and conversational, which helps when he describes technical processes. Overall, an enjoyable and inspiring memoir. ( )

This turned out to be a fun book to read. Steve Wozniak is a pretty immature and unsophisticated writer, but what got through was his enthusiasm.

He covers growing up with his father encouraging his own curiosity and interest in engineering and electronics, explaining electronics and helping him build things like crystal radios and other circuits.

Then gets into his college life, his blue box years hacking the phone system (and sounds like it took him a long time to realize it was stealing) and then a lot of detail about how he designed the Apple I and Apple II computers by himself, with Steve Jobs helping start the company and doing the dealing to get parts and business, but not helping with technical design in any way.

I really didn't see the humor in some of the pranks and jokes he described, usually the ones where he wrote that he was dismayed that no one got them. Most of them, I just didn't see what was funny about them.

Throughout the whole book he brags about his skill, although in this case he's probably earned it, he really does have the skill.

And he often gets very repetitive, saying the same sentences over and over, often multiple times in a single paragraph. Paragraphs themselves often change direction and are filled with non sequiturs.

Overall, it was fun reading, not because it was well written, but because his enthusiasm is catching, and I was already a fan of the computers he designed, with my first personal computer having been an Apple //e, of which I have very fond memories. ( )