Audiobook

Listened on car trip to dad's(12 hours each way)

Not sure if he is cocky or just unself-aware. But it was interesting to hear his side of the story about how he left apple

I was a little shocked with Woz' casual arrogance throughout his narrative. Several instances of this attitude shine through from his recollections of his childhood and the founding of Apple in the mid 70s, clear up to more recent work with the US festivals. Overall, this autobiography is written from a very personal perspective and in a conversational tone that was easy to read, but didn't suggest that much thought went into his past. On the positive side, it does a great job of providing a window into the early days/years of Apple's existence that does not specifically focus on the "Cult of Jobs" as a central feature. The 'other Steve' is only brought up from time to time and only when it is relevant to the narrative. I appreciated this because so much of apple is bound up in the iconic CEO that it's easy to lose sight of what else contributed to the company's success.

Overall, I gave this three stars because it was interesting and informative, but without being highly engaging. I'd only recommend reading this to someone who already cares to hear about the background and life of one of the two founders of Apple Computers. If you don't care already, this book won't change your mine.

Steve Wozniak je dobrák od kosti a inžinier. Takže je treba zabudnúť na nejaké veľké dejové zvraty, zrady sú opísané jednou vetou. Viac priestoru dostane inštalácia procesoru, a najmä názor, že JA to robím najlepšie. Čo v prípade Wozniaka mohla byť pravda. Ale na výborný životopis to chce niekoho kontroverznejšieho.

I tried. I really, really tried.

I think Wozniak is a genius - kind, compassionate, fun, and has been completely overshadowed by the bravado and narcissism that was Steve Jobs. I was very intrigued to read more about Woz and his life, to learn more about him.

I didn't make it halfway. Every few pages I would resolve to try just a few more and see if things improved. It's just so poorly written, and written about uninteresting events. Maybe it gets better?

This turned out to be better than how it began. I'm glad I finished it because Steve Wozniak sounds like a great guy.

Steve Wozniak is an engineering genius. This book had the potential to explain and celebrate that genius by focusing on product creation. Alternatively it could have been an opportunity to go behind the scenes of the creation of one of the first billion dollar computer companies, Apple. It could even have stayed close to a personal exploration, trying to understand what makes someone turn out in that way.

Instead we got the worst of all worlds. A meandering set of poorly connected vignettes that reads like exactly what it is, a poorly edited transcript of multiple conversations with his co-author.

If you're interested in Steve Wozniak you might get something from this book. But probably not.

This is the memoirs of a computer engineer so the book has a lot of technical information. The author tells about growing up in Sunnyvale, California and working on creating or should I say designing a personal computer. He tells about his group of computer nerds, belonging to a computer club and the founding of Apple Computer Company. It was great to hear from Woz how many of his teachers had a positive effect on him. Helping him push ahead of his class in math and giving him self-confidence in his abilities. He also went into detail about the positive effect his father had in teaching him about physics and electronics and engineering starting at age 4. Woz says his father was an engineer. His mother encouraged and helped him with math from the first grade on. Woz states he entered every science fair all during his schooling and felt he learned a great deal from the experience.

Woz tells about his relationship with Steve Jobs and other people in his work group. Woz designed Apple I and the Apple II.

Despite the help of a co-writer, journalist Gina Smith, the book is difficult to read and is poorly written. The repetitions were what got to me. Woz says so much written about him is wrong so he just wanted to set the record straight.

The book provides an inside look at the building of Apple I and II and the founding of the Apple Company. The book is well worth the read if you are interested in the tech industry and the history of the personal computer. I read this as an audiobook downloaded from Audible. Patrick Lawler narrated the story.

This book would have gotten 3 stars, for the quality and narrativity, but it got a boost for the fact that it provides practical instructions and advice on some forms of technical innovation, much like the story in the book about the phone phreaks. I honestly can't completely dissemble my valuation of the book from my judgement of Steve Wozniak, and to some extent I don't really need to, given that he is the book's sole author and also the subject of it. However, were I rating Steve Wozniak, rather than Steve Wozniak's book, he'd have gotten a solid 3 stars (including a bump up for seeming to be a good human being). He is unquestionably a genius and a visionary, but also clearly so smart that he's sometimes dumb. In that way, this book has been instructive for me as a person that's also on the autism spectrum (as he so obviously is). His book paints a picture of a geek (in the positive sense of the word), an idealist, an honorable human being, and a dreamer. It also paints the picture of someone profoundly naive, socially stunted, and who put the future that we have lived into in extreme peril multiple times because of his misplaced trust in corporate giants. I also believe that his insistence on not being a decision maker, but later lamenting the decisions others made in his absence, is irresponsible for an innovator of his caliber. I'm getting away from the book though. I thought that the narrative, though somewhat dry and boring throughout, was an honest attempt at transparency and drawing solid causal lines to the outcomes that have become famous (or infamous). In that regard, it succeeded. While I absolutely do not believe that I needed to know the precise sequence of events by which his joke line eventually spiraled out of control, it was definitely honest.

A pesar que Wozniack es más decente de lo que fue Steve Jobs, a pesar que fue el creador de la primera apple, a pesar de haber tenido una actitud mas noble y retributiva a la sociedad de lo que hizo Jobs, a pesar de ser filántropo, a pesar de todas estas cosas... Me quedo con la vida de Steve Jobs !!. Definitivamente: somos unos masoquistas, jejeje

very inspiring!!! got the true view of Apple revolution and its history

Humility is not something he understands. Some of the things he claims to have invented, he didn't. The writing style reads like an excited child after a day full of excitement, sugar, and puppies revealing his experiences to his parents or friends. I'm sure he means well and if I were a genius I'm sure I'd boast too. I don't think it was his intent to brag it just comes off like thst.

This book peaked at about a 4-star and bottomed out at a 2-star... for the final review it keeps the 2-star rating simply based on how often it was there. The audiobook narrator either did a wonderful or horrible job, as I could hear a whiny eight-year old during those portions of Steve's life, and i could hear an immature 20 year old later, and finally a child-like 40 year old toward the end of the book.

The book peaked at times talking about the business, how he explored the engineering and discovered/created the burgeoning world personal computers. However, the language Steve uses and his own words describing his point of view throughout the book show him to be immature and ignorant of not only the world around him but also the people who he loved and those that loved him. through learning of two wives, we never get relayed their point of view, but just that they existed, until they didn't.

I had previously thought of Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak as a pair of geniuses, one with an evil side. But leaving the book it seems Woz's story has more in common with Rain Man meets Forrest Gump.

I am happy he is happy, and it is good that he has done good with his money, but I do not see Steve Wozniak as anything beyond a temporarily elite engineer, who we are lucky ran into people able to move things forward.

Edit: oh, and the pranks are awful. Steve's pranks are not funny ha-ha, so much as he liked to feel superior to unsuspecting, innocent people. You're pranks make you an asshole Steve.