Iwoz: Computer Geek to Cult Icon: How I Invented the Personal Computer, Co-Founded Apple, and Had Fun Doing It

by Gina Smith and Steve Wozniak

Book Overview

Before slim laptops that fit into briefcases, computers looked like strange vending machines, with cryptic switches and pages of encoded output. But in 1977 Steve Wozniak revolutionized the computer industry with his invention of the first personal computer. As the sole inventor of the Apple I and II computers, Wozniak has enjoyed wealth, fame, and the most coveted awards an engineer can receive, and he tells his story here for the first time.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0393061434
• ISBN13: 9780393061437
• Release Date: September 2006
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
• Length: 330 Pages
• Weight: 1.43 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 6.3" x 9.1"

Customer Reviews

iWoz by Steve Wozniak and Gina Smith

This book, an autobiography by Steve Wozniak and Gina Smith, is an extremely well written piece. It is, quite obviously, an autobiography, but it can also teach about how to live life to its fullest and take advantages. I think many people that would at first be interested in this book would already know who Steve Wozniak is, and what he did, but if you look beyond the cover, even others could find something in its depths. This is a very easy read, and can be very entertaining if you want it to be. He does sometimes go into the back roads, leading to falling into boredom. Woz and Ms. Smith did a very good job on writing this so you can feel as if you're there and Woz is right there beside you. Towards the end of the book, Woz tells you things about being a great engineer, which can also be translated to life in general. He tells you that you should never stumble over yourself. That you should see things in black and white, with every shade of gray between. And finally, one that I think is most important, that you should always trust your instincts. I think that most people who would feel drawn to read this book are going to be techies and engineers, however, like I said before, I believe more people than just those two groups could get something out of this. This book gives you life lessons, as well as has some various funny moments. The appeal to most techies would probably be hearing of the early days of PC's and chuckling at the thought, I know I did. Life without my T1 internet or Wi-Fi would be unimaginable. The non-tech geeks could, again, learn about the history of the computer as well as hear those never-tiring anecdotes. So, all in all this is a very interesting and easy read. I would recommend it to anyone who is interested in the history of the personal computer, Apple, the Woz, or is just interested in something to pass the time. Now, to defy one of my teachers sacred commandments... The end.

Gives you a great sense of the Woz.

This is an excellent book about a truly interesting and innovative man. It provides real insight into his work, his style and his personality. I had the pleasure of seeing Steve on his speaking tour and I was really impressed by how the book captures his style, tone and spirit. Steve has a real childlike quality to him which shows through alternatively as playfulness, humor, goofiness and innocence. He also has a long history with promoting education and teaching. Some of the earlier reviews say this shows up as "childish" writing. Quite the contrary, it is this quality that has long given him his strength. His ability to take a challenge others thought impossibly complex and turn it into a simple, elegant reality. At this he was unparalleled. Some may be upset that he is so plainspoken, but I'm glad the co-author did not try to change Steve's voice. To do so would have done the man a strong disservice, and instead we are left with a fascinating portrait and a compelling read.

A Book for Everyone!

This is a wonderful story, extremely well told. The history of how Apple became Apple is a fairly familiar one by now but this book chronicles Steve Wozniak's personal journey from childhood up to the creation of the first PC, the founding of Apple, and beyond. In the first few chapters, you get a glimpse into Steve Wozniak's childhood fascination with technology and the people who taught him early on. Unlike many other biographies that list the dad as a primary influence, this book chronicles many humorous (and charming) stories of how Steve's father encouraged him in technology and more broadly, to think creatively and develop his own opinions. Later, you get a clear sense of how his thinking evolved as he continually pushed the edges of the technological envelope to see what was possible, all juxtaposed against the technology that was available at the time, until he and Mr. Jobs quit their day jobs to found Apple. I worried that this book would be too tech-y for me but it absolutely wasn't. I definitely learned some things about technology along the way - there are clever sidebars throughout the book which explain the technology that is being discussed. More than a technology book, this is a personal story - it is a warm and engaging narrative about one of the great geniuses of our time who invented something that we have trouble imagining life without! What's really great about the way the book is written is that you get a clear sense of what Steve was thinking throughout his childhood - what struck him as interesting and fun and strange and beautiful - and that's what makes this book such a pleasure to read. I would recommend this book to everyone: people interested in Apple or technology more broadly will find it interesting to fill in the holes of what they've heard about Apple so far, people who want to know where this iPod phenomenon came from will learn something, and parents who want to inspire creativity and innovation in their children will definitely benefit too!

You say you want a Revolution??

Steve Wozniak (with the obvious and very able assistance of Gina Smith) has written a gem of a book in iWoz. This book is literally for everyone, techies and non techies alike, as the Revolution created by Mr. Wozniak and Steve Jobs truly changed our world. I have often thought of the two as highly different individuals brought together in a common cause with radically different skill sets. Cast The Woz as John Lennon and Steve Jobs as Paul McCartney. Lennon wanted to CREATE something special, something beautiful and something new. Wozniak clearly did this at Apple. McCartney wanted to become huge, well known and wealthy. Jobs did this for all at Apple, very much including the author as Wozniak had other motivations that occupied his very busy mind. Mr. Wozniak does write, very interestingly, about the engineer as an artist. He really thinks of it that way. Any who have heard him speak or met him, as I have been fortunate enough to do on a few occasions, know that what he wrote was, and is, the real Steve Wozniak. Ms. Smith did a marvelous job at making the book almost entirely understandable to those of us whose minds are not wired as an engineer. Yet it is the voice of Mr. Wozniak that comes through. Truly a remarkable accomplishment as Wozniak can ramble yet, in this wonderful autobiography, his thoughts are cogent and clear. Even concise. This book is a great read for all. It shows what passion can create. Buy it, read it and give it to all your family and friends to read.

Limited audience; Interesting Story

Yesterday, I took a long look at the new book by Steve Wozniak, iWoz. Personally, I'm intrigued by the science-based creativity that led to early Apple products, and also the psychologically-savvy thinking that went into making computers user-friendly. The book will be interesting to a specialized audience. You need to be interested in the early history of personal computers (e.g., the legendary Homebrew Computer Club). You need to get a kick out of the amusing but sometimes unflattering lore that defined Apple's history and culture. You need to want to know about Wozniak's remarkably innovative engineering as well as Apple's entrepreneurship. You have to dig the views and personality of a successful but unusual and reclusive countercultural person. It probably helps if you resonate with Wozniak's personal style, and dream about making innovative contributions somewhere, somehow. Some observations: 1) When he claims to have "invented" the personal computer, he's not being too grandiose. He created some really beautiful early computers. The lore is that these contraptions were the first to have typewriter based keyboards; the first to be useable right out of the box; the first low-cost computers to have color, sound, hi-res graphics, and floppy disks. He developed software that changed industry standards. And to believe Wozniak is to believe that he was the origin of these ideas, surrounded by other creative geniuses like Jobs, Osborn, Marsh and others. Perhaps others shared in these innovations. But there's no doubt that Wozniak was one of the great "out of the box" thinkers of the Silicon Valley "revolution." In the book, Wozniak describes developing all of these things. 2) If you haven't looked at an Apple II in awhile, it might be worth doing so while you read the book. The electronic circuits and boards of these early Apple machines were works of art and genius. The components were arranged in ways that defied conventional wisdom. I found the motherboards in the Apple IIs to be simple, elegant and striking. Today, the technology is obsolete but the beauty endures. Wozniak's story is more interesting when you realize that he's primarily responsible for this great stuff. 3) The book helps elucidate Wozniak's personality and thinking style. He's the math-science-electrical guy who works privately in the back while he implements his (and others') visions of what a product can be. (If you've examined the electronics and layout of those old machines, then you have no problem believing that Wozniak was the science-math-electrical guy who was part scientist, part artist). In the book, Wozniak shares influences, anecdotes and pranks. This is not the guy who habitually seeks power, or the limelight. He's the guy who normally would toil in obscurity, surrounded by friends and thinkers who let him do his thing and appreciate his skillful vision (and nutty sense of humor). He was able to work among the corporate power brokers