iWoz by Steve Wozniak and Gina Smith
Jan. 8th, 2007 03:21 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
amethyst73Normally I don't read biographies - I'm much more into the fiction/fantasy/sci-fi side of things. But a fellow from my husband's company who was leaving had lent it to my husband, and I picked it up after my husband had read a few bits out of it to me. I had to read it fairly rapidly, over the course of only a few days, because the loaner would need it back before leaving at the end of last week. Fortunately for me, the book reads very quicky!
Steve Wozniak is, of course, the founder of Apple Computer. He also wrote the very first version of the game Breakout - the solo version of Pong, where you bounce a ball against a bunch of 'bricks' and thus break them. He was also building things that looked a lot like computers a lot earlier than most other people.
(There. That should serve as an introduction.)
Steve Wozniak and Gina Smith met over 50 times, for a 2 hour session each time. Many of those were recording sessions in which Wozniak would tell stories about his life; later sessions were (presumably) for editing, to get the sound of each paragraph right. The result is a book that reads as if you've got this very bright computer whiz guy hanging out with you and some buddies at a neighborhood barbecue, shooting the breeze and telling stories of the years gone by. The style is highly conversational, peppered with "well"s and "you know"s and (my favorite) "Hah"s (when he laughs at himself or at his own jokes).
The first couple of chapters gave me the strong feeling that this book was largely going to be a case of self-aggrandizement, and I wasn't sure I wasn't going to like it because of that. But after all, writing one's memoirs takes an ego to do in the first place, doesn't it? Once I came to terms with the sense of Wozniak being a bit of a bragger, I was able to lean back and enjoy the stories.
Wozniak, in conjunction with Smith, is a good storyteller. Whether he's giving an account of how he built the Cream Soda Computer in high school or how he created Brickout in only four days (sleep was not an option, he was working towards a deadline), his style is direct, informal, and engaging. He makes a point of (mostly) talking to the average, reasonably intelligent person, and at only one point did he become too technical for me to follow. And because I was working on a deadline, that instance was probably more my fault than his.
I enjoyed this book; I might read it again. As it happens, my husband's co-worker gave my husband the book as a going-away gift, so I'll have the opportunity to if I so desire.
Overall rating: 3 out of 5 stars
Random note: After having finished this book at high speed, I then picked up another book that I was working on, Salman Rushdie's The Ground Beneath Her Feet. (I've always enjoyed Rushdie for his amazing use of language, and will post thouoghts/review of the book once I've finished it.) This was the first time I'd had a distinct taste sensation come from reading a book: After Wozniak's perfectly adequate language, reading just a couple of paragraphs of Rushdie left me with the sensation of a small piece of fruity dark chocolate melting on my tongue.
Steve Wozniak is, of course, the founder of Apple Computer. He also wrote the very first version of the game Breakout - the solo version of Pong, where you bounce a ball against a bunch of 'bricks' and thus break them. He was also building things that looked a lot like computers a lot earlier than most other people.
(There. That should serve as an introduction.)
Steve Wozniak and Gina Smith met over 50 times, for a 2 hour session each time. Many of those were recording sessions in which Wozniak would tell stories about his life; later sessions were (presumably) for editing, to get the sound of each paragraph right. The result is a book that reads as if you've got this very bright computer whiz guy hanging out with you and some buddies at a neighborhood barbecue, shooting the breeze and telling stories of the years gone by. The style is highly conversational, peppered with "well"s and "you know"s and (my favorite) "Hah"s (when he laughs at himself or at his own jokes).
The first couple of chapters gave me the strong feeling that this book was largely going to be a case of self-aggrandizement, and I wasn't sure I wasn't going to like it because of that. But after all, writing one's memoirs takes an ego to do in the first place, doesn't it? Once I came to terms with the sense of Wozniak being a bit of a bragger, I was able to lean back and enjoy the stories.
Wozniak, in conjunction with Smith, is a good storyteller. Whether he's giving an account of how he built the Cream Soda Computer in high school or how he created Brickout in only four days (sleep was not an option, he was working towards a deadline), his style is direct, informal, and engaging. He makes a point of (mostly) talking to the average, reasonably intelligent person, and at only one point did he become too technical for me to follow. And because I was working on a deadline, that instance was probably more my fault than his.
I enjoyed this book; I might read it again. As it happens, my husband's co-worker gave my husband the book as a going-away gift, so I'll have the opportunity to if I so desire.
Overall rating: 3 out of 5 stars
Random note: After having finished this book at high speed, I then picked up another book that I was working on, Salman Rushdie's The Ground Beneath Her Feet. (I've always enjoyed Rushdie for his amazing use of language, and will post thouoghts/review of the book once I've finished it.) This was the first time I'd had a distinct taste sensation come from reading a book: After Wozniak's perfectly adequate language, reading just a couple of paragraphs of Rushdie left me with the sensation of a small piece of fruity dark chocolate melting on my tongue.
