book review - 'iWoz: From Computer Geek to Cult Icon'

re: book review - 'iWoz: From Computer Geek to Cult Icon'

John C. Welch — Mon, 29 Jan 2007 00:04:04 GMT

DUDE!

You dissed TEH WOZINATOR'S BOOK! IN PUBLIC.

I bow down to you and your brobdinagian balls in finally doing this. I couldn't even get through a chapter of it, for the exact same reason.

If only more people would point out that being smart and/or famous does not make you a good writer. Editors may suck, but they're your best friend when you want to publish.

I SO owe you a beer.

A short post...

bynkii.com — Mon, 29 Jan 2007 00:06:47 GMT

Then off to Mecca* I go: Nadyne Rocks. That is all. *their main distribution warehouse/outlet store is less than 5 miles from my house Technorati Tags: Books...

re: book review - 'iWoz: From Computer Geek to Cult Icon'

nadyne — Mon, 29 Jan 2007 05:02:41 GMT

I got through it only by sheer force of will. Which is to say, on last week's visit to Redmond, it was the only book I read.

But this has been posted for 24 hours and I haven't had any death threats yet, so maybe my blog readers are more laid-back than yours.

re: book review - 'iWoz: From Computer Geek to Cult Icon'

Asam Bashir — Mon, 29 Jan 2007 06:17:34 GMT

I don't think it is for Woz to go into details that some would like, see it for what it is, it's a good inspiring tale of a geek kid that was into science and engineering and found an application for it. It a good story for kids and he provides a good role model, both as inventor and a passionate educator.

re: book review - 'iWoz: From Computer Geek to Cult Icon'

John C. Welch — Tue, 30 Jan 2007 07:42:20 GMT

Asam, the fact that Woz is not a good writer lives above and beyond the details of the book. If the book is awful to read, then who's going to benefit from it?

re: book review - 'iWoz: From Computer Geek to Cult Icon'

Asam Bashir — Tue, 30 Jan 2007 21:41:35 GMT

Well, lets not confuse people who haven't read it, it's ghost written by Gina Smith, so lets blame her and the publisher for lack of style. The Woz spoke, and she wrote down - Woz was probably having too much fun or playing with some gadget to actually bother with any writing himself.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VbzgQ1JSB2o

That's the way Woz is, he's a big kid with a bigger heart, we love you Woz and don't listen to these evil minions, it's probably that horrid double glazing salesman Steve (orang-utan man) Balmer forcing them to dis you coz you spilt beans about how Internet Explorer was built to crash Mac OS 9..

re: book review - 'iWoz: From Computer Geek to Cult Icon'

nadyne — Tue, 30 Jan 2007 22:13:09 GMT

No, it's not ghostwritten. By definition, a ghostwriter is someone who's paid to do the actual writing but not take the credit for it. Gina's name is on the cover, so she's not a ghostwriter, but rather a co-author.

Regardless of who wrote it, it doesn't change that the writing, style, and editing is bad. Woz's name is on it, and I would have hoped that he would want a quality product if it has his name on it. He was so picky about quality in the early days, but this book doesn't meet any sort of quality standards (other than the quality standard that says that it's been put through a spellcheck).

re: book review - 'iWoz: From Computer Geek to Cult Icon'

John C. Welch — Wed, 31 Jan 2007 00:20:01 GMT

Dude, stop including me in your conspiracy theories. If I was in on the conspiracy, I'd be getting paid. I mean, I'm cheap, but i'm not FREE.

The sign is "Name my price" not "Promise me you'll call me in the morning". Yeesh.

Besides, Nadyne's right. It's painful to read, and if Woz indeed couldn't be bothered to actually demand it not read like a stream of ADD-consciousness, then why bother doing it? Just contribute to Folklore.org.

re: book review - 'iWoz: From Computer Geek to Cult Icon'

Asam Bashir — Wed, 31 Jan 2007 19:37:00 GMT

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPXiDqNJm2w&mode=related&search=

re: book review - 'iWoz: From Computer Geek to Cult Icon'

Chris — Thu, 08 Feb 2007 04:14:10 GMT

I'm reading it now. Your assessment is spot on. I find it's like reading a really long, self-congratulatory blog. That's OK, I honestly don't think Woz is about ego, but it's still annoying. That description of how the floppy drive was developed is pretty bad. Then there's the big Apple III gloss over. Yes, we know it was bad Woz. But weren't you a top engineer at Apple? Why didn't you help fix it? Maybe you couldn't, but you don't explain why you were so neutered at that point (prior to the plane crash).

re: book review - 'iWoz: From Computer Geek to Cult Icon'

Arthur Langereis — Mon, 19 Feb 2007 19:12:38 GMT

There is also an interview with Woz in the book "Founders at Work" by Jessica Livingston. (found it via Joel on Software). The book contains a series of interviews with founders of various IT companies and are largely unedited. The interview with Woz stands out like a sore thumb.

She asks a question and he goes off on a rant each and every time about something else entirely. The overall story was sort of interesting, actually, but it's mostly just Woz talking about how wonderful he was.

Now, I'm sure he is very talented, but the "interview" is boring as hell. It's like going to visit your crazy uncle. He doesn't listen to anyone and just rants about the good old days, but you can't help but like him because he means well.

I haven't read iWoz, but from your post and the comments I understand it's a book-long version of the interview. Avoid at all costs.

book review - 'Apple Confidential 2.0: The Definitive History of the World's Most Colourful Company'

go ahead, mac my day — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 21:12:56 GMT

a well-written and well-researched book about the early days of Apple