Apple

The First 50 Years

De: David Pogue

Narrado por: David Pogue

In time for Apple’s 50th anniversary, CBS Sunday Morning correspondent David Pogue tells the iconic company’s entire life story: how it was born, nearly died, was born again under Steve Jobs, and became, under CEO Tim Cook, the most valuable company in the world. The book features new facts that correct the record and illuminate its subversive culture and fresh interviews with the legendary figures who shaped Apple into what it is today.

On April 1, 1976, two scruffy twentysomethings, both named Steve, founded a startup. Their goal: To bring the revolutionary power of computers to everyone.

Over the next five decades, Apple reshaped the technology and cultural landscapes, introducing the public to breakthroughs like the mouse, laser printing, CD-ROM, WiFi, digital video, home networking, touchscreen phones, and tablets. Jobs’s obsessive eye for detail set the stage for products—Mac, iMac, iPod, iTunes, iPhone, iPad, AirPods, Apple Watch—that married advanced technology with beauty, simplicity, and fine design.

Deeply researched, Apple: The First 50 Years includes new interviews with 150 key people who made the journey, including Steve Wozniak, John Sculley, Jony Ive, and many current designers, engineers, and executives. The book busts long-held myths; goes backstage for both the titanic successes (450 million iPods, 700 million iPads, 2.2 billion iPhones) and the instructive failures (Lisa, Apple III, MobileMe); and assesses the forces that challenge Apple’s dominance as it enters its second half century.

Bursting with tales of frenetic all-nighters, engineering genius, and creative rebellion, this book is a true testament to Apple’s unique and innovative vision, and a must read for anyone whose life Apple has touched.

Comprehensive and a lot of fun

I wish it had a companion PDF with illustrations from the book, the author sings in the audiobook, that could be consider a very modest compensation.

Still, I just ordered the hardcover…

Great Apple history filled with a lot of new stuff, but WHY THAT AWFUL SIDEBAR SOUND?

Overall, this is a great book and maybe one of the best books about Apple ever written. David Pogue did an outstanding job writing AND narrating.

However, there is one huge problem with the audio book. The sound it plays for every sidebar is WAY too loud and jarring!! I was listening to the book out loud the other day and when it came to another sidebar (every few minutes, by the way) and played that sound, my wife said, “WHAT WAS THAT SCARY SOUND?!” It’s honestly like the Sosumi sound on steroids… a horrible, dissonant, loud, musical sound which actually makes me jump a little every time I hear it. I would NOT recommend listening to this book while lying in bed or without earbuds.

It’s actually surprising, given David Pogue’s musical background. Did he really think this was a good idea, or did he just listen to someone else who gave him terrible advice? A soft, gentle bell sound would have sufficed and it would have made for a much more pleasant listening experience.