iWoz

How I Invented the Personal Computer and Had Fun Along the Way

By: Steve Wozniak, Gina Smith

Narrated by: Patrick Lawlor

The mastermind behind Apple Computer sheds his low profile and steps forward to tell his story for the first time.

Before cell phones that fit in the palm of your hand and slim laptops that fit snugly into briefcases, computers were like strange, alien vending machines. They had cryptic switches, punch cards, and pages of encoded output. But in 1975, a young engineering wizard named Steve Wozniak had an idea: what if you combined computer circuitry with a regular typewriter keyboard and a video screen? The result was the first true personal computer, the Apple I, a widely affordable machine that anyone could understand and figure out how to use.

Wozniak's life before and after Apple is a "home-brew" mix of brilliant discovery and adventure, as an engineer, a concert promoter, a fifth-grade teacher, a philanthropist, and an irrepressible prankster. From the invention of the first personal computer to the rise of Apple as an industry giant, iWoz presents a no-holds-barred, rollicking, firsthand account of the humanist inventor who ignited the computer revolution.

©2006 Steve Wozniak (P)2006 Tantor Media, Inc.

Great to hear a narrator that matches the story

I was looking forward to hearing this story, as almost all the other accounts of Apple's history and of the contributions Woz made to that history have been rife with errors and author bias.

But having net and spoken with Woz a number of times, I was well aware of his child-like wonder and enthusiasm. So when I started the audiobook, Patrick Lawlor immediately captured Woz's essence, and kept me connected throughout the book.

Gina Smith also managed to distill a very complicated and involved story into a lovely, amazing and easy to understand journey.

I absolutely adored bother the text and the audio. Bravo and brava.

A different look into the Apple story

I like how this gives a different point of view on Apple, and the engineer that made the Apple 1 and 2. Especially given that I'm interested in learning how electronics work, I was able to glean some details on the type of brilliancy and philosophy that Steve Wozniak brought to the projects he worked on. Surely, the Apple 2 wouldn't be what it was without those expansion slots. That's the whole point of microprocessors, the ability to make logic quickly and easily using code instead of hardware. Without peripherals, what would a computer be but just a limited device.

Love this book!

Learning about Woz is intriguing. This book gives readers a broad insight I've listened to it multiple times it doesn't get boring.

He Woz

best book I have read since surely your joking mr Feynman. It has really the really simple grammar of a scientist or engineer which makes it easy to understand. Not for everyone, but if you like science an engineering it nice to get a perspective from someone who created the first personal computer.

entertaining, inspiring and educational.

I grew up in tech but had almost no idea of many of the details in this story. Really glad he took the time to tell us how his part of history really happened