Rating: 
Summary: Good enlightenment on computer history
Review: This book follows the evolution of the Mac from its humble beginnings to its current grandeur. However, Levy is so enthusiastic about the Mac that this sometimes makes his objectivity seem questionable. On the upside he is very conscientious about giving credit where it is due and can delve into technical details without being boring or too abstract. Overall, this book is a good read for anyone who wants to get a clue about the history of computers.
Rating: 
Summary: Not so insanely great ...
Review: This book is bad enough, with respect to both technology and history, that it is hardly worth a review. The author's grasp of computer technology, or lack of it, is ludicrous. He relies on word-of-mouth from selfserving informants instead of research. Even the editing of the book is severely lacking: Misspellings and especially ungramatical constructions are rife. It's a book I would definitely not pass on.Finally, though I bow to no one in my admiration of the Macintosh (I've owned enough of them since '84 and a Star before that), the MacSycophancy expressed in the book is almost embarassing.
Rating: 
Summary: In Days of Apple's worries, a reminder of glory
Review: This book is special to me. From the moment I saw the Macintosh (some time before its release), I was charmed, not only by the machine but the people who created it. Those people in the Mac team became my friends; the machine became my primary tool for writing, and my window into worlds of software and communication. The idea for this book came to me thirteen months before the Mac's tenth anniversary--a relatively short, and somewhat personal history of the Mac to come out just at it turned 10. Since I had been consistently covering the Mac, I already had much of the research done--I followed up with a series of interviews to fill in the holes. (Those interviews were a lot of fun.) I learned stuff I'd never known, and I think for the first time you get a sense of how the Mac really evolved, from ideas like Bush's Memex through Xerox PARC, throught the LISA. You get a sense of what Jobs did, and what the others did. You see why it almost failed, and how the Mac II was made. And in the special addition for the paperback, there's the story of the PowerMac.
But most important in these days of Apple's precarious position, I'm happy to have documented why Apple really matttered, and how a computer could change your life
Rating: 
Summary: A nice book on Apple before Steve's Second Coming
Review: This book is too friendly to Apple, I have to say. I've been studying Apple history for many years, I find this book full of interesting facts, but to friendly to Apple's many mistakes. If you just want to know about the history of the PowerMac, you can read its excerpt on MacWorld. Which issue I have forgotten. An easier rean than Jim Carlton's book which is long and tedius. I find Another book, _Infinite Loop_ deeper. Though many don't like that book, because the author seemed to sour grape.
Rating:
Summary: A nice book on Apple before Steve's Second Coming
Review: This book is too friendly to Apple, I have to say. I've been studying Apple history for many years, I find this book full of interesting facts, but to friendly to Apple's many mistakes. If you just want to know about the history of the PowerMac, you can read its excerpt on MacWorld. Which issue I have forgotten. An easier rean than Jim Carlton's book which is long and tedius. I find Another book, _Infinite Loop_ deeper. Though many don't like that book, because the author seemed to sour grape.
Rating:
Summary: a fun history of the mac
Review: This book lets Stephen Levy do a decent job reviewing the history of the Macintosh in an entertaining and fun read. However, his neverending enthusiasm for the Mac makes his writing biased. This book is informative I will agree, but a lot of it should be taken with a grain of salt.
Rating:
Summary: Brief History of Apple From 1976-1985
Review: This is a pretty interesting and well-written book about the history of the Macintosh and how it almost did not make it into the computing world. Although Stephen Levy is basically not a computer scientist, he shows great understanding of the area and seems to have the sufficient rabid inquisitiveness that one has come to expect from those dabbling in and/or writing about computers. In brief, this book is about the work ethos prevalent in certain segments of Apple driven by the ever-controversial but charming Steve Jobs who, along with his band of "pirates", takes it as a personal mission to change the face of computing. The trials and tribulations faced in the makings of the only computer in the world with which one can associate the word "panache", are expressed in a very readable fashion. It is almost a Brief History of Apple From 1976-1985. Quick but gripping read with sprinklings of computing techniques and terminology that should appeal to anyone who has ever used a keyboard.
Rating:
Summary: Detailed book ruined by the authors self praise
Review: This is a very good book with a good history of the mac and what its creation was all about. Pity that the author ruins the book by continously talking about how great he is and how everyone at apple thought he was brilliant.
Rating:
Summary: A Great read!
Review: This is the story of how a multi-billion dollar company was started by some friends trying to impress one another. I think the work is dated, which is easy to become in this cyberworld. I especially enjoyed the descriptions of the founders and thier habits, such as eating pizza or riding to work on a bicycle after high school. I would recommend this to anyone who has or is thinking of getting a Mac, and I think every man, woman, and child should have a Mac!
Rating: 
Summary: Great!
Review: This was a great book! I must've read it 10 times since I've gotten it. If you love Apple and the Macintosh, then you'll love this one!
| 
