LettersOnPages
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This is a reprint of my review of iWoz by Steve Wozniak. The original can be found at Letters on Pages (address in my signature)
Title: iWoz
Author: Steve Wozniak
Publisher: W.W. Norton (2007)
Steve Wozniak is really, really smart. So smart that he was designing circuit boards and intricate electrical devices at a very young age. So smart that he is responsible for the design of the first personal computer. So, Steve Wozniak is really smart...and he wants you to know it. He wants you to know how smart he is so badly that he spent 304 pages describing it in this book/memoir.
I am really torn on this book. I really like technology and computers. I think they are the most awesome things ever. They have allowed us to do so much more than we were capable of doing before. So when I got the chance to read a book by the guy who really started it all...well...that was exciting! And when he talked about the designs and innovations he made to early computers it was pretty cool. I mean, the guy knows what he is talking about. But his "writing" is totally insufferable.
I put "writing" in quotes because I am about 95% sure he didn't actually write the book. I am pretty sure he sat down in a chair next to the co-writer, who was holding a tape recorder. Then Wozniak started talking for a couple hours. And when he was done, the co-writer transcribed the text word for word and published the book. The whole process probably took 2 days.
There is some semblance of order to the book, in that he started at the beginning and finished at the end...but otherwise it's completely random. He explains things that don't need explaining, which is why I don't think the book was edited. Example? Sure!
A guy named Rich Zenkere was selected class clown of Homestead High Class of 1968. He was a funny guy who sat next to me in a lot of classes because in most of our classes we had to sit in alphabetical order. And Wozniak is pretty close to Zenkere in the alphabet.
This is a great example. The last sentence is totally unnecessary. We all know what alphabetical order is and we know what the two last names are. We may not be as smart as Wosniak, but we can at least put those two together. Hence my doubt that this book was edited.
The rest of the book can be summed up this way: "I love me!! Me! Me! Me! Me!".
It is really unfortunate that this book came off this way because Steve Wozniak is a pretty impressive guy. But the terrible editing and self congratulations becomes grating after about 30 pages. I wish I could give it a better rating than I am going to...and the only thing that saved it is the fact that the genesis of modern day computing is interesting to me.
Rating: 2 out of 5
Title: iWoz
Author: Steve Wozniak
Publisher: W.W. Norton (2007)
Steve Wozniak is really, really smart. So smart that he was designing circuit boards and intricate electrical devices at a very young age. So smart that he is responsible for the design of the first personal computer. So, Steve Wozniak is really smart...and he wants you to know it. He wants you to know how smart he is so badly that he spent 304 pages describing it in this book/memoir.
I am really torn on this book. I really like technology and computers. I think they are the most awesome things ever. They have allowed us to do so much more than we were capable of doing before. So when I got the chance to read a book by the guy who really started it all...well...that was exciting! And when he talked about the designs and innovations he made to early computers it was pretty cool. I mean, the guy knows what he is talking about. But his "writing" is totally insufferable.
I put "writing" in quotes because I am about 95% sure he didn't actually write the book. I am pretty sure he sat down in a chair next to the co-writer, who was holding a tape recorder. Then Wozniak started talking for a couple hours. And when he was done, the co-writer transcribed the text word for word and published the book. The whole process probably took 2 days.
There is some semblance of order to the book, in that he started at the beginning and finished at the end...but otherwise it's completely random. He explains things that don't need explaining, which is why I don't think the book was edited. Example? Sure!
A guy named Rich Zenkere was selected class clown of Homestead High Class of 1968. He was a funny guy who sat next to me in a lot of classes because in most of our classes we had to sit in alphabetical order. And Wozniak is pretty close to Zenkere in the alphabet.
This is a great example. The last sentence is totally unnecessary. We all know what alphabetical order is and we know what the two last names are. We may not be as smart as Wosniak, but we can at least put those two together. Hence my doubt that this book was edited.
The rest of the book can be summed up this way: "I love me!! Me! Me! Me! Me!".
It is really unfortunate that this book came off this way because Steve Wozniak is a pretty impressive guy. But the terrible editing and self congratulations becomes grating after about 30 pages. I wish I could give it a better rating than I am going to...and the only thing that saved it is the fact that the genesis of modern day computing is interesting to me.
Rating: 2 out of 5
