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| Revolution in the Valley / Andy Hertzfeld : 5 of 5 | |
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1.21.2008
6:45 AM | Link |
 This book was actually a Christmas gift from last year that I never got around to reading (how embarrassing!), but since I'm on a quest to read more this year (and not buy any more books until I make a dent), I decided it was finally time. Little did I know this book would become an obsession and steal all my time for a few days - I simply could not stop reading it once I started! Andy Hertzfeld was part of the original Apple engineers who created the first Macintosh, so I have to thank him (and everyone else, including Steve Jobs) for nearly all the computer fun I've had in my life, including typing this very sentence. This book is a collection of anecdotes covering all phases of development, from circuit boards to software, from release day to revisions afterward. It's filled with amazing old photos, and even original notebook pages scribbled with diagrams and To Do lists (which are fantastic to see)! It was fascinating to learn about other members of the Mac team, especially Burrell Smith, who seems like such a character. Smith designed the logic board and other hardware, and his personality is full of interesting quirks (such as his unique way of playing Defender). Sometimes the writing actually gets into semi-serious code discussion, mentioning Toolbox routines that I can still remember from my Mac programming days years ago. Of course, the stories about Steve Jobs are wild - he's definitely the kind of person that you can love and hate at the same time, but there's no doubt that his team was loyal and worked like crazy for him (I imagine his personality could be similar to Walt Disney at times - brutal, but inspiring). I could go on and on about this book. There are certainly other Apple history books available, but hearing the tale from someone who was right in the middle of the action is a a wonderful experience!
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