It was interesting learning the history of Apple and other projects Woz was part of. However, I had trouble with the style of his writing. It read more like he was an enthusiastic teenager boasting to friends. Some of the writing seemed repetitive and almost child-like. This made it difficult for me to take seriously enough to really enjoy. Still, it was worth getting his perspective on Apple and the growth of computer technology. ( )

A very interesting first person account from the person who designed and built the first two Apple Computers, and was one of the most important people in kick-starting the personal computer revolution.

Woz himself is a plausiblly reliable, but obviously very selective narrator (there was very little substantive about his marriages and divorces, for example). He mostly wants to talk about his engineering, which, happily, was what I was most interested in.

There is no false-modesty about Woz - he is proud of and outspoken about his achievements, going all the way back to early childhood. But while he is obviously pleased about them, he doesn't actually seem boastful. It's more matter-of-fact than that. Indeed, in some of his anecdotes there seems to be a certain lack of emotional intelligence, which could all be part of the same thing.

Similarly, when he talks about what is important to him in life - happiness, having fun, doing what you love - I totally believe him. While nowhere near as famous, nor as rich, and perhaps not as accomplished as Steve Jobs, he is clearly the happier of the two. (In fact, his energy, curiosity and apparent ease with complex ideas reminded me most of Richard Feynman - or the Feynman that comes out through his own anecdotes at least).

Unfortunately, some of the technical explanations of Woz's innovations weren't as clear as they should have been - I guess that's for reasons of space, but I would have preferred it if a little more had been devoted to cleaner, clearer explanations for the layman (and I'm an experienced software engineer - I don't have much hardware experience, but still I would have thought I should have been able to grasp the basics of what was done, and often I couldn't).

You wouldn't read this for the writing style - it's quite hokey at times - but for the insight into a transformative period of technology, by one of the people at the very forefront. It's very engaging, and Woz is very impressive, and likeable. I wish the technical explanations were a little clearer and more detailed, but overall I enjoyed this a whole lot.
( )

This book is a transcription of many recorded interviews and it reads that way. It would appear that Woz’s simple way of speaking does not translate well to the the written word. That said, this book was worth reading if only to get Steve Wozniak’s true story from the original imperfect source. ( )

I really enjoyed reading Steve's story of his life, and the development of technology, especially the early Apple products. Steve has a very casual story telling method that includes some repetition. However, I generally enjoyed his voice and message. ( )

Solid autobiography of and by Steve Wozniak; essentially the modern era Leonardo da Vinci. Interesting both due to the information included and what he chose to include, both of which are good insights into his psychology. ( )