iWoz: How I Invented the Personal Computer and Had Fun Along the Way [Audiobook, CD, Unabridged] [Audio CD]

Steve Wozniak, the usually unheralded half of the two Steves who founded Apple, is one of the world's most respected computer engineers, having nearly singlehandedly invented the modern personal computer in a garage.

iWoz is an account of 'his side' of the story of how the personal computer was created with the help of Steve Jobs, along with a few tales from his earlier school days and later post-Apple days. It's a fairly short but engaging read, and certainly not a seriously reflective autobiography by any standards.

Wozniak spends a great deal of time discussing his work with electronics and computers, mostly done in his pre-college and early college years, making all the work he did seem like child's play. In it, he also intersperses many of his stories with tales of his pranks. Wozniak makes it clear that he's a real prankster, and it becomes a recurring theme in the book.

His language is not too complicated, and can be reasonably followed by studious readers, but some technical terms will be out of reach for less technically-oriented readers. That's just as well, because his intended audience most definitely consists of technically adept individuals. He is, as some say, the ultimate geek, and his enthusiasm for all things electronic shine through the rather bland writing.

Aspiring Electrical and Computer Engineers will find the book inspiring, noting how dedicated Wozniak was in his craft, spending all his days and nights playing around with electronic components and circuit diagrams - inventing a great many things along the way. If nothing else, it's certainly touching to read about how Wozniak passionately follows his hobbies to completion.

Wozniak does mention his good friend Steve Jobs throughout the book, of course, but it is clear that Jobs' influence on Wozniak was not one of technical inspiration, but that of a visionary and ambition entrepreneur, constantly needing the help of Wozniak to advance the state of the art. Anyone who knows a good deal of Jobs' work at Apple will find Woz's account enlightening, and perhaps knock Jobs down a peg or two on the awesome scale (Wozniak, after all, did all the real grunt work of inventing stuff).

The latter portions of Woz post-Apple are not as interesting, though some may find his accounts of his later pursuits such as elementary school teaching, more interesting and relevant than I did as an engineer.

Overall, iWoz was an easy read, and a fairly good one for those who want to get a glimpse inside the mind of a true engineer. Those who read it will remember the book well, although it doesn't provide the reader with any real social or entertainment value.

I have just finished iWoz, the personal biography of Steve Wozniak, which I read at the same time as Steve Jobs autobiography. It's a fascinating glimpse into the mind of a brilliant inventor and engineer, and very well worth reading. The book is not as polished as Walter Isaacson's autobiography, but that doesn't detract one iota from my enjoyment of it. I did detect an air of arrogance in some of the sentence wording, where Steve Wozniak repeatedly reminds everyone how brilliant he is. But since its "Steve", and since I know how brilliant he is, it doesn't rub me the wrong way. Overall, it's a well-done book and very enjoyable. It gets very technical in parts but to anyone with a familiarity of the inside of computers, it's very readable. You won't be disappointed. Alan Hoffman, Maple Bay BC, November, 2011.

Wozniak may not be the best author in the world, but his story is clearly one of the best. All computer geeks out there should read this book, it is the beginning of personal computing. You'll learn how it all started, directly from the guy who built the very first personal computer. Highly recommended.