Mac history books

In article <1g25q1t.1iudiwzeaewxxN%(E-Mail Removed)>, Bella Jones wrote:
> I was wondering about the best book to read on the history of Apple. I
> found this nice trainspottery little site:
> http://www.landsnail.com/apple/index.html
> which has a whole list of them.
>
> I just wondered if anyone had read any of the more recent histories, and
> which ones you recommend.
>
> I also just found 'A Brief History Of The Future - The Origins Of The
> Internet' by John Naughton, in a 2nd hand shop. Looks like a tasty
> read...
>

I can recommend 'Infinite Loop'

Jim
--
(E-Mail Removed) -*- (E-Mail Removed)
"We deal in the moral equivalent of black holes, where the normal
laws of right and wrong break down; beyond those metaphysical
event horizons there exist ... special circumstances" - Use Of Weapons

I was wondering about the best book to read on the history of Apple. I
found this nice trainspottery little site:
http://www.landsnail.com/apple/index.html
which has a whole list of them.

I just wondered if anyone had read any of the more recent histories, and
which ones you recommend.

I also just found 'A Brief History Of The Future - The Origins Of The
Internet' by John Naughton, in a 2nd hand shop. Looks like a tasty
read...

Thanks

Bella

Bella Jones wrote:
> I was wondering about the best book to read on the history of Apple. I
> found this nice trainspottery little site:
> http://www.landsnail.com/apple/index.html
> which has a whole list of them.
>
> I just wondered if anyone had read any of the more recent histories, and
> which ones you recommend.
>
> I also just found 'A Brief History Of The Future - The Origins Of The
> Internet' by John Naughton, in a 2nd hand shop. Looks like a tasty
> read...

I know its not in the same league as a Proper Real History Book, but I
found Pirates of Silicon Valley an amusing little film

http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0168122/

It isn't a complete history, or even THAT accurate, but it kept me
amused for a while.

--
Dan

In article <1g25q1t.1iudiwzeaewxxN%(E-Mail Removed)>,
(E-Mail Removed) (Bella Jones) wrote:

> I was wondering about the best book to read on the history of Apple. I
> found this nice trainspottery little site:
> http://www.landsnail.com/apple/index.html
> which has a whole list of them.
>
> I just wondered if anyone had read any of the more recent histories, and
> which ones you recommend.

I've read Jim Carlton's book and Michael Malone's. It was quite a while
ago, but, IIRC, I was more impressed with the latter. The Carlton book was
good on the great lost projects - Star Trek etc. - and the Malone book is
very good on the early days. Both leave the company the return of the
prodigal son and fail to predict the subsequent renaissance.

Robert Cringely's book is an entertaining read for a general history of
the personal computer and has some good pit on Apple. Although highly
idiosyncratic, by no means accurate and in large part ripped off from the
earlier Fire In The Valley, it remains perhaps the most enjoyable general
history of how we got there from here. Or would be if it had been updated
since the early '90s.

Phil

In article <bletiv$boaqn$(E-Mail Removed)>, Patrick Navin wrote:
> Stephen Levy's "Insanely Great" is worth reading. Nice prose and not too
> heavy handed. Ideal holiday read when you bore of the
> Grisham/King/Archer rubbish!
>
I'll second that, with the caveat that 'IG' suffers slightly from
'Rose Tinted Spectacles'. Mind you, 'Infinite Loop' suffers from
the opposite. Read both :-)

Jim
--
(E-Mail Removed) -*- (E-Mail Removed)
"We deal in the moral equivalent of black holes, where the normal
laws of right and wrong break down; beyond those metaphysical
event horizons there exist ... special circumstances" - Use Of Weapons

Bella Jones wrote:
> I was wondering about the best book to read on the history of Apple. I
> found this nice trainspottery little site:
> http://www.landsnail.com/apple/index.html
> which has a whole list of them.
>
> I just wondered if anyone had read any of the more recent histories, and
> which ones you recommend.
>
> I also just found 'A Brief History Of The Future - The Origins Of The
> Internet' by John Naughton, in a 2nd hand shop. Looks like a tasty
> read...
>
> Thanks
>
> Bella

Stephen Levy's "Insanely Great" is worth reading. Nice prose and not too
heavy handed. Ideal holiday read when you bore of the
Grisham/King/Archer rubbish!

--
Patrick

Xbox Gamertag :Trendy Uncle
Notepad Computers :www.notepad-computer.co.uk
Boru Blog :http://www.patrick.navin.btinternet....868/index.html
"It just bodes"

In <(E-Mail Removed)> Jim wrote:
> In article <bletiv$boaqn$(E-Mail Removed)>, Patrick
> Navin wrote:
>> Stephen Levy's "Insanely Great" is worth reading. Nice prose and not
>> too heavy handed. Ideal holiday read when you bore of the Grisham/
>> King/Archer rubbish!
> I'll second that, with the caveat that 'IG' suffers slightly from
> 'Rose Tinted Spectacles'. Mind you, 'Infinite Loop' suffers from
> the opposite.

And how! There's that quote about how so many men associated with Apple
were eventually reduced to tears. It's a deeply sad but very good book.


Tim

--
Tim Gowen

Jim <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

> In article <bletiv$boaqn$(E-Mail Removed)>, Patrick Navin wrote:
> > Stephen Levy's "Insanely Great" is worth reading. Nice prose and not too
> > heavy handed. Ideal holiday read when you bore of the
> > Grisham/King/Archer rubbish!
> >
> I'll second that, with the caveat that 'IG' suffers slightly from
> 'Rose Tinted Spectacles'. Mind you, 'Infinite Loop' suffers from
> the opposite. Read both :-)

Thanks everyone for the input. I should check out the movie too, even
though they 'cut out some great moments in cpu history'... ;-)

It said somewhere that the Cringely book had a new edition in 1996, but
that's still a while ago.

Maybe the time is ripe for another Mac history, with lots of nice iMac
pictures....

Bella Jones <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

> I was wondering about the best book to read on the history of Apple. I
> found this nice trainspottery little site:
> http://www.landsnail.com/apple/index.html
> which has a whole list of them.
>
> I just wondered if anyone had read any of the more recent histories, and
> which ones you recommend.

Not a history, and not that recent, but Douglas Coupland's novel
'Microserfs' is a good read in its own right, and has a surprising
number of Apple references. He obviously knows, or knew, insiders in
both camps.
--
TimH
pull tooth to reply

Tim Hodgson <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

> Bella Jones <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>
> > I was wondering about the best book to read on the history of Apple. I
> > found this nice trainspottery little site:
> > http://www.landsnail.com/apple/index.html
> > which has a whole list of them.
> >
> > I just wondered if anyone had read any of the more recent histories, and
> > which ones you recommend.
>
> Not a history, and not that recent, but Douglas Coupland's novel
> 'Microserfs' is a good read in its own right, and has a surprising
> number of Apple references. He obviously knows, or knew, insiders in
> both camps.

That's a lovely book. I read it ages ago though - might read it again
actually.