I never would’ve known about this book, until I saw a Facebook ad promoting it. See Facebooks ads sometimes work! I was intrigued, and was interested in reading more about the company history. I knew a little bit, but was ready for a lot more. I do remember as youngster, we had an Apple IIC computer, and I used it.
I think it’s really cool that people with similar interests can find each other, as that is how Jobs and Wozniak met way back in 1971! Google the Homebrew Computer Club! I can’t even think where society would be if that didn’t happen. Would somebody else have stepped up, probably!
This book was very detailed about everything Apple has touched and produced and thought about. Even, what is happening now and in the future is mentioned. From interviews with the key people (Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, Tim Cook, and a lot more folks), the story of how all the products and accompanying software came to be is amazing. Just imagine, a bunch of talented people tinkering with something and when it all comes together, it’s something unbelievable that everybody wants. How cool is that? To test those things out at work and see what happens is just a normal process at Apple. Of course, there are also a lot of stories of products that failed or got scrapped.
How did Apple get the ideas for retail stories, the App Store, Apple TV, Apple Fitness, the iPhone, and more is all heavily discussed. Some of the technical jargon (processors and memory) was a bit too much for me to comprehend, but later in the book, I got to understand the A chips and the M chips! Scattered throughout the book were small tidbits about some of the key employees along with their education, jobs before and after Apple, and a quick fun fact for them).
Apple also brought a lot of smaller companies because of their software or hardware expertise.
A direct excerpt from the book that I found really interesting:
“Steve Jobs fell in love with Japanese art in high school, and with his calligraphy at Reed College. By the time he co-founded Apple, he was obsessed with design. Jobs and Jony Ive were even notoriously invested in the backs and even interiors of the products.”
Goes to show why the unboxing of Apple products is so fun and exciting, and neat. And why a lot of people hold on to the boxes!
For me, I like the simplicity and the fact that all of my Apple products work very well together. I got an iPad, MacBook Air, iPhone 17, and AirPods. Soon, I may add a new Apple Watch as I gave my current one to my son.
One final thing, before I owned Apple products, I always felt overwhelmed and very intimidated at an Apple Store. But now, I can walk in with confidence and am part of the Apple community.
