I read iWoz the other day.  For the most part, it was kind of what I expected. He gave a lot of the technical…

I read iWoz the other day.  For the most part, it was kind of what I expected. He gave a lot of the technical details behind the early days of Apple, which I find interesting (and sometimes frustratingly lacking from other historical computer narratives).  For example, when he built the first Apple computer as a side project in his bedroom, I was always curious what firmware he used to boot it up, not having any existing computer to use as a development system (answer: he hand assembled a short monitor program on paper that allowed writing and viewing memory in hex format, then used a PROM programmer at his job at HP to burn it).

The interesting part of the book comes near the end where he gives advice to would be inventors.  His biggest point was to work alone.  He talks about the pitfalls of design by committee.  While that is true, his alternative is design in a vacuum. I looked at the rest of the book differently after this.

While Woz certainly was a talented engineer, he seems to have plateaued fairly early in his career.  While you could attribute this to having a lot of success and money, I think the problem was one of perspective.  

Throughout the book, he boasts about the brilliance of his creations the Apple I and II.  While these are unarguably important products in the history of computers, and integrating the display controller and keyboard was innovative, the designs seem to be more a collection of clever optimizations than fundamental breakthroughs and they are basically toys by today’s standards. It seems like part of the problem is that he didn’t take the opportunity to work with other smart engineers. I think working with others is an important part to growth in any discipline.  Working with smart people can be humbling, which is important in keeping yourself open to new ideas and making you hungry to learn more.  It can give you other perspectives and ideas that you might not otherwise have thought of.  

I’m now older than Woz was when he created the Apple II, arguably his last big design, but I certainly hope I haven’t peaked in terms of my ability to solve problems or pick up new technologies.