All About Steve Wozniak

It's been a long time since I read the authors' first book, Fire in the Valley, which in 1999 was made into the movie Pirates of Silicon Valley. I loved their history of the beginning of the microcomputer era, especially since Swaine and Freiberger were part of the PC revolution and wrote so eloquently about the "characters" behind it.Now the two authors wrote a biography of one of the key players -- Steve Wozniak -- and geared it for grade-school kids. I think the book works quite well, because it's as much a a celebration of a techie's passions as it is a recitation of "This is what Woz did." By which I mean: The authors explain what Woz did, but also make a point of why it was important, in both tech terms (go on, YOU explain what a floppy disk driver does...! or explain how long-distance calls worked in the 70s!) and in human terms from which adults hope kids learn. For example, after Woz's school science project (literally) blew up the night before the competition: "Ending up with a bunch of charred circuits was a disappointment for Woz, but he wasn't crushed. He was proud of what he'd built and what he'd learned, with or without smoking transistors. Losing took nothing away from his sense of accomplishment."Swaine and Freiberger naturally start with Woz's early upbringing, and his meeting with Steve Jobs (about a third of the way through the book). However, the history doesn't put all of its attention on Apple or even on technology per se. It covers his involvement in the US Music Festival, going back to school for a college degree (and why), his experiences as a schoolteacher, and plenty of other info about the guy.Woz is an utterly admirable dude -- and the authors give young readers plenty of reason to admire him. Even better, a young reader can get lots of real-world advice (gently) about coping with failure, dealing with (self)-perceptions of not-fitting-in, and following your passion. With, obviously, the geekiest of success stories: an engineer who finds happiness and stays a kid-at-heart.It'd be easy to hand a copy of this book to any kid in, say, third grade or later. Maybe younger, if the kid is bright or technically-inclined.

This book is an accessible, enlightening read about a man who contributed much more to the landscape of both technology and the Santa Clara area than I had realized. I bought it for my middle grade daughter, but was fascinated myself to learn there's so much more to "Woz" than just founding Apple, which would have been plenty of accomplishment for the average person. But Woz continued to achieve and contribute for nothing more than the love of it, which is terribly inspiring.I enjoyed learning about some of the formative events that laid the foundation for so much of what we do today. If you're reading this review, you're accessing it through a computer of some kind, and I don't know that it's possible to overstate how important Woz was to the technological revolution, before he had even completed college. Knowing the history of Woz, and the rest of the people who laid the foundation for the way we live our lives today, is important for all, young and old, and this book is accessible for all of us.

Before Steve became famous, he was well known among his peers for his tenacity and ability to figure things out. His father, who worked at Lockheed on top-secret projects, taught him engineering step by step. He also imparted to Steve that liking your work and making a positive change was important. Steve developed friendships with other kids who had engineering parents and access to wires and tools. Soon they were known as the Electronic Kids who developed an inter-house intercom system. Well paced read for school reports with a glossary, timeline, index and bibliography.

I live in Silicon Valley. Around here, the Woz is a legend. He was in the room where it happened, the genesis of the first trillion dollar company. I think it's important that kids learn about the Woz and Jobs. That's why I bought this book for my son. He liked the cover design and started reading the book right away. He loves biographies written in a simple, clear and interesting style like how this book is done. He liked the book and now knows more about the Woz than many people. I'm glad about that. I look forward to seeing other books in this series.

Appropriate and entertaining introduction to Woz and the development of today’s world of computers and electronics. Kids will be inspired by his spunky curiosity. The language level was great for the 8-year-old I had read it (a precocious 8-year-old, but not too much of a challenge). Gender-friendly; useful for promoting interest in STEM.

My kid to learn about technology pioneers, this boom is exactly what we are looking for to learn about Woz in a language kids can easily wrap their heads around

Great book! Thanks

Looks only to be a narration of events only

Bellisimo libro, in lingua inglese, con dettagli sulla storia di Mr.WOZ e della nasciata della Apple Computer.