Insanely Great cover art

Insanely Great

The Life and Times of Macintosh, the Computer that Changed Everything

Preview

£0.00 for first 30 days

Try for £0.00
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Insanely Great

By: Steven Levy
Narrated by: Steven Levy
Try for £0.00

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £14.99

Buy Now for £14.99

Confirm Purchase
Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.
Cancel

About this listen

The creation of the Mac, in 1984, catapulted America into the digital millennium, captured a fanatic cult audience, and transformed the computer industry into an unprecedented mix of technology, economics, and show business. Veteran technology writer and Newsweek senior editor Steven Levy zooms in on the great machine and the fortunes of the unique company responsible for its evolution. Loaded with anecdote and insight, and peppered with sharp commentary, Insanely Great is the definitive book on the most important computer ever made. It is a must-have for anyone curious about how we got to the interactive age.

©1994, 1995 Steven Levy (P)2012 Audible, Inc.
Science & Technology Programming Business Software
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

Listeners also enjoyed...

The Dream Machine cover art
In the Plex cover art
Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution cover art
No Better Time cover art
Never Lost Again cover art
Whale Hunt in the Desert cover art
Deliver Us from Evil cover art
Beneath a Surface cover art
Defying Reality cover art
Group Genius cover art
ColdFusion Presents cover art
Broad Band cover art
The Friendly Orange Glow cover art
Steve Jobs: The Man Who Thought Different cover art
The Soul of a New Machine cover art
Masters of Doom cover art

What listeners say about Insanely Great

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    13
  • 4 Stars
    5
  • 3 Stars
    2
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    11
  • 4 Stars
    3
  • 3 Stars
    1
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    0
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    9
  • 4 Stars
    5
  • 3 Stars
    2
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

What really happened

Really enjoyed this. I'm a techie anyway and have a general interest in computing and the Mac. I especially like it when the author narrates their own work as they don't misinterpret the text and how it is inferred.

This book is not another Steve Jobs biography but more an in-depth examination of what it took to build something new from scratch (apart from the results of the raid on Xerox PARC). Some good decisions were made and also some really bad ones. Indeed, the greatest cause of the problems for the first Mac was Apple's own Lisa project.

Moreover, this book uncovers the emotion and personal toll experienced by the development team. A really nice addition is the interview with two of them at the end including Andy Hertzfeld - System software.

You will definitely look at a computer display (especially a Mac) in a different way and then you will know why rounded rectangles remain.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Reality distortion book

Written by an Apple/MAC zealot which means it twists and distorts history. Also the narration is bad, sometimes I could not understand what was being said, the guy reading the book has a thick American accent which I struggled with.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!