There was a time, not too long ago, when the typewriter and notebook ruled, and the computer as an everyday tool was simply a vision. Revolution in the Valley traces this vision back to its earliest roots: the hallways and backrooms of Apple, where the groundbreaking Macintosh computer was born. The book traces the development of the Macintosh, from its inception as an underground skunkworks project in 1979 to its triumphant introduction in 1984 and beyond. The stories in Revolution in the Valley come on extremely good authority. That's because author Andy Hertzfeld was a core member of the team that built the Macintosh system software, and a key creator of the Mac's radically new user interface software. One of the chosen few who worked with the mercurial Steve Jobs, you might call him the ultimate insider. When Revolution in the Valley begins, Hertzfeld is working on Apple's first attempt at a low-cost, consumer-oriented computer: the Apple II. He sees that Steve Jobs is luring some of the company's most brilliant innovators to work on a tiny research effort the Macintosh. Hertzfeld manages to make his way onto the Macintosh research team, and the rest is history. Through lavish illustrations, period photos (many never before published), and Hertzfeld's vivid first-hand accounts, Revolution in the Valley reveals what it was like to be there at the birth of the personal computer revolution. The story comes to life through the book's portrait of the talented and often eccentric characters who made up the Macintosh team. Now, over 20 years later, millions of people are benefiting from the technical achievements of this determined and brilliant group of people.

Amazon.com® Reader Reviews (Ranked by Helpfulness)

Average Amazon.com® Rating:  Based on 45 Ratings

A coffee-table book for nerds - 2010-01-16
Reviewer Rating:
Macintosh computer is the most iconic computer of all time, and probably one of the most significant consumer electronics products ever. The successors of the original Macintosh have remained aspirational products ever since, and Mac fans are oftentimes known for their cult-like admiration for their computers. One name that immediately comes to mind when Mac is mentioned is that of Steve Jobs, Apple cofounder and a mercurial and controversial visionary that has shaped Apple products for the most of company's history. However, Jobs is a strange bird - a head of a technology company without any concrete technological skills. The bulk of the work on the original Apple computer was done by the other company cofounder (Steve Wozniak) and the team that actually built Mac was composed of largely unknown engineers and technicians who worked on the computer over many years with the utmost passion and dedication. This book is a tribute to that creative and dedicated team. It is written in a form of many anecdotes of crucial events and developments in the process of creating the first Mac. Most of the stories are told from the point of view of Andy Hertzfeld, but there are numerous contributions by other team members as well. The book is filled with images of old hand-written designing notes, pictures of the team members, various Polaroid screen-shots of the development of Mac's GUI, and many, many more moments that elicit a form of nostalgia for those early days of the computer industry. The whole book is in fact a tribute to those more innocent days when idealism was a much more potent motivator than money and stock options. It also paints a picture of Silicon Valley when it was possible for young fresh-out-of-college engineers to find meaningful work and live in places like Palo Alto. Whether you are a Mac fan or someone with a curiosity about the first-hand accounts of the early personal computer industry, you will find a lot in this book to keep you interested. It's a homage to the real nerd inside of all of us.

Revolution in the Valley - 2009-12-21
Reviewer Rating:

Andy Hertzfeld joined the Macintosh team in 1981 and left Apple in 1984 after the public release of the computer. He tells an insider's story, well-written and not self-serving, of the development of the first Macintosh. This book is a worthy addition to any collection on the history of the personal computer and the transition at Apple to the Macintosh platform.

Great Book - 2009-10-16
Reviewer Rating:
This is a great read, giving an insiders view to Mac in the late 70's early 80's.

Fantastic! - 2008-04-18
Reviewer Rating:
This is the best and the definitive book about the development of the Mac 128K (and Apple's early years) and the people behind it.
Andy writes it with great competence.
A text that is so delicious to read that when you finish the book you'll be sad that you read the last phrase.

A must buy.

A collection of stories, some of them factually inaccurate and self serving - 2009-12-02
Reviewer Rating:
This is not really a book but a collection of stories, which I missed before ordering... This could be alright, but they are told by people who have a vested interest in the revisionist history of Apple. Unfortunately they never really come together to tell a story, and what they do tell is obviously one side of the story and misses much of the historical importance of what was going on at Apple and other companies at the time. The book also contains some inaccurate information talking about things being invented at Apple that really were developed at other companies earlier or at the same time. The best part of the book is the great art work, pictures, and design artifacts shown throughout the book. I'm sure this will appeal to some people but it really missed the mark for me, I was hoping for a complete story of what was going on inside of a Apple.

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