Looking for a book on the history of Apple/Macintosh

April 5, 2012 4:31 AM

Looking for a good book on the history of Apple/Macintosh.

Greetings all - outside of the Steve Jobs biography, are there any other recommendations for good books on the history of Apple? I am really interested in learning more about the company and would like to read another account (besides the Steve Jobs one). I have searched Amazon and noticed several options, but I am wondering if anyone has any good recommendations.

I am particularly interested in the start-up of the company and the history of the Macintosh computer line. Not sure if there are any recent books that also focus on the evolution of the iPods as well?

*Bonus Side Question* If there are any other books or resources (websites, etc) that are just about Apple's advertising campaigns or the history of advertising, that would also be great. Thanks!

posted by dbirchum to computers & internet (6 answers total)

Folklore.org
posted by djb at 4:40 AM on April 5, 2012 [5 favorites]

Fire in the Valley: The Making of The Personal Computer is a worthwhile read about the early history of the personal computer era, which of course includes a lot of early Apple history as well (the first edition ended shortly before the Mac, but I believe the second edition has a few chapters about the post 1984-era). It leaves out some important companies and details. But it's well worth a read, even though it's not pure Apple history.

Folklore.org was also published as a book, Revolution in The Valley: The Insanely Great Story of How the Mac Was Made, which if memory serves there's one or two stories that only appear in one or the other, but they're basically the same content.
posted by skynxnex at 7:13 AM on April 5, 2012

I was a big fan of Infinite Loop, by Michael Malone. Covers Apple from founding to Jobs' return. Preferred by "Hypercritical" host and Apple raconteur John Siracusa.
posted by modernserf at 7:23 AM on April 5, 2012

I remember reading West of Eden long ago and really enjoying it. But Folklore is way more accurate.
posted by DigDoug at 7:57 AM on April 5, 2012

Revolution in the Valley / folklore.org
posted by entropicamericana at 8:37 AM on April 5, 2012

Insanely Great: The Life and Times of Macintosh, the Computer that Changed Everything, by the ever-readable Steven Levy.
posted by kimota at 1:45 PM on April 5, 2012