Revolution in The Valley [Paperback]: The Insanely Great Story of How the Mac Was Made

Andy Hertzfeld

O'Reilly Media, Inc., 2005 - Computers - 291 pages

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, 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.

What people are saying

Review: Revolution in The Valley: The Insanely Great Story of How the Mac Was Made

User Review  - David Li - Goodreads

LSD is the source of insane creativity... ;)

Review: Revolution in The Valley: The Insanely Great Story of How the Mac Was Made

User Review  - Peter - Goodreads

(reviewed years after I read it) Probably read this in 2008 plus-or-minus. Great history.

Contents

• Part One 5 Ill Be Your Best Friend August 1979: 5
• Well See About That November 1979: 7
• Invented Burrell: 8
• Scrooge McDuck February 1980: 9
• Its the Moustache that Matters September 1980: 13
• Good Earth October 1980: 14
• Black Wednesday February 1981: 16
• Part Two 24 Reality Distortion Field February 1981: 24
• Texaco Towers January 1981: 26
• More Like A Porsche March 1981: 29
• Square Dots April 1981: 32
• Early Demos April 1981: 34
• Bicycle April 1981: 36
• A Message for Adam April 1981: 39
• PC Board Esthetics July 1981: 41
• Pineapple Pizza May 1981: 43
• Round Rects Are Everywhere May 1981: 46
• Apple II Mouse Card June 1981: 47
• Diagnostic Port July 1981: 50
• 5Z Shut Up July 1981: 52
• Donkey August 1981: 55
• Desk Ornaments: 56
• Dont Have a Computer by Bruce Horn December 1981: 61
• Calculator Construction Set February 1982: 63
• 2000 Lines of Code February 1982: 65
• 6E Mister Macintosh February 1982: 66
• 6B Signing Party February 1982: 68
• And Another Thing March 1982: 73
• Rosings Rascals March 1982: 74
• Gobble Gobble Gobble March 1982: 76
• Software Wizard March 1982: 78
• US Festival September 1982: 80
• Part Three 88 And Then He Discovered Loops April 1982: 97
• Still Remember Regions April 1982: 99
• You Cant Fire Bruce May 1982: 103
• Alice June 1982: 104
• Do It June 1982: 108
• Inside Macintosh June 1982: 110
• Creative Think July 1982: 114
• Resource Manager Countdown August 1982: 116
• You Guys Are in Big Trouble August 1982: 119
• Five Different Macintoshes: 120
• Boot Beep September 1982: 123
• Sound by Monday September 1982: 125
• The Little Kingdom December 1982: 128
• Whats a Megaflop? January 1983: 132
• Credit Where Due January 1983: 135
• Too Big for My Britches February 1983: 140
• Steve Icon February 1983: 147
• Bouncing Pepsis March 1983: 149
• Swedish Campground August 1983: 152
• Busy Being Born Part 2: 158
• Saving Lives August 1983: 161
• Stolen from Apple August 1983: 162
• World Class Cities by Susan Kare August 1983: 166
• Make a Mess Clean It Up by Donn Denman September 1983: 171
• Part Four 178 Steve Wozniak University September 1983: 178
• The Mythical ManYear October 1983: 179
• September 1983: 181
• Monkey Lives October 1983: 184
• Hours a Week and Loving It October 1983: 196
• MacPaint Gallery October 1983: 198
• Steve Capps Day December 1983: 204
• A Mac for Mick January 1984: 206
• Real Artists Ship January 1984: 208
• Disk Swappers Elbow by Steve Capps January 1984: 213
• The Times They Are AChangin January 1984: 217
• Part Five 226 Can We Keep the Skies Safe? January 1984: 226
• Leave of Absence March 1984: 230
• Spoiled? April 1984: 252
• Are You Gonna Do It? February 1985: 253
• MacBASIC June 1985: 258
• Things Are Better than Ever September 1984: 264
• The End of an Era May 1985: 272
• The Macintosh Spirit: 277
• Acknowledgments: 283
• Index: 285

About the author

Andy Hertzfeld was a graduate student in computer science at UC Berkeley in January 1978 when he purchased one of the first Apple IIs.
He quickly lost interest in grad school as he began writing programs for his Apple II, eventually leading him to join Apple Computer as a systems programmer in August 1979. He joined the Macintosh team in February 1981, and became one of the main authors of the Macintosh system software, including the User Interface Toolbox and many of the original desk accessories. He left Apple in March 1984, and went on to co-found three companies: Radius (1986), General Magic (1990) and Eazel (1999). In 2003, he developed web-based software for collective storytelling that he used to write the stories in this book. In 2005, he joined Google, and was one of the main creators of Google+.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Revolution in The Valley [Paperback]: The Insanely Great Story of How the Mac Was Made; Oreilly Series
• Author: Andy Hertzfeld
• Contributor: Steve Capps
• Edition: illustrated
• Publisher: O'Reilly Media, Inc., 2005
• ISBN: 0596007191, 9780596007195
• Length: 291 pages
• Subjects: Business & Economics / General; Business & Economics / Industries / Computers & Information Technology; Business & Economics / Research & Development; Business & Economics / Workplace Culture; Computers / General; Computers / Hardware / General; Computers / Operating Systems / Macintosh