The Mac Bathroom Reader

Rating:
Summary: Misleading Title
Review: Am I the only reader who had a problem with a Macintosh book bearing the warm and fuzzy title of "The Mac Bathroom Reader" turning out to be full of negativity? The author seemed determined to wipe out any positive feeling the readers might have for Steve Jobs, quoting every criticism anyone ever made of him but leaving out much of the good stuff. If you are into debunking heroes, you'll love this book. Otherwise, choose a book with a more balanced approach such as Insanely Great.

Rating:
Summary: Ultimate Mac trivia book
Review: As noted by another reviewer, there is an overlap with Apple Confidential, but they're not the same.

This book has the answer to various trivia questions (including stuff about third party vendors). The other is organized more as a history, and has a lot of new material about things such as clone licenses that was not available when the Bathroom Reader was published.

Both books are written by a very knowledgeable true believer, although there is definitely criticism of inept management in Confidential (Bathroom Reader is more positive in tone).

So if you want a history to read start to finish, buy Apple Confidential. If you want something to read a page or two at a time -- say, IN THE BATHROOM -- then this is a better book.

Rating:
Summary: The Mac bathroom reader
Review: Book Critique on " The Mac Bathroom Reader"

This book was a really great book. I greatly enjoyed reading about the company I admire so much. Although you could tell that the author was very bias towards Apple, I didn't have any problem with it. It taught me a lot about the company, like how they had an Apple III that flopped, or how there was a 3rd founder of Apple along with the 2 Steves (Steve Jobs, Steve "Woz" Wozniak). In this book, the author starts from the beginning, 1976, when Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak made a computer in the garage of Steve Jobs's garage. When the two saw that what they had made would be profitable, they made Apple Computers, Inc. In this book, I learned about how Hewlett Packard, Atari, and Commodore turned down Apple when they tried to sell the company to them. It talks about apples first success, selling 50 Apple 1's to "the Byte Shop" which was the first chain computer store. Each Apple 1 was sold for 500 dollars each. It talks about how Mark Markkula came out of retirement to help fund Apple. Once they were funded they started making the Apple II's. They were an instant success and stayed on the company's product line until 1993. In 1980 the Apple II was made, and it was the company's first failure. John Scully, then the CEO of Pepsi Cola was recruited by Steve Jobs to come be the CEO of Apple. Steve Jobs told him " do you want to make sugar water for the rest of your life or do you want to have a chance to change the world." Scully, an experienced CEO came down hard on the company, stripping away all official authority of Steve Jobs. Then in 1985 Steve Jobs resigned form the company to go start a new company, NeXT. (NeXT would then be bought by Apple and Steve Jobs would come back to be the CEO of Apple.)This book talks about the truth behind the 1984 commercial.1984 commercial it also talks about how Microsoft licensed BASIC to Apple for the Apple II, and made Apple halt production of MacBasic for the Mac, just so Microsoft would renew the license BASIC for the Apple II. Although this book is fairly recent, it's not entirely recent, for the tale and history of Apple Computers, Inc. is an ever-changing one. The Author seemed like a complete Mac addict trying to write an unbias book. That would explain some of the bad stuff about Steve Jobs. But mostly the book was geared at bias towards Apple not against them. I would recommend this book to the Mac addicts, also to the people that hate Apple for no apparent reason. This book tells the tale of Apple Computers, Inc. and how it shaped the computer industry. It also gives a lot of insight to what kind of person Steve Jobs was like. If you like this book, you will also like "Insanely great", and although I have not yet read it, I'm guessing "the second coming of Steve Jobs" would also interest the readers of this book. In a lot of ways the history of Apple was/is like a great tale, with "anarchy, knowledge, hope, and lust" just like the Apple logo that precedes it. Even if Apple goes bankrupt (which isn't likely to happen) the story of Apple Computers, Inc. and how it changed personal computing, as we know it will live on forever. Think Different.

Rating:
Summary: Exactly the same as Apple Confidential
Review: Extremely disappointing. This is exactly the same book as Apple Confidential (which is an excellent book), so I feel like I bought the same book TWICE :((((

Rating:
Summary: Selling this book used?
Review: Hey, I love Apple trivia as much as the next guy, but honestly, are people really going to buy a "Bathroom Reader" used?

Has Seinfeld taught us nothing?

Rating:
Summary: Fun -- but when's the new edition coming?
Review: The Mac Bathroom Reader is one of the more quirky books about Apple Computer and its equally unusual story. Mostly filled with trivia relating to the most obscure Macintosh information, this is definitely a book for serious Mac users or those who really get into Silicon Valley culture.

It's also great in telling the first two parts of the Steve Jobs tale, his rise and his fall. Unfortunately, as this book was published before Jobs' return in 1997, it is missing a large part of recent Apple history, including the creation of the iMac, Microsoft's 'grant' to Apple, and the beginning of Mac OS X.

In any case, Linzmayer's storytelling skills are sharp and playful in this book and no serious Mac fan should be without it.

Rating:
Summary: Fun -- but when's the new edition coming?
Review: The Mac Bathroom Reader is one of the more quirky books about Apple Computer and its equally unusual story. Mostly filled with trivia relating to the most obscure Macintosh information, this is definitely a book for serious Mac users or those who really get into Silicon Valley culture.

It's also great in telling the first two parts of the Steve Jobs tale, his rise and his fall. Unfortunately, as this book was published before Jobs' return in 1997, it is missing a large part of recent Apple history, including the creation of the iMac, Microsoft's 'grant' to Apple, and the beginning of Mac OS X.

In any case, Linzmayer's storytelling skills are sharp and playful in this book and no serious Mac fan should be without it.

Rating:
Summary: Selling this book used?
Review: This book is basicly the exact same book as Apple Confidential. I would suggest you pass on this book and buy that one instead, it is much better and more up-to-date.