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Rating: 
Summary: Versatile fun
Review: A book that revels in the sheer number of playful possibilities of a Mac. Rizzo and Knaster put together a set of projects that should appeal to any creative types that frequently use a Mac. Like being able to be an Internet radio station. Or being able to record and edit TV. Just a few years ago, the disk and RAM requirements for this would have been totally prohibitive.
Apple has been strongly pushing wireless networking, so it should be no surprise that the authors show how to easily implement this inside a home. For over a decade, Macs have been prevalent in the music industry. So you get an extensive tour of MIDI and how it is actually easy to build a synthesiser around a Mac.
The only discordant note is that the authors never really point out that probably everything they describe can also be done on a PC.
Rating: 
Summary: A very differnent kind of computer boook
Review: A friend gave me this book and I was surprised by how different it was. I had no idea my Mac could do such cool things. The directions are not that hard to follow. The best part is you can show it to your PC friends and they are jealous!
Rating:
Summary: I LOVE THIS BOOK
Review: Frankly, I'm not too impressed by most of the Mac OS X-centric books out there, and when I bought this, I wasn't sure that my mindset would change. Was I ever wrong... Thanks to the knowledge acquired from this book, my Macs now do far more than what Windows could ever hope to do. Don't get me wrong, for I earn my living with Windows, but thanks to this book, the Macs prove how uniquely strong they are. This is a fantastic book. Keep 'em coming.
Rating:
Summary: Makes me want to buy a new Mac!
Review: I am not a hard core Mac guy. I just have an old iMac I bought on eBay for fun, running Mac OS 9, so i didnt really know if any of these would work. I bought the PC Toys and Linux Toys books from this same series (yes, I know I have too many old machines laying around,) and really liked them so I thought I might see what I could do with my little Mac in the basement.Turns out many of the projects will work out fine on my OS 9 machine, although those of you serious Mac users with OS X will be able to do do them all without any problems. I went straight for the "Classic Video Game Mac" project and am busily assembling a makeshift cabinet for my new MacMAME machine. Sure beats having that machine sit powered down on a desk in the basement, huh?
Rating:
Summary: Makes me want to buy a new Mac!
Review: I am not a hard core Mac guy. I just have an old iMac I bought on eBay for fun, running Mac OS 9, so i didnt really know if any of these would work. I bought the PC Toys and Linux Toys books from this same series (yes, I know I have too many old machines laying around,) and really liked them so I thought I might see what I could do with my little Mac in the basement. Turns out many of the projects will work out fine on my OS 9 machine, although those of you serious Mac users with OS X will be able to do do them all without any problems. I went straight for the "Classic Video Game Mac" project and am busily assembling a makeshift cabinet for my new MacMAME machine. Sure beats having that machine sit powered down on a desk in the basement, huh?
Rating:
Summary: A bunch of projects. a lot of fun
Review: I've been a fan of Scott's work for a long time, and was looking forward to this book. I'm not disappointed. For each project is a clear description of what the goals of the project are (like why you'd want to automate your house with X10, or why you'd want an electronic picture frame), a description of the best pieces of hardware and software out there (both free and for-pay), and then step-by-step on how to do the project. The writing is fun and easy-going, and the projects are really cool.
Rating:
Summary: A bunch of projects. a lot of fun
Review: I've been a fan of Scott's work for a long time, and was looking forward to this book. I'm not disappointed. For each project is a clear description of what the goals of the project are (like why you'd want to automate your house with X10, or why you'd want an electronic picture frame), a description of the best pieces of hardware and software out there (both free and for-pay), and then step-by-step on how to do the project. The writing is fun and easy-going, and the projects are really cool.
Rating:
Summary: Grea Book
Review: If you are an advanced Macintosh computer user, than this book won't dazzle you with grand revelations or hidden secrets, but it is a practical guide for fun projects to do with your Mac. If you are a new Mac user, or just want to do some cool projects in your spare time, this book is one to read. To sum it up: Personally I might try some of these projects, yet my gut feeling is that this is the kind of book that I would give to my parents if they were just starting out using a Mac. Mac Toys discusses 12 projects you can do with your Macintosh, all of them useful for a more integrated life. Some projects seem more useful than others. The instructions included are very specific and helpful. The pictures and the accompanying diagrams are useful and easily understood by anyone.
Rating:
Summary: A very differnent kind of computer boook
Review: Not only does this book tell you a dozen different cool things you can do with your Mac (control appliances, broadcast Internet radio, emulate arcade games, etc.), it goes into detail explaining the nitty-gritty of _how_ to pull off these projects. Mac Toys is full of practical information with specific product recommendations and step-by-step software instructions anyone can follow. I also appreciate the handy references to useful freeware and shareware that might otherwise escape your notice, as well as the coverage of obscure hardware products that are off the radar of most Mac stores. The book is a little pricey, but worth every penny.
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