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Steven Weyhrich

Sophistication & Simplicity: The Life and Times of the Apple II Computer Hardcover – December 1, 2013

by Steven Weyhrich (Author)

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Despite humble beginnings, today Apple, Inc. enjoys unprecedented popularity and prosperity with its products, routinely selling over a million devices in a single day. It is a major innovator in the computing and consumer landscape, and as shown in this retrospective, the history of the Apple II computer plays a large part in the current successes of the company. The late 1970s saw the dawn of the Apple II, the company's first hit product. It provided the breathing room for Apple to become self-sustaining and ultimately blossom into one of the greatest business and technology successes in history. This account provides a unique view of early personal computing and Apple as a company, focusing almost exclusively on the role of the Apple II within that story. It extends outward to the products, publications, and early online services that made up the ecosystem for the platform during its active years, and follows the story to present-day enthusiasts who still find new things to do with a computer that got its start more than 35 years ago.

Print length

576 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Variant Press
Publication date

December 1, 2013
Dimensions

6 x 1.4 x 9 inches
ISBN-10

0986832278
ISBN-13

978-0986832277
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Steven Weyhrich is a family physician practicing in Omaha, Nebraska. He has extensive experience with the Apple II platform, starting with the Apple II Plus back in 1980 through the Apple IIGS in the late 1980s. He wrote articles about the Apple II for a variety of commercial publications before starting on the history of that computer in the early 1990s. He continues to maintain a keen interest in the Apple II. Since it first appeared on the Internet in the mid 1990s, his Apple II History web site has been the standard reference for the story of the Apple II, covering it from its beginnings to its continued life among enthusiasts today. Steven is a board-certified member of the American Academy of Family Physicians. In his spare time he occasionally writes music parodies, he's a casual gamer (both old games and new), and a Minecraft enthusiast, designing an Apple II replica in the Minecraft world large enough to walk around in. He has been married since 1986, has II grown children, II dogs and II cats.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Variant Press (December 1, 2013)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 576 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0986832278
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0986832277
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 1.4 x 9 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #576,750 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #108 in Mac Hardware
- #189 in Computing Industry History
- #2,403 in Computer Science (Books)

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48 ratings

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te36

impressive

Reviewed in the United States on March 25, 2017

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I wonder if the level of detail about all possible and impossible aspects of the world when it was rotating around the Apple II will be appreciated by people who have not lived it. For those who do, this book is a guaranteed protection against alzheimer. I have lived the time, although from a remote location (Europe), so this book actually even enriches my memories without yet having alzheimer.

If are too young to have lived that time, but are knowledgable about todays constrained embedded IoT devices with let's say less than 64KByte of RAM (think arduino) and think you have to outsource everything interesting to the cloud: get this book and understand how just a few decades ago everybody was runnnig games, home and business application in the same limited space.

2 people found this helpful

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Fred S

THE BEST HISTORY OF THE APPLE II - A VERITABLE TIME MACHINE

Reviewed in the United States on October 20, 2020

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Ah the memories!! By far this is the best and most readable history of the Apple II hardware and software around. I lived through the birth of the Apple II and its developmental years, as well as using it in my high school programming classes in the late 1970's and 80's. Nearly EVERY peripheral, publication, and major software release of the day is described in detail. What a pleasurable experience reliving those wonderful days! You DON'T want to miss this book!!!

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MarkM007

A welcome addition to my Apple books library

Reviewed in the United States on January 22, 2014

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As an Apple IIe owner, I waited anxiously for this book to be published. When it arrived I was not dissapointed. The author did a wonderful job of gathering just about every fact and detail imaginable about the Apple IIe and its place in the Apple family of computers and software. In fact, I intend to use it as a reference guide as I search out software to run on my IIe and IIc and peripherals to attach to them. This is a must read for Apple fans, especially if you are interested in the Apple II series. The book is well written, of superb quality and well documented. It contains many interesting photographs of computers, advertisements, software screen shots, peripherals and much more. it is over 500 pages of great information that is almost impossible to find in any one place. It is well worth its price.

6 people found this helpful

Helpful

Broad coverage of Apple II history

Reviewed in the United States on April 7, 2014

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If you have even the slightest interest in Apple II, this book won't disappoint you. The book can be read in chronological order, or you can read only the topics that are of particular interest to you. Briefly, some topics are: the creation of the Apple II in the late 1970s, the Disk II system, magazines, online services, productivity software including AppleWorks, the development of the IIe, IIc, and IIgs, and just about every major peripheral.

Nearly every page has footnotes and at least one picture. There is a timeline and an index.

This book is a great companion to The New Apple II User's Guide. With these two books, you get the full Apple II coverage, both the how-to and the history.

7 people found this helpful

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Eric Shepherd

Insightful, thorough, and well-researched

Reviewed in the United States on March 6, 2014

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This is a fabulous book. Written by a well-known expert in Apple II history, "Sophistication & Simplicity" is clear and insightful, full of interesting anecdotes and stories, and on top of everything is a beautifully-presented book. It's a great addition to my bookshelf.

2 people found this helpful

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Doug Dingus

Great read!

Reviewed in the United States on September 4, 2014

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This is a great book. I bought it to enjoy the history of the Apple ][ computer, my first real computer back in the day. Many good things in my life and career are associated with this great old machine and the author does a great job detailing the history of it all.

I found it best to read this book in little spurts. Take in some of the history as a guilty pleasure, maybe do something with your real Apple 2, or consider buying one, then do it again and again!

Highly recommended.

One person found this helpful

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tcv

A digital history made real...

Reviewed in the United States on January 7, 2014

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Many of you already know that this book is a re-pubish of many blog posts the author placed on his website over the years, albeit updated and edited extensively. Dr. Weyhrich's knowledge and credentials have been established for years from that site and his many contributions to the Apple II community.

I pre-ordered this one. The Apple II is a recent interest, especially after having attended 2013's KansasFest (detailed in the book) and as soon as it came I tore through it.

What has always mystified me, both as a youngster and today, is knowing all the differences between the machines Apple produced. Between the ][, the ][+, //e, EuroPlus, //e Enhanced, //c, //c+, etc. etc. This book succinctly and clearly laid it all out for me. Not only that, it gave me a real appreciation for just how versatile the line was ... and IS. To this day, you honestly can believe in the slogan, "Apple II Forever."

I suppose what endears me so much to the book is that it is less hero-worship trodding over the same tales about Apple's two co-founders. So many books out there (sometimes) veer off in crazy directions to make sure you know how great Steve Jobs, Woz, and all the early employees of Apple are and were.

But those books are written and have been published. You don't have to tell me how great Jobs, Woz, Wigginton, Scott, et al are. So many books do that. But this one? This is different; this keeps the Apple ][ line in view. It makes it unique, in my view.

I have nothing bad to say about it.

6 people found this helpful

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Dean

Years in the making, but worth the wait

Reviewed in the United States on June 2, 2014

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Dr. Weyhrich has been working on this project for years, but it was worth the wait. Growing up in Silicon Valley and being an Apple II+ buyers (and every Apple II since), It was fun to read about the development of the platform over the years. I lived through this in "real time", but it was nice to have it all written down with the dates that things happened back in the day. It was a good read and will be kept as a useful reference. Great index and lots of footnotes in case you want to do fuurther research.

Apple II Forever!!

3 people found this helpful

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Duncan Eadie

A Great Book ABout a Great Computer / Icon

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 23, 2014

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The first thing that I noticed when I unpacked the Amazon packaging was the quality feel of this book. Solid and true, with bright white pages and a quality cover showed that the author had applied an Applesque approach to his 'product'.

Steven Weyhrich has run a successful Apple history web site for many years, Ive referred to it many times and his knowledge of the Apple II is excellent. It is this knowledge built over 30 years that has led him consolidate it into this book. It differs from many other Apple books in that it specialises in the Apple II, its history (very common) , its software, hardware and user groups. In fact not only is it a history book but a detailed reference guide to one of the most successful computers ever and the supporting products that kept this machine going for almost 20 years in its various guises. Its 550 pages are well written and indexed. Its also very comfortable to browse and pick up and leave off. The illustrations are numerous and clear, and the time lines that complete each chapter offer a useful reference to keeping chronoligical track of the various sujects under discussion.

This is simply and enjoyable read and an essential piece of detailed research that every Apple II enthusiast needs to own !

One person found this helpful

Leonardo Miliani

Completo anche se spesso poco tecnico

Reviewed in Italy on January 30, 2017

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Se conoscete il sito apple2history allora questo libro saprà di deja-vu: sì, perché l'autore del libro è lo stesso delle pagine di quel sito, che ha deciso di trasformare in formato cartaceo. La prima parte è veramente interessante, descrivendo le caratteristiche del computer e di come è stato sviluppato l'Apple II, anche se da il lato tecnico non viene approfondito sempre. La seconda parte, che descrive tutto ciò che ruotava intorno al mondo Apple II, è un po' noiosa a volte, espandendo troppo concetti che forse potevano essere descritti un po' più stringatamente. Il libro vale i soldi spesi ed è sicuramente bello da leggere per chi vuole farsi un'idea di un computer che ha fatto storia, ma alle volte sembra più un volume per fan dell'Apple II che di tipo narrativo.

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Public Name

A must-read for every Apple II enthusiast

Reviewed in Canada on January 6, 2014

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Do the following ring a bell? Beagle Brothers. GEnieLamp. D5 AA 96. Werdna. Apple Writer. COPYA. Nibble Magazine. F(ile, E(dit, R(un? If so, get this book.

This book is a greatly expanded version of the author's "Apple II history" files which I discovered on Usenet, way back before Eternal September (yes, this is second-order nostalgia). It's a little short on technical details but excels at putting the Apple II in its historical context, with many references to important software and hardware of the day. The book makes for entertaining reading, and the dozens of pictures (hardware, people, magazines, famous ads) are sure to bring smiles of recognition to your face.

Blue Bottazzi

Storia molto completa

Reviewed in Italy on April 27, 2020

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Una storia molto ricca e molto completa. Ne vorrei una così sul Macintosh. PS: solo per fan...

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Jesús Díez

Imprescindible para los amantes del Apple II

Reviewed in Spain on November 13, 2015

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Magnífico y completo libro para conocer la historia del Apple II, que es también la historia de informática personal. Hace una revisión exhaustiva de sus origenes en los 70 y llega hasta el Apple IIGS que fué el último modelo, ya en los 90.

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Sophistication & Simplicity: The Life and Times of the Apple II Computer Hardcover – December 1, 2013

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Sophistication & Simplicity: The Life and Times of the Apple II Computer Hardcover – December 1, 2013

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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

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About the author

Steven Weyhrich

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