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'Apple: The First 50 Years' is the Ultimate Apple Encyclopedia

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Last month, tech columnist David Pogue released a new book titled Apple: The First 50 Years. In the U.S., the hardcover book is regularly priced at $50, but it is currently on sale for around $35 on Amazon as of the time of this writing.

Apple-Book-David-Pogue.jpg

Published ahead of Apple's 50th anniversary on April 1, the 600-page book explores the first five decades of the company's history. Pogue interviewed 150 key people who shaped Apple into what it is today, including the company's co-founder Steve Wozniak, former CEO John Sculley, former design chief Jony Ive, and many others.

Here is the book's official description:
In time for Apple's 50th anniversary, CBS Sunday Morning correspondent David Pogue tells the iconic company's entire life story: how it was born, nearly died, was born again under Steve Jobs, and became, under CEO Tim Cook, the most valuable company in the world. The book features full-color photos, new facts that correct the record and illuminate its subversive culture, and fresh interviews with the legendary figures who shaped Apple into what it is today.
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Pogue is a CBS Sunday Morning correspondent, and he spent many years writing about Apple and technology for The New York Times and Macworld.

Last month, publisher Simon & Schuster provided me with a copy of Apple: The First 50 Years, and I consider it to be the ultimate encyclopedia for all things Apple. While the book is very long, it is broken down into digestible sections, interspersed with 350 full-color photos, a map of key Apple-related locations in the Cupertino, California area, employee profiles, smaller stories and anecdotes, and more. You can easily flip back and forth through the book and focus in on topics that interest you the most.

While I have been closely following and writing about Apple for nearly 20 years, the book still includes many facts about the company that I did not know before, and Pogue delivers on his promise of surfacing some new details too.

If you want a comprehensive overview of Apple's history, this book earns my stamp of approval. The hardcover edition makes a great collectible.

Apple: The First 50 Years is available on Amazon, Apple Books, and elsewhere.

Notes: Simon & Schuster provided MacRumors with a complimentary copy of the book for the purpose of this review. No other compensation was provided. MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Amazon. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment.

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As the curator of a computer museum, I can say that I know a lot about Apple, since the early days. Although I have already encountered most of the information from Pogue's book in one way or another, the way and ease with which he put everything together, witty and easy-to-read style is really worth reading, especially for those of the younger generation who have not followed Apple's development from the beginning.

David has done a tremendous job, both professionally and with so much enthusiasm and love. The book is a must-have for anyone who loves technology and is interested in how the devices we all love are made.

I don't have enough words of praise, if you haven't read it yet, get it and enjoy! Thank you David for this masterpiece of Apple history.
 
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It's been on the NY Times Best Seller list since it was released a couple weeks ago. It's selling fine. What a lot of people weren't prepared for was Pogue's completionist approach to it. Other than the Cook era where many of the players are still sworn to secrecy, the book is a one-volume encyclopedia. I'm glad to have it in both print (via Amazon) and audiobook (via Apple) form, which combined cost as much as the cover price for the hardcover alone.
 
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This would have been exciting if Apple hadn't degenerated from being an engineering leader to being a financial engineering leader. Apple hasn't done anything interesting in over a decade. Once Tim Cook leaves, I foresee the company falling into chaos.

I bet the book doesn't mention financial engineering even once.
 
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ghanwani said:
This would have been exciting if Apple hadn't degenerated from being an engineering leader to being a financial engineering leader. Apple hasn't done anything interesting in over a decade. Once Tim Cook leaves, I foresee the company falling into chaos.

I bet the book doesn't mention financial engineering even once.
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Apple Silicon and the Neo is interesting. That's about it.
 
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Designed by Apple in California is a quality book. Ridiculously expensive but it's high quality over these low quality prints.
 
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darthbane2k said:
I ordered this, I ignored the criticism but I can confirm that the quality of the presentation is cheap and appalling. The cover is insulting, the typeface is insulting , the paper is extremely thin. Almost feels like a pre-published preview copy.
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I was surprised, especially with how much it costs. I’ve ordered a few cheap books off Amazon before and at the back it says something along the lines of “printed by Amazon,” presumably a print-to-order setup Amazon has which is great. But, at almost $50 for a book, the cheap sandpaper pages is a very odd choice…
 
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lepetitnicolas said:
Pretty much all comments on Amazon of people having bought this book says it's bad quality for the price : pictures are bad quality, paper feels super cheap.
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The rating is 4.6/5. Most of the buyers are interested in the stories and the history, more than some pretty pictures or glossy paper. Did you want a coffee table book? Because you can shell out $2k for Ive's book if you want that.
 
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I bought the book on Amazon, and I find it to be great. The content alone is worth the price. The paper is not "cheap" but it is lighter weight than a photo book (coffee table book) would have been because it is nearly 600 pages long. If it were on heavier weight paper, the book would be very thick and unwieldy. The pictures are mostly small, old shots, and not high resolution -- many are decades old. But they are clear enough in the book. I find it a good addition to my library of well over 800 hard bound books. If you want it in a different edition, kindle, Apple Books, and audio versions are available. My first computer was an Apple II+ and many of the stories date back to that era, and match what I knew at the time. David Pogue's writing is accurate, completely and yet light hearted.
 
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