Spoilsport!

I just finished RP1, and I have to say that the connection with the Jobs bio is too tenuous to be useful. It is a lot more like the novel Daemon that I referenced elsewhere.

Thanks for the recommendation, though. Here's the odd thing. This book is a paean to '80s pop culture - egads, I had no idea there was so much of it - and while there was plenty of nostalgia value, the vast majority of it concerned culture I had never indulged in. I did not pour quarters into video machine slots, wasn't a Rush fan, and I was never into any Japanese media of any kind (I don't think any Japanese shows came to British TV until much later). The only reference to anything I held particularly beloved was Zork; I spent many hours in 1980/81 mapping the G.U.E. in the VAX/VMS DUNGEON game. And at that, the reference in RP1 was fleeting and inaccurate (you have to go upstairs to the bedroom before you tackle the troll cellar). The book was in other respects not only largely predictable but fanboyish in the extreme with its blushing depictions of nerdlove.

So how come I spent a largely sleepless night finishing the damn thing in one go? I have no explanation other than the tautological "It was good enough to be worth that effort." And maybe someone else reading this will react similarly; so I pass along the recommendation.

I was unclear in why it was a neat bookend.... I pictured Jobs and Wozniak throughout the book as the programmers of the system...I believe, as you were meant to. I agree that it wasn't high art, but a fun read.