Insanely Great: 2the Life and Times of Macintosh, the Computer That Changed Everything

This sensible and entertaining book outlines ``how technology, serendipity, passion, and magic combined to create . . . the most important consumer product in the last half of the twentieth century: the Macintosh computer.'' Levy ( Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution ) describes the travails that beset Apple, the company run by Steven Jobs that created the Mac--``dippy new-age culture,'' a ``mission from God'' mentality and a Silicon Valley image. ``What's the difference between Apple and Boy Scouts?'' he queries, reviving a long-running joke. Answer: ``The Boy Scouts have adult supervision.'' And Levy's view of Jobs himself seems reasonable: ``a con man,'' and ``a slick marketer'' whose impulsive management style and overbearing ego ``drove people crazy.'' As the author recounts, in 1985 Apple's directors forced Jobs out; he left Apple while creating a new comuter company, Next. ``It made no dent in the universe,'' Levy reports. John Sculley replaced Jobs, but he too was relieved of his position as CEO in 1993, when Apple's directors judged him ``too much a visionary.'' This solid work adroitly covers the information age. (Jan.)