Creative Selection: Inside Apple's Design Process During the Golden Age of Steve Jobs

Decent book by an Apple software engineer responsible largely for iOS keyboards. Some great insights into how the Apple design-review process works, but ultimately it comes down to "build demos, discuss those" vs. abstract/theoretical discussions.

The author worked on some key Apple software technologies in the 2000's: Safari for the Mac, and the iPhone and iPad keyboards. He tells stories of those projects, showing some key moments and what he learned from them. It's a pretty honest, engaging book. He's responsible for the auto-correct so you can both love him and hate him. Good portraits of some Apple developers and high-level managers, notably Scott Forstall and Steve Jobs. Excellent reading about software development, not just at Apple.

I am something of a computer history junkie having read many books on the subject. The soul of a new machine remains my favorite. This book will have appeal to anyone who is a fan of apple devices. Just as the fifties and studies are often thought of as"rocking" decades, I believe we are now in a smartphone decade with a new kind of interpersonal connectivity.
This book provides some insight as to how the foundation was laid.
For me Kocienda's thoughts about creativity are important as well. I suspect we are moving from the era of the smartphone to the era of artificial intelligence. One test for Associates intelligence will be the ability to be creative. Kocienda illustrates three elements of creativity: 1) recognition of a problem to show more be solved; 2) assembly of potential solutions from the parts and ideas at hand, and 3) choosing the best solution based on standards that can be referred to as taste.
I hope I am not misrepresenting his idea. It seems a way to move towards role based creativity of that isn't an oxymoron. show less

Inspiring. There are many books exploring product development from a "Product" person or a designer's point of view. Ken gives his insights as an engineer tasked with developing core product features. He lists the qualities and the process necessary for the individuals, the team, and the company to pull this off. It is refreshing to contrast this with the current startup model on one hand and the research-division driven model of other big tech companies on the other.
I really enjoyed his deep dives in the technical challenges and insights that led up the final iPhone keyboard design.

Great book on the experience of working in a central development role in the heyday of the 2nd golden age of Apple. Fascinating for that, but also perhaps the best evocation of the experience of software engineering I've read. Highly recommended!

A breezy tale of the development of the Safari browser and the iPhone keyboard. This book touches the surface of these topics but does not delve deeply into the nitty gritty details. Overall I was wanting more detail on the actual development of the software, but this book will give an overview for much of the audience. It also provides some insight into the philosophy of development at Apple as perceived by the Author, but it was obvious this book passed through Apple PR before publishing.

Amusing prose* details the development of Safari on the Mac and auto correct on iPhone. I learned that AutoCorrect has extensive coding to try to guess what it is I wanted to press on which key. This means that the more carefully I type the more likely it is that I am wasting time.

*initially autocorrect rendered those words as "I’m using pros"