Jean-Louis Gassée

First, a look back in amazement and gratitude to a long, long procession of people who helped me, liked or even loved me sometimes, who smiled indulgently or tolerated me, who taught me, and sometimes motivated me to do more and more importantly, to be a better person. In the autumn of my years, I bow to them all, even to the ones I, unfortunately, disliked or failed to appreciate. I won’t be able to acknowledge them all, but they live in me as I write this book.

Second, it is a paean to personal computers that lit up my business life. In this book, you’ll find my explanation for our fascination with the machines that give wings to our minds and bodies. They no longer dwell solely on our desks or in our bags; they inhabit our pockets and now our wrists; they help us think, communicate, organize, learn and play. I was lucky to enter real professional life at the start of the PC era. Over fifty years later, I remain amazed, occasionally frustrated, and always hopeful to see personal computers continue to delight us.

Third, 50 years in the world of tech provided many, many opportunities to make mistakes. I recount most, not in a confessional spirit but more like a picaresque tale of one fumble or illusion after another, with a grateful smile for those who, like a small Inuit tribe, jumped with me from one ice floe to the next. I survived, after all, which feeds my sense of wonderment and gratitude for those who shared those adventures – or suffered from them. But no advice expressed or implied. We know the old joke about good judgment being the fruit of experience, and experience resulting from bad judgment.

I hope you’ll enjoy my stories as much as I enjoyed living them – and that you have or will find your own. Either in you or around you.