Tracy Kidder's Pulitzer Prize winning phenomenon! From the bestselling author of House and Among Schoolchildren comes the astonishing...
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Sep 03, 2010
Paul
rated it: 
I can't believe this is not required reading for a computer architecture course!
In my high school Biology, H.G. Wells' The Time Machine was assigned to be read over the winter vacation. It was a bit of a stretch, but did make the class a bit more interesting. As I read Kidder describe the toil undertaken in creating this new computer - working under the pressure on the brink of insanity to find those incessant bugs - I thought this the perfect companion for the CS154B Computer Archi More...
In my high school Biology, H.G. Wells' The Time Machine was assigned to be read over the winter vacation. It was a bit of a stretch, but did make the class a bit more interesting. As I read Kidder describe the toil undertaken in creating this new computer - working under the pressure on the brink of insanity to find those incessant bugs - I thought this the perfect companion for the CS154B Computer Archi More...
Jul 12, 2011
Brian
rated it: 
(4.0) Snapshot in time in the history of computing
Retells the story of the development of the first 32-bit minicomputer offering from Data General (I'm not nerdy/old enough to really know about them). Much of it centers on the defiant attitude that the engineers took to build this computer even when it appeared that Data General was doing its best not to make it happen (relatively low pay, few resources, few engineers, crazy deadline). But they do (only about 50% over schedule), thro More...
Retells the story of the development of the first 32-bit minicomputer offering from Data General (I'm not nerdy/old enough to really know about them). Much of it centers on the defiant attitude that the engineers took to build this computer even when it appeared that Data General was doing its best not to make it happen (relatively low pay, few resources, few engineers, crazy deadline). But they do (only about 50% over schedule), thro More...
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Mar 16, 2009
Claire
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Read this book in that early 80's period, when I was pre-CSci at the U.. played a non-insignificant role in my deciding to switch careers. Not because I wasn't willing to work hard, but because the picture he painted was of very-realistic sounding imbalance. Long-term, structural imbalance and unwellness. And I knew myself well enough to know that that work environment wouldn't be in my best interest.
I have - in accounting - worked long hours sometimes, as many as 60 hour weeks repe More...
I have - in accounting - worked long hours sometimes, as many as 60 hour weeks repe More...
Dec 13, 2011
Austin
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This engaging piece of narrative journalism on computer engineering and commerce, which Wired magazine calls "the original nerd epic," won the Pulitzer for non-fiction in 1982. It did so I'm sure on the basis of Kidder's keen observations of the personalities, internecine conflicts, politics, and aesthetic ideals inside the Eclipse group at Data General, a now-defunct Massachusetts computer company. The group, led by Tom West, works to create a 32-bit Eclipse minicomputer, a signific
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Sep 25, 2011
Pjr
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Compelling contemporary fable that has aged remarkably well.
I read this at university, while doing my undergrad electrical engineering degree. Even as I was reading, the machine at the core Kidders narrative, Data General's Eclipse computer, was on its way to being (if not already) obsolete. But the descriptions of the engineers, their struggles, their triumphs, their obsession with building the machine with a mixture of elegance and kludge, are timeless. They could just as readily be More...
I read this at university, while doing my undergrad electrical engineering degree. Even as I was reading, the machine at the core Kidders narrative, Data General's Eclipse computer, was on its way to being (if not already) obsolete. But the descriptions of the engineers, their struggles, their triumphs, their obsession with building the machine with a mixture of elegance and kludge, are timeless. They could just as readily be More...
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Jun 26, 2011
Jeremy
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I came at this book from an unusual perspective - I had more of an interest in Tom West as a person than the now-historical business side of things. It more or less did what I wanted it to do from that angle, although it's not actually a biography, but the book really shines in its capsule descriptions of all the members of the team.
I've worked in high-pressure tech industry jobs, and I'm sort of depressed to see that things were the same then as they are now - unrealistic deadlines, More...
I've worked in high-pressure tech industry jobs, and I'm sort of depressed to see that things were the same then as they are now - unrealistic deadlines, More...
Mar 12, 2010
Ben
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The Soul of A New Machine is an engineers soap opera following a rag-tag team of neophytes driven by their own Captain Ahab to build a revolutionary 32-bit computer for the now-defunct Data General in the late 1970s. Tracey Kiddler, the author, was given a rare opportunity as a journalist to follow the team's progress from within and his story shows an insiders knowledge. He breaks down the complex technical nature of the task through a series of straightforward analogies and by doing so enabl
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Apr 16, 2010
Andrew
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I grew up in a house where my father was starting an engineering company. He built computers from scratch that we integrated to automate complex industrial processes. At times, I would come home from school to stuff and solder circuit boards in the basement workshop. We had circuit board etching tanks and solder tanks and some of the earliest mini computers to hit the market. I got my first taste of programming during the early 1980's when PC's were just being invented. In 'The Soul of a N
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Oct 08, 2011
John E.
rated it:
Some comments in lieu of a review:
Anyone interested in the characters presented in this remarkable, Pulitzer-winning book by Tracy Kidder should consider reading a follow-up published by Wired in 2000…
Some more recent readers appear to have found the book "dated" in one way or another, a historical relic of the late 1970s. Granted, the products of computer technology have vastly changed. But the processes by which computer technology is developed may not have ch More...
Anyone interested in the characters presented in this remarkable, Pulitzer-winning book by Tracy Kidder should consider reading a follow-up published by Wired in 2000…
Some more recent readers appear to have found the book "dated" in one way or another, a historical relic of the late 1970s. Granted, the products of computer technology have vastly changed. But the processes by which computer technology is developed may not have ch More...
Jan 16, 2010
Peter
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This book was interesting, especially when you read it 30 years later when the things that are being described don't really exist anymore. It more of a historical book than anything nowadays. The machines they were talking about ended up being an area that for 25 years was viewed as an evolutionary dead end, but it's sad to read this and learn about all the work that went into it when you know what happened.
The characters are interesting and give a real idea of what it would have bee More...
The characters are interesting and give a real idea of what it would have bee More...
May 17, 2010
Alexander
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About 6 years ago, a sort of scandal rocked the gaming industry related to a blog post by a woman known as "EASpouse". The blog post criticized EA's labor practices at the time, which required employees to work massive amounts of unpaid overtime, as they were salaried employees. By massive, I mean about 12-16 hour days, 6 days a week, regularly. This was a big deal among gamers, because very few of us had ever had the opportunity to peek behind the curtain like this. It was likely that
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Aug 18, 2010
Bonnie
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Among computer people, this is regarded as a classic. It's the detailed story of the creation of a new model of minicomputer by a group inside Data General Corporation. This project occurred in the era when minicomputers were bursting onto the scene. Until then, if you couldn't afford an expensive mainframe, you could only have some limited access to computing by buying some access from a company that did have a mainframe. Minicomputers brought the computer age to ordinary businesses (as distinc
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Sep 30, 2011
John
rated it: 
It’s weird to read a book about cutting edge computers built in 1979. they seem so blunt that they could not cut anything today. I tried hard to keep the changing times in mind while reading this book, after all, it is a Pulitzer prize winner. But the fact that times have changed influenced what I thought of it.
The book looks at how a group of engineers designs a radically new computer. It is a peek into computer geek culture that, when written, I am sure was known to very few. More...
The book looks at how a group of engineers designs a radically new computer. It is a peek into computer geek culture that, when written, I am sure was known to very few. More...
Aug 11, 2009
Michael
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This is probably the best non-fiction book I have ever read (maybe that's because it won the Pulitzer Prize). The book's title is derived not from the fact that machines have souls but rather that the human energy behind their creation is left behind as part of it.
I read the book in the Mid-80's when I was working as an advanced technology engineering Program Manager. It was given to me as part of an MBA course I was taking. It hit home in so many ways. The book follows the genesis of the More...
I read the book in the Mid-80's when I was working as an advanced technology engineering Program Manager. It was given to me as part of an MBA course I was taking. It hit home in so many ways. The book follows the genesis of the More...
May 14, 2010
Tatiana
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I read this back when it was current, and I was programming at the time on a Data General MV6000, so it was really fascinating to me how that series was made. I enjoyed the book immensely, and found it a fun read, a page turner. It was nice that Tracy seemed to learn enough about the whole process, the technology and the project, that he really understood what was going on. I think a lot of journalist types wouldn't have managed that. They would have made a lot of vague statements in their b
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Mar 13, 2010
Veronica
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I've been meaning to read this book for literally decades, ever since I first got involved in IT in the mid-1980s. I finally mooched a copy. Maybe it's too late to read it, since it's really history now rather than current affairs. It's still an interesting read though; you don't have to know anythong about computers to read it, because it's about the people in the team that built Data General's first 32-bit computer, using the latest techniques available at that time. They were passionate about
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Mar 13, 2011
Zachary
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"If you say you're going to do it in a year and you don't take it seriously, it'll take you three years. The game of crazy scheduling is in the category of games you play on yourself, in order to get yourself to move."
"It's funny," Rasala said. "I feel comfortable talking in nanoseconds. I sit at one of these analyzes and nanoseconds are wide. I mean, you can see them go by. 'Jesus', I say, 'that signal takes twelve seconds to go from here to there.' Thos More...
"It's funny," Rasala said. "I feel comfortable talking in nanoseconds. I sit at one of these analyzes and nanoseconds are wide. I mean, you can see them go by. 'Jesus', I say, 'that signal takes twelve seconds to go from here to there.' Thos More...
Jun 28, 2009
Thomas
rated it:
This book is a classic. If you're interested in the history of the computer business, you'll really enjoy it.
Kidder follows a team of engineers at Data General as they design, build, and debug a new machine for the company. At the time (late 1970s), the biggest deal in computer tech was the mini computer. This was the stepping stone from the large IBM-style mainframes to the Apple and IBM personal computers that came after.
The book profiles Tom West and several members of his team as More...
Kidder follows a team of engineers at Data General as they design, build, and debug a new machine for the company. At the time (late 1970s), the biggest deal in computer tech was the mini computer. This was the stepping stone from the large IBM-style mainframes to the Apple and IBM personal computers that came after.
The book profiles Tom West and several members of his team as More...
Dec 10, 2011
James
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Somehow, I was under the impression that this book was about the creation of Digital Equipment Corporation's VAX. So imagine my surprise when I started reading it and the author kept talking about some company called "Data General" which I'd never heard of before. (An interesting data point: the Wikipedia article on the computer developed in this book, the Data General Eclipse MV/8000, is a good order of magnitude shorter than the one on the VAX. But Data General survived as an indepen
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Sep 07, 2009
Michael
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I have an old paperback copy of this - read many times before.
Having just completed a fourth project management class, I'm trying to see the intersection of that discipline with what is described in this book.
There is <way way> more detail about how computers work in this book than most people understand now with computers that are far far more complex (or so it seems to me). I don't think anything like this could be written now. Amusingly, when done reading the book, More...
Having just completed a fourth project management class, I'm trying to see the intersection of that discipline with what is described in this book.
There is <way way> more detail about how computers work in this book than most people understand now with computers that are far far more complex (or so it seems to me). I don't think anything like this could be written now. Amusingly, when done reading the book, More...
Jan 25, 2012
Adam
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What did I think!? Well not sure what I thought, what I think; but I know this: one of the best damn books I've read in a good long while. Wildly inspirational. One vague figure together with a small offering of seasoned pros and a couple handfuls of college grads sets out to build the next best computing machine... in 1978.
Kidder's infiltration into Data General during this crucial process allows us to see the passion, frustration, and bonding that comes from banding together to creat More...
Kidder's infiltration into Data General during this crucial process allows us to see the passion, frustration, and bonding that comes from banding together to creat More...
Nov 12, 2010
Carlos
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Today nobody would think of embarking upon such an insane deathmarch. The book reads like science fiction, but it was *reality* and it was the way computers were designed and developed in that era. The most insightful part of the book for me is when the decision to write a "simulator" for the CPU saves the team a serious amount of time, the microarchitecture team can then use the simulator in parallel while the hardware team debugs the physical machine. This book is a *must read* for a
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Jul 22, 2011
Caroline
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The Soul of a New Machine chronicles the super fast development of a minicomputer by a team of engineers in 1980. The engineers hailed from a now-defunct company called Data General, which at the time was considered one of the mavericks of the industry.
I liked it. I thought the book had some flaws, but I'm not sure if they were flaws that could be fixed given that Kidder was trying to write a book that was accessible for the masses. More to the point, I think it's impossible to wr More...
I liked it. I thought the book had some flaws, but I'm not sure if they were flaws that could be fixed given that Kidder was trying to write a book that was accessible for the masses. More to the point, I think it's impossible to wr More...
Nov 10, 2008
Di
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A start to finish portrayal of the development of a cutting edge computer (in the 1980's, mind you). There were times when my eyes would glaze over reading this work. Kidder takes time to attempt to familiarize the reader with the technical dilemmas of the computer engineers in the book, and I tried to stick with him, but sometimes it was impossible for me to understand what was being discussed. Nevertheless, it was interesting to read about human nature in such an unfamiliar territory. The char
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Dec 19, 2007
Tracey
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I picked up a copy of at a discount bookstore last month as I'd seen this book referenced in fairly glowing tones by Donald Norman in Things That Make Us Smart.
The book recounts the development of the Data General Eclipse, a 32bit minicomputer being developed in the early 1980's. It focuses on the process of the development, and how the team was created and manipulated by their manager, Tom West. Kidder presents the comedy, tragedy, and most of all, the stress of creating a computer More...
The book recounts the development of the Data General Eclipse, a 32bit minicomputer being developed in the early 1980's. It focuses on the process of the development, and how the team was created and manipulated by their manager, Tom West. Kidder presents the comedy, tragedy, and most of all, the stress of creating a computer More...
Jun 10, 2010
Chris
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This was a golden oldie in terms of tech writing. What did I learn? More about the nuts and bolts of how computers actually work. Something we grow farther away from every year. And the motivation and dedication of the engineers is inspiring. Imagine: The were hoping if they did a good job the might get a few stock options from the company. Compare that to today's sense of entitlement in Silicon Valley when it comes to options, and you get a sense of something that has been lost along the way.
May 15, 2011
Trish
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"In theory, a computer can mimic the behavior of anything. It can so so accurately only if the thing being imitated is thoroughly defined. So computers achieve only partial success, at best, when instructed to simulate the behavior of a city or to foresee the future of a national economy. Computers do well, however, when imitating other machines, including other computers--unbuilt ones that exist only on the paper of an architectural specification. You make the old computer imitate the new
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Aug 03, 2007
kevin
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This is a fascinating book to read after a quarter-century of personal computing. While the statistics about Data General's corporate growth are rather dull (and more than a little humorous considering the money that would later be made), the journey of this final generation of minicomputer builders is not only a fascinating tale but also a description of the missing link between the straight-laced 1960s IBM empire and the post-hippie two-guys-in-a-garage 1980s entrepreneur.
As much More...
As much More...
Sep 23, 2011
Chris
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Easily my favourite book, it's (bizarrely) a true story about how a computer company defied the odds to being a new model to market. Told like that it sounds deadly boring. In fact it's one of the few books about work that captures how and why people pour so much of themselves into their jobs. Central to it is the mysterious but true character of Tom West who in real life is now retired and sails boats.
May 10, 2009
Dan
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The life of a computer engineer in dawn of the microcomputer era. Interesting to see how things have changed and yet stayed the same...
Some of my favorite quotes from the book (paraphrased)
"Engineers are like mushrooms, keep them in the dark and feed them full of s@#t."
"Why buy expensive test equipment? Overtime for engineers is free."
Some of my favorite quotes from the book (paraphrased)
"Engineers are like mushrooms, keep them in the dark and feed them full of s@#t."
"Why buy expensive test equipment? Overtime for engineers is free."
