(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), through allnighters, double-shifts, worked weekends and a heck of a good bunch of engineers.

Kidder delves into some of the technical problems and solutions they encountered, which were interesting. But the most interesting thing for me was that this was right around the time that marked the end of the ability for a single engineer to really know the entire CPU...they're getting into the territory where there just need to be some black boxes that you know about but know little of in order to get everything to work together.

One other interesting section is towards the end when Kidder tries to debunk the notion of a "computer revolution". Just ten years later, he could probably see that he was just witnessing the very beginning of a series of revolutions.

Well written, interesting, I'll probably try another Tracy Kidder sometime soon. Anyone have a strong recommendation?