67 of 67 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A true journalistic classic. Buy it and Read it!, April 26, 2006
`The Soul of a New Machine' is a landmark journalistic book-length essay by then `Atlantic Monthly' writer, Tracy Kidder exploring the development of a new computer in those pre-microcomputer days of 1978. I am delighted to find this book issued as a `classic', as I have read it many times and have been meaning to do a review of it for some time. I cannot think of a better occasion than with the release of this new edition.
When it was first published, the book was a narrative of what was then `modern' technology, where the central processing units (CPU) or `brains' of commercial minicomputers and mainframe computers were built up on large circuit boards from individual, specialized integrated circuit chips, with each chip integrating dozens or hundreds of discrete components. This compares to today's microcomputers where the entire CPU is placed on a single chip incorporating tens of thousands of discrete functions, all taking up no more room than the average credit card. Now, the book is more a history of how this technology was developed, and yet its picture of how people work in teams developing technological projects will probably never go out of date.
The irony of this book is that the computer being developed by the team described in this book, a 32 bit Eclipse computer developed by the Data General corporation, a competitor to the larger and very successful Digital Computer Corporation (Digital), did not really achieve any major breakthrough in technology. While it was intended to compete with a new generation of Digital VAX machines, it ended up being just barely faster than VAX's in a few special tasks. In fact, in a conversation I once had with some Digital engineers, they said that when they went head to head with Data General in bidding for a computer sale, the only thing they had to do was bring out Kidder's book to demonstrate that the Data General box was yesterday's news. Data General may have had the last laugh, as ailing Digital was bought out by Compaq, which has since merged with H-P, further submerging the once great Digital presence in the commercial computer world. Meanwhile, Data General is still around, albeit not the presence it once had when the `minicomputer' was the great alternative to the IBM monoliths in the glass houses.
That does not detract from the fact that this is still a terrific story. I have read it several times and still quote from it after nearly thirty years of reading from it the first time. My favorite image is of the engineer who quit the project to become a farmer, so that the smallest unit of time he had to deal with was the season. My second favorite quote (which may not be original to this book, although this is the first time I ran into it) is that the management style on the project was the mushroom theory. That is, `Keep them in the dark and feed them s**t'.
As I see from Kidder's new introduction, this essay was a bigger accomplishment that it seemed originally, as Kidder was closer to being a Luddite than he was a techie in love with the latest computer tool which, at that time, would have been standalone word processing machines produced by companies such as IBM and Wang. In spite of that limitation, he manages to make it interesting to both the average reader and someone like myself who is (or at least was) familiar with the inner workings of computers.
I also tend to see Kidder's book as the fountainhead of a whole wave of new style journalistic book length works. I almost like to believe that Kidder made possible the writing careers of my foodie-writing hero, Michael Ruhlman (`The Soul of a Chef' and `The Making of a Chef'). The similarity in title of Ruhlman's book with Kidder's title is, I think, not an accident.
So, this is not only a history of a major moment in computer history, it is a superb picture of the dynamics of people in technical development teams and the challenges of achieving a technical goal.
Must read for everyone.
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34 of 35 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
We Don't do it for the Money, January 10, 2004
This review is from: The Soul of a New Machine (Modern Library) (Hardcover)
Soul of a New Machine is an excellent portrayal of a heroic team of young engineers. What defined the book for me was the sort of mad, beautiful work ethic that the team in the story had. This is the best way I can describe it:
When you're young and you get interested in something, you get _passionate_ about it. Maybe it's because you don't know the importance of money and responsibility yet, but you really get into a sport, or hobby, or any other interest, and you do that hobby or play that sport, you write stories or fix cars, making whatever sacrifices you need to just so you can do this thing you love, not because you want to make money at it, or gain respect or admiration, but because it gives you priceless rewards and satisfaction. And it's a purest love you can have. When you grow up, you get disillusioned, from paying bills and other responsibilities. You lose the spark. You start doubting your interest in what you used to love, be it the mechanic who used to love cars but has grown jaded, or the teacher on a low income who has to deal with unruly students and demanding parents.
The Soul of a New Machine is a throwback to that youthful perhaps almost a bit naive passion. It's about the antithesis of the 9-5, where if the pay is horrible, you couldn't care less, you still work overtime. This pure struggle, the essence of a profession, is what makes the book so great. It's the most archetypal element of a career or profession, the sense of accomplishment and satisfaction that only something you put your soul and your sweat and blood into, can give you. In that basement in Data General, this beautiful dream became real in the form of the Eagle minicomputer. If you've felt the kind of spark that drove those young men before, this book will remind you. And if you haven't, maybe this book will kindle a new passion in what you do.
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24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Highly Recommended - Gripping, Exciting true story, October 19, 2001
This review is from: The Soul of a New Machine (Modern Library) (Hardcover)
I first read this book when I was in high school. I was captivated and enthralled by the story, and I can unabashedly state that it helped refine and accelerate my interest in computer science and engineering.
Tracy Kidder captures a technical world and gives a clear picture at the tremendous challenges of building a state of the art computer system, that must be backwards compatible with legacy architecture, all while doing it in an easy to read manner (and a brilliant original perspective).
It is a heroic, true life story. It was (and still is) one of my all-time favorite books.
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