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The Soul of A New Machine Paperback – June 1, 2000
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Computers have changed since 1981, when The Soul of a New Machine first examined the culture of the computer revolution. What has not changed is the feverish pace of the high-tech industry, the go-for-broke approach to business that has caused so many computer companies to win big (or go belly up), and the cult of pursuing mind-bending technological innovations.
The Soul of a New Machine is an essential chapter in the history of the machine that revolutionized the world in the twentieth century.
"Fascinating...A surprisingly gripping account of people at work." --Wall Street Journal
- Print length320 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherBack Bay Books
- Publication dateJune 1, 2000
- Dimensions5.55 x 1.1 x 8.25 inches
- ISBN-100316491977
- ISBN-13978-0316491976
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Product details
- Publisher : Back Bay Books (June 1, 2000)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 320 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0316491977
- ISBN-13 : 978-0316491976
- Item Weight : 2.31 pounds
- Dimensions : 5.55 x 1.1 x 8.25 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #55,376 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #15 in Computing Industry History
- #57 in Computers & Technology Industry
- #123 in Company Business Profiles (Books)
- Customer Reviews:
About the authors

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Tracy Kidder graduated from Harvard and studied at the University of Iowa. He has won the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Award, the Robert F. Kennedy Award, and many other literary prizes. The author of Mountains Beyond Mountains, My Detachment, Home Town, Old Friends, Among Schoolchildren, House, and The Soul of a New Machine, Kidder lives in Massachusetts and Maine.
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Customers find the storyline fascinating and a great example of an older computer development process. They also describe the reading experience as great and the writing quality as wonderful. Readers also say the book is fantastic and expressing the trials and tribulations of a computer engineer.
AI-generated from the text of customer reviews
Customers find the writing quality wonderful, informative, and inspiring. They also say the book combines a deft hand at journalism with a subject that was probably little known. Readers describe the book as a fantastic read with engrossing technical detail. They say it has good lessons for product design engineers and integration engineers. They mention the book is competently written and elucidates the paradoxical competing motivations that inspire an employee to maintain a daunting.
"...A fun classic read with numerous applicable lessons!Below are two excerpts that I found particularly relevant:..." Read more
"...The book elucidates the paradoxical competing motivations that inspire an employee to maintain a daunting schedule that eclipses their personal life...." Read more
"...This book covers the design process, high-level technical details, and the community of people involved in designing these computers...." Read more
"That this book won the Pulitzer is no surprise. It combines a deft hand at journalism with a subject that at the time was probably little known,..." Read more
Customers find the book an excellent read that covers many topics and scenarios.
"...A fun classic read with numerous applicable lessons!Below are two excerpts that I found particularly relevant:..." Read more
"The Soul of a New Machine is a captivating book that chronicles the creation of Data General's Eclipse MV/8000 computer from the engineers' point of..." Read more
"...It's particularly interesting to read about the transition from 16-bit to 32-bit, long before personal computers made a similar transition...." Read more
"...I thoroughly enjoyed reading the Soul of the Machine and its definitively worth reading, especially if you are interested in history of computers or..." Read more
Customers find the storyline fascinating, wonderful, and timeless. They also mention the book is a great example of an older computer development process from the perspective of the people involved.
"This book is a fascinating recount of Data General's effort to bring a new computer to the market...." Read more
"...have for their work - the long hours, the camaraderie, and the joy of creation...." Read more
"Great story that gives a layman point of view on engineering a functional 32 bit computer in the turbulent computer industry of the late 70s...." Read more
"...The Soul of a New Machine" is a gripping, circuitous, wonderful tale of a dream and the team that brought it to life." Read more
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Top reviews from the United States
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Within this book are numerous lessons on technical leadership, management and organizational dynamics. The lead on the effort (Tom) is a strong believer in grass-root effort and had the ability to build a team, rally them toward a common cause and lead them to success.
As mentioned on the cover: "What has changed little, however, is computer culture: the feverish pace of the high-tech industry, the mystique of programmers, the entrepreneurial bravado that has caused so many start-up companies to win big (or crash and burn), and the cult of pursuing mind-bending technological innovations. By tracing computer culture to its roots, by exploring the "soul" of the "machine" that has revolutionized the world, Kidder succeeds as no other writer has done in capturing the essential of the computer age."
A fun classic read with numerous applicable lessons!
Below are two excerpts that I found particularly relevant:
1- "Software compatibility is a marvelous thing. That was the essential lesson West took away from his long talks with his friend in Marketing. You didn't want to make a machine that wasn't compatible, not if you could avoid it. Old customers would feel that since they'd need to buy and create all new software anyways, they might as well look at what other companies had to offer; they'd be likely to undertake the dreaded "market survey"."
2- "Adopting a remote, managerial point of view, you could say that the Eagle project was a case where a local system of management worked as it should: competition for resources creating within a team inside a company an entrepreneurial spirit, which was channeled in the right direction by constraints sent down from the tip. But it seems more accurate to say that a group of engineers got excited about building a computer. Whether it arose by corporate bungling or by design, the opportunity had to be grasped. In this sense, the initiative belonged entirely to West and the members of his team. What's more, they did the work, both with uncommon spirit and for reasons that, in a most frankly commercial setting, seemed remarkably pure."
Being set in the late 1970s, the book provides the reader with an authentic glimpse into a bygone era when yellow legal pads and pencils were essential engineering tools. What's surprising is the similarities to modern-day. Engineers are still wrestling with the same fundamental questions: can machines think, what are the ethical implications of computing, what's the perfect balance between done and right? Then and now, engineers are attempting to cope with the "long-term tiredness" resulting from the rampant pace of innovation that can render a recent graduate more skilled than an industry veteran. The human component remains the most perplexing. In the end, "people are just reaching out in the dark, touching hands." The book serves as a refreshing reminder that although technology evolves at a breakneck pace, the design process remains much the same.
In conclusion, The Soul of a New Machine should be required reading for business and engineering students alike. The enduring lessons are to hire smart people, enable them, and get out of their way. Engineers thrive on agency and the potential to materialize their conceptions. No amount of external motivation can breathe commiserate vitality into a design process. If you are an engineer or a manager, do yourself a favor: read and understand The Soul of a New Machine.
Top reviews from other countries
La calidad de impresion y pasta es excelentes.
En cuanto a contenido es apasionante (si eres electrónico) el leer como trabajaron en el diseño de una computadora de los años 70s.
Reviewed in Mexico on April 2, 2024
La calidad de impresion y pasta es excelentes.
En cuanto a contenido es apasionante (si eres electrónico) el leer como trabajaron en el diseño de una computadora de los años 70s.
Reviewed in Poland on February 24, 2022
His seeing into the hearts and minds of the engineers could only come from spending a lot of time with them, to both see and feel the pressure, the pain and well, for some, the rewards.








