The Soul of a New Machine

Pulitzer Prize winner Tracy Kidder memorably records the drama, comedy, and excitement of one company's efforts to bring a new microcomputer to market. 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. The computer revolution brought with it new methods of getting work donejust look at today's news for reports of hard-driven, highly-motivated young software and online commerce developers who sacrifice evenings and weekends to meet impossible deadlines. Tracy Kidder got a preview of this world in the late 1970s when he observed the engineers of Data General design and build a new 32-bit minicomputer in just one year. His thoughtful, prescient book, The Soul of a New Machine , tells stories of 35-year-old "veteran" engineers hiring recent college graduates and encouraging them to work harder and faster on complex and difficult projects, exploiting the youngsters' ignorance of normal scheduling processes while engendering a new kind of work ethic. These days, we are used to the "total commitment" philosophy of managing technical creation, but Kidder was surprised and even a little alarmed at the obsessions and compulsions he found. From in-house political struggles to workers being permitted to tease management to marathon 24-hour work sessions, The Soul of a New Machine explores concepts that already seem familiar, even old-hat, less than 20 years later. Kidder plainly admires his subjects; while he admits to hopeless confusion about their work, he finds their dedication heroic. The reader wonders, though, what will become of it all, now and in the future. Rob Lightner Computers have changed since 1981, when Tracy Kidder indelibly recorded the drama, comedy, and excitement of one company's efforts to bring a new microcomputer to market. What has changed little, however, is computer culture: the feverish pace of the high-tech industry, the mystique of programmers, 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. 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 spirit of the computer age.

Data General was in danger of losing its edge in the high technology war. Thirty wiz kids — design engineers — were given the job of building a computer more advanced than anything that then existed — and under an absolutely impossible deadline. A Pulitzer Prize-winner from Tracy Kidder.

Tracy Kidder's'riveting'(Washington Post) story of one company's efforts to bring a new microcomputer to market won both the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award and has become essential reading for understanding the history of the American tech industry. 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 "Computers have changed since 1981, when Tracy Kidder indelibly recorded the drama, comedy, and excitement of one company's efforts to bring a new microcomputer to market. What has changed little, however, is computer culture: the feverish pace of the high-tech industry, the mystique of programmers, 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. 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 spirit of the computer age"--Jacket In 1979, Kidder Went Underground In The Research Department Of Data General To Observe The Workings Of The Computer Wizards Who Were Designing And Building A Fast New Computer. Prologue: A Good Man In A Storm -- How To Make A Lot Of Money -- Wars -- Building A Team -- Wallach's Golden Moment -- Midnight Programmer -- Flying Upside Down -- Machine -- Wonderful Micromachines -- Workshop -- Case Of The Missing Nand Gate -- Shorter Than A Season -- Pinball -- Going To The Fair -- Last Crunch -- Canards -- Dinosaurs. Tracy Kidder. An Atlantic Monthly Press Book. A Portion Of This Book, In Different Form, First Appeared In The Atlantic. "The Soul of a New Machine" is a non-fiction book written by Tracy Kidder and published in 1981. It chronicles the experiences of a computer engineering team racing to design a next-generation computer at a blistering pace under tremendous pressure. The machine was launched in 1980 as the Data General Eclipse MV/8000. The book won the 1982 National Book Award for Non-fiction and a Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction. Prologue: A Good Man in a Storm 1. How to Make a Lot of Money 2. The Wars 3. Building a Team 4. Wallach's Golden Moment 5. Midnight Programmer 6. Flying Upside Down 7. La Machine 8. The Wonderful Micromachines 9. A Workshop 10. The Case of the Missing NAND Gate 11. Shorter than a Season 12. Pinball 13. Going to the Fair 14. The Last Crunch 15. Canards 16. Dinosaurs Epilogue Acknowledgments FOR A TIME after the first pieces of Route 495 were laid down across central Massachusetts, in the middle 1960s, the main hazard to drivers was deer.