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The Soul of a New Machine [Paperback]

Tracy Kidder (Author)

4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (20 customer reviews)

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Product details

Paperback: 320 pages
Publisher: Back Bay Books (1 Jun 2000)
Language English
ISBN-10: 0316491977
ISBN-13: 978-0316491976
Product Dimensions: 14 x 1.9 x 21 cm

Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (20 customer reviews)

Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 226,431 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Product Description

Amazon.co.uk Review

The computer revolution brought with it new methods of getting work done--just look at today's news for reports of hard-driven, highly motivated young men and women developing software and online commerce 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 us stories of 35-year-old "veteran" engineers hiring new college graduates and encouraging them to work harder and faster on complex and difficult projects, exploiting the youngsters' ignorance of normal scheduling yet 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 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 --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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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. Read the first page

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Customer Reviews

20 Reviews

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Average Customer Review

4.8 out of 5 stars (20 customer reviews)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Lessons for life, 18 Dec 2002

geoff dendle (Sussex, UK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Soul of a New Machine (Paperback)

I first read this wonderful book almost twenty years ago and have re-read it a number of times since then. Yes, it is about computers but it is much more about people, life and in particular their interplay in teamworking. I have recommended it to colleagues as one of the most useful books about the workplace as well as being a riveting read - it is a thriller !!
One of my favourite reads - it really is that good.

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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Life changing!, 15 Dec 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: The Soul of a New Machine (Paperback)

I first read this book about 20 years ago and it changed my life - seriously. From then on in I knew I wanted to work in the computer industry. I'd not read it since, and was a little nervous of re-reading it. There was no need. Its as exciting and alarming as ever. There are very few good books on the IT industry. This is one of them. Go read.

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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must for all computer engineering courses, 28 May 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: The Soul of a New Machine (Paperback)

Computers may have moved on a lot since the time of Data General, DEC, etc, but the content is really timeless. It should be made compulsory reading for all budding computer engineers and project managers. It is also a good nostalgia kick for those who have been in the business a bit longer. I too was once a midnight programmer.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars The Wild West
Like many other reviewers here, I first read this book about 25 years ago and liked it enormously. At the time, computers were a hobby and library books about them were scant. Read more

Published 7 months ago by Gary Taylor

5.0 out of 5 stars highlights the computer technology rat race
This book tells an exciting story, a true page turner. It shows what a team of highly motivated people can achieve under stress in a competitive setting: delivering a new computer... Read more

Published on 4 Jan 2010 by R. A. Windgassen

5.0 out of 5 stars A unique insight of what lies beneath the surface of technology.
This great classic of the computer and software engineering world won Kidder the 1981 Pulitzer. If you enjoyed The Right Stuff or The Nudist on the Late Shift: And Other True... Read more

Published on 1 Jan 2010 by Dr. M. R. Baker

5.0 out of 5 stars Great historical perspective on how technical teams work together
I first read this book in the early 1980's, just after it had been published. I read it again recently, and the story of Data General's efforts to beat Digital Equipment in the... Read more

Published on 1 Jan 2010 by R. Hill

2.0 out of 5 stars Humdrum read
Mildly interesting account of how a computer was built at the tail end of the 70s. Kidder attempts to craft memorable portraits of the young men involved but they never quite come... Read more

Published on 8 July 2008 by Adam Graham Malster

5.0 out of 5 stars A classic, but still very readable
I read this when it first came out in paperback more than 20 years ago (I think the paperback version was in 1982). Read more

Published on 15 April 2007 by S. R. Elliott

4.0 out of 5 stars Re-released but still woth a good read
I first read this book back in 1983 and was amazed at the tenacity of the machine builders of the time. Read more

Published on 4 Dec 2003 by David Richardson

5.0 out of 5 stars gripping, realistic, truthful. OTT? nope....
this is well worth reading. a useful look at the state of then, now and how we've advanced. written for the non-techies (we can skip these bits :)), it's very readable and not too... Read more

Published on 29 Aug 2001

5.0 out of 5 stars As vital today as it was 20 years ago
Although Kidder writes about a team assembled over 20 years ago to design a piece of hardware, the observations he makes about the characters within the Eclipse Group are still... Read more

Published on 28 Jan 2000

5.0 out of 5 stars So good I read it TWICE! Then I bought the hard cover.
Tracy Kidder has captured the heart and soul of the daunting task of making a technological marvel. The constraints of time, budgets, personalities, plus competitors breathing... Read more

Published on 11 July 1999

› See all 20 customer reviews on Amazon.co.uk

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