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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
Review
"A surprisingly gripping account...fascinating...provacative." --William M. Bulkeley, "The Wall Street Journal
"Kidder has endowed the tale with such pace, texture and poetic implication that he has elevated it to a high level of narrative art...A splendid book." --Samuel C. Florman, "The New York Times Book Review
"Brilliant, concise and original." --"Playboy
"Kidder brings a storyteller's eye to a technological subject and makes it dance...a triumph of graceful writing and intelligent reporting." --Ted Valen, "Raleigh News and Observer
"A remarkable book...Absorbing reading." --Louis Heldman, "Detroit Free Press
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title."A true-life adventure...Compelling entertainment and much more...A well-paced story of corporate invention and intrigue...Riveting." --Edward R. Weidlein, "Washington Post Book World
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All the way to the horizon in the last light, the sea was just degrees of gray, rolling and frothy on the surface. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
All the way to the horizon in the last light, the sea was just degrees of gray, rolling and frothy on the surface. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format: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.
One of my favourite reads - it really is that good.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format: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.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format: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
Timeless
As one of the other reviewers commented, this book really is timeless.
I was given a copy when I started in the IT industry in the early 90s, fresh out of University. Read more
I was given a copy when I started in the IT industry in the early 90s, fresh out of University. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Paul Ireland
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 11 months ago by Gary Taylor
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
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 Tales... Read more
Published on 1 Jan 2010 by Dr. M. R. Baker
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
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
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
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
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
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
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