Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #279084 in Books
• Published on: 1998-09-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 416 pages

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

Synopsis
Winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the American Book Award. Tracy Kidder recounts the feverish efforts of a team of Data General researchers to create a new 32 bit superminicomputer. A compelling account of individual sacrifice and human ingenuity. Soul of a New Machine endures as the classic chronicle of the computer age and the masterminds behind its technological advances.

Customer Reviews

Lessons for life
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.

Life changing!
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.

A must for all computer engineering courses
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.