Over the past few days I blew the dust off one of my favorite books titled “The Soul of a New Machine” by Tracy Kidder and read it again.
The book was originally published in hardcover August 1981. I own the paperback version which was released in June 2000.
The Synopsis:
Tracy Kidder’s The Soul of a New Machine, the compelling account of the inventors of a new mini-supercomputer for the young Data General company, is the best chronicle of the computer age and the extraordinary people who have created it.
A compelling account of individual sacrifice and ingenuity, it became an instant classic on publication and won a Pulitzer Prize.
The Wall Street Journal described it as “fascinating” and “provocative”, and The New York Times Book Review praised its “high level of narrative art”. This Modern Library edition includes a new introduction by Tracy Kidder.
Computers have changed a lot since 1981, when Tracy Kidder 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.
One famous line from the book that sticks in my mind:
The bigger game was “pinball”. “You win one game, you get to play another. You win with this machine, you get to build the next.” Pinball was what counted.
I highly recommend this book to all my geek friends. It’s a little hard to find in local stores but last I checked, it was available via Amazon.com and I’ve also seen it listed on eBay.
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I have the paperback of this fine book, also. I love the analogies, the food for thought, and how Kidder shows where we have come in our techno journeys.
Hi LorriM.
Thanks for popping by my little place on the web.
It’s nice to know others who blog own this book too.
I’d like to find a hardback copy of it. Time to search eBay