Rating: 
Summary: This book shows the truth behind computer developement
Review: Even though this book is about a product developed more than 20 years ago, and the technology used back then is clearly obselete, this book is one of the best I've ever read that describes the truth behind computer developement, and as a computer scientist for over a decade, I've read quite a few. This book gets 5 stars because... Most of the environment Tracy describes regarding computer developement in this book STILL APPLIES today (the exception being that nowadays, with computer components much cheaper and produced in much greater amounts, people don't have to struggle as much for shared time on few terminals and test machines). Examples mentioned in the book that still apply today in computers include: - Tight deadlines that are seemingly never met and frequently pushed forwards (in computer science, you never know how long a programming project takes until you're actually finished with it, and it always takes at least 3x longer than you initially thought). - Unpredictable computer errors that crawl in at every other moment, and being forced to accept the fact that your product will never be perfect. ("Quick and Dirty" is the rule, not the exception in the computer industry...) - The programmers' and engineers' overtime out of love for their product at the cost of their personal lives (and sleep time). - The company politics and the importance of keeping beauraucratic and administrative issues out of the way of developers so that they get some REAL WORK done. (Tom West, manipulator of Data General's politics, is the most significant example of this mentioned in the book.)
- The miscommunications between developement and marketing, and how this can leads to important discoveries being forgotten or ignored. (Note: Data General isn't the only company to have suffered from this in history. This is believed to be what put Commodore out of business!) Furthermore, Tracy is very good at communicating these issues and more in a manner that any average Joe can understand. Plus, his portrayal of each developer, and their perspective they provide into the Eagle machine, left me fooled into believing I personally knew these people in real life!
Rating:
Summary: 22 years later, still a great read for any IT professional
Review: Hopefully, the recent release of Tracy Kidder's "Mountains Beyond Mountains" will cause some people to go back and look at his impressive body of previous work. Most notably, there's this early eighties effort about Data General's attempts to design and bring a new minicomputer to market in less than a year. No better book has ever been written about the process of birthing an IT product and running the project to get it done. 'Soul' was written before Project Management became recognized as a discipline. Even so, there's never been a better project manager than Tom West, the head of the team depicted in 'Soul' and the very heart of the book.
Rating:
Summary: Kidder adds warmth to any topic
Review: I had just finished reading Kidder's "Hometown" about Northampton, MA (a former home of mine), when I decided to read "The Soul of a New Machine". While "Hometown" clearly shows Kidder's maturity as a writer, "The Soul of a New Machine", written roughly 15 years before, demonstrates Kidder's characteristic warmth and eye for detail. "The Soul of a New Machine" is a wonderful book and an archaeological gem for computer history enthusiasts. I found this book to be riveting (I finished it in a day and a half), and though I am not qualified to comment on the accuracy of Kidder's use of ECE terminology, it most certainly passed my limited geek muster. Kidder presents complex technical information adroitly, creating analogies understandable to the lay person. At the end of the book, I emerged feeling as if I personally knew the characters, and I found myself rooting for the success of the Eclipse Group. Overall, I loved this book. A hacker classic.
Rating:
Summary: Kidder adds warmth to any topic
Review: I had just finished reading Kidder's "Hometown" about Northampton, MA (a former home of mine), when I decided to read "The Soul of a New Machine". While "Hometown" clearly shows Kidder's maturity as a writer, "The Soul of a New Machine", written roughly 15 years before, demonstrates Kidder's characteristic warmth and eye for detail. "The Soul of a New Machine" is a wonderful book and an archaeological gem for computer history enthusiasts. I found this book to be riveting (I finished it in a day and a half), and though I am not qualified to comment on the accuracy of Kidder's use of ECE terminology, it most certainly passed my limited geek muster. Kidder presents complex technical information adroitly, creating analogies understandable to the lay person. At the end of the book, I emerged feeling as if I personally knew the characters, and I found myself rooting for the success of the Eclipse Group. Overall, I loved this book. A hacker classic.
Rating: 
Summary: From the dawn of computer time
Review: I read this book a few years back and i've just finished reading it again. It's a well told story of the birth of pre-PC microcomputers. The effort of the engineers and "microkids", who struggled to make the first "Eagle", told with intense care and attention to detail. If you ever wondered how a computer is made from idea to production, this is the book to read.
Rating:
Summary: The names have changed, but the issues remain the same.
Review: I read this book when it first came out, some 15 years ago. At the time, I was about 12 and while the story was compelling, I didn't understand much of the technology. I recently re-read Soul of a New Machine, and now that I am working in the computer industry, I understand much more of the technical jargon. But I also realized that while Data General is no longer the "new kid" in the industry, other players have taken their place, and the dynamics of the industry haven't changed as much as we think they have.The technology changes every 2 years or so, but the issues and dynamics in the industry remain much the same as they were 15 or 20 years ago - just different companies in different roles
Rating:
Summary: The best book I've ever read!
Review: If they gave out awards for books, this one would have tons of them... (oops, it already does). But really, it is a masterpiece. I, as a computer engineer myself have read this book at least six times. It is a great book because it is so easy to follow and it shows you the inside perspective of a bygone era. Even those of the world who have little to no experience with computers can read this book without worrying about getting lost. It is a real look inside of the way computers were born.
Rating:
Summary: We Don't do it for the Money
Review: Soul of a New Machine is an excellent portrayal of a heroic team of young engineers. What defined the book for me was the sort of mad, beautiful work ethic that the team in the story had. This is the best way I can describe it: When you're young and you get interested in something, you get _passionate_ about it. Maybe it's because you don't know the importance of money and responsibility yet, but you really get into a sport, or hobby, or any other interest, and you do that hobby or play that sport, you write stories or fix cars, making whatever sacrifices you need to just so you can do this thing you love, not because you want to make money at it, or gain respect or admiration, but because it gives you priceless rewards and satisfaction. And it's a purest love you can have. When you grow up, you get disillusioned, from paying bills and other responsibilities. You lose the spark. You start doubting your interest in what you used to love, be it the mechanic who used to love cars but has grown jaded, or the teacher on a low income who has to deal with unruly students and demanding parents. The Soul of a New Machine is a throwback to that youthful perhaps almost a bit naive passion. It's about the antithesis of the 9-5, where if the pay is horrible, you couldn't care less, you still work overtime. This pure struggle, the essence of a profession, is what makes the book so great. It's the most archetypal element of a career or profession, the sense of accomplishment and satisfaction that only something you put your soul and your sweat and blood into, can give you. In that basement in Data General, this beautiful dream became real in the form of the Eagle minicomputer. If you've felt the kind of spark that drove those young men before, this book will remind you. And if you haven't, maybe this book will kindle a new passion in what you do.
Rating:
Summary: Superb
Review: Tells the tale of a bunch of developers who invested body and soul to the creation of Data General's new machine only to find out that the world views the finished product merely as a commodity with a price tag. Indeed, the soul of the new machine got lost in transit from the lab to the marketing department. All credit to the author for coming up with a treatise understandable both to the computer engineer as well as the man on the street.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting
Review: The Soul of a New Machine is an interesting book. It is written in a story like fashion that allows for easy reading. It does not contain material that is difficult to understand.
The author does a good job in revealing real life situations that designers, programmers, and management might encounter while building new computers. Many situations involve challenges such as time, others involve ethics. With respect to ethics, it is clear that the characters representing programmers and designers understand that they have certain obligations to their employer: to accept responsiblity for jobs they agree to do; to respect confidentiality entrusted to them; and to present fair and objective viewpoints regarding their projects. It is also clear that the characters representing project managment understand that they have certain obligations to upper managment and to their customers: the products have to be on time and must be reliable. The project management characters seem to lack any sense of ethics when it comes to their employees. They hire recent college graduates with no experience; they mislead them from the date of hire; they overwork them; and they undercompensate them.
In short, Kidder does not go into great detail about technical details involved in building computers. Instead, he focuses on the souls - the individuals - that create the complicated machines.
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