Rating: 
Summary: I couldn't put it down!
Review: "Soul of a new Machine" was an important book when it was first published 10 years ago. It remains one of the most important "computer" books on the market. Even more, it is one of the most readable, fascinating computer books ever published. This book is must reading for anyone in the computer industry.
Dave Kearns, author - "Definitive Guide to NDS"
Rating:
Summary: Inspirational, gripping and entertaining - best book...
Review: ...I've read in a very long time! Some of the technologies may be a bit dated but the core issues remain the same and this book is a timeless treasure. Anyone of us who has ever worked hard and under a lot of pressure can relate to the characters (which I found very well described). It's a real page-turner and you won't be able to put it down until you are done - a real thriller! All the technological background is explained very well so even the non-computer savvy folks can easily follow this exciting story.
Rating:
Summary: general thoughts, opinions, and topics about the book
Review:
The book deals with the development of a new computer system, the Data General Eagle. It was being designed in parallel with the DEC VAX. Both companies were racing to see which would hit the market first. The author, a journalist working undercover as part of the development team paints a picture that can be superimposed over most "project teams" today, as he chronicals the ups and downs, the successes and failures, and the human emotions that affectted the development team during their years together. Highly reccommended.
Rating:
Summary: Lifeboat for Over Achievers
Review: After 25 years of software development, most of it on 'Impossible' projects, I find my 1981 printing to be one of my prized posessions. When you're so tired from months of 75 hour weeks it hurts to get up in the morning, and the project's still not done, its wonderfully reassuring to know that you are part of a relativly few persons who have breathed life into a whole new force in the history of human-kind. As a new generation of CS professionals joins our ranks its comforting to know that those who built the foundations of the industry will not be forgotten. And for the new crew, this book provides ample inspiration for all who wish to join the crusade. A great gift, particularly if signed by a project leader at the end of a long and difficult project! Buy the hardback if you can find it and pass it down as a family heirloom. If you can possibley get there, read this book at Lake Powell Arizona. If you don't come back inspired you're legally dead! Next to the good book, this one rulz!
Rating:
Summary: Wow! No less accurate over more than 15 years!
Review: As I first read this book fall 1985, it cost me one night's sleep. I bought it without really knowing the book, and it became my favorite overnight. It still is. Though the technicalities are no longer cutting edge (they're still the basics, however, and no less valid!), the atmosphere of the book accurately reflects even current development efforts. If you're working in a development department which is not rated CMM Level 2 or higher (as I do), you'll recognize many elements of the 'real life' of the late nineties. I reread the book at least once a year, if only to remember why I love this job anyhow. Recommended!
Rating:
Summary: An example for any fledgeling engineer.
Review: At the time I had read this book, it was recommended by a professor in school. While it had a slow beginning, its foray into the world of engineering and teamwork soon held my attention. Any future engineers should think of this book as *mandatory* reading material. This book gives insight into the engineering process, as it unfolds, on a 'team' level, where everyone suffers the trials and tribulations of a job well done to the end. An excellent book and quite an eye opener.
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: 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: Disappointing¿
Review: I am a big fan of Kidder, and loved the previous three books I read by him (House, Among Schoolchildren, Hometown). His acumen on everyday life is exceptional, which makes all of his previous books so spectacular. Being that this book won he Pulitzer, I expected it to better, or at worst equal to, all of his previous works. This book came up short in many areas. While I believed that Kidder could describe even paint drying in spectacular fashion, I know now that subject matter is quite important. The subject matter in this book was very uninteresting, if not downright boring. The character development was also lacking, nothing like that of Hometown or House. The emphasis is basically on a group of young engineers race against time to build (and debug) the perfect machine. I found the perpetual computer jargon boring and was disappointed that the majority of the book revolved around incidents in the "basement". There was relatively no outside charter development. I had to force myself to finish the book. I will read 'Old Friends' next, but I recommend to any first time Kidder fan to start with a different work.
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