The Soul of a New Machine

Tracy Kidder recounts the uber-enjoyable events of an engineering team racing to build a microcomputer, making it feel like you're the geeked intern spectating at all the engineers in wonder and delight. The personalities, the hardware, the business, the goofs and the gaffes pull you in and never really lets go. Now, forty years later, the book is old and the technology is practically archaic, however, nothing seems to have really changed.

Tracy Kidder recounts the uber-enjoyable events of an engineering team racing to build a microcomputer, making it feel like you're the geeked intern spectating at all the engineers in wonder and delight. The personalities, the hardware, the business, the goofs and the gaffes pull you in and never really lets go. Now, forty years later, the book is old and the technology is practically archaic, however, nothing seems to have really changed.

Good read. I'm not sure if it would have been so enjoyable for someone who isn't a computer programmer.

This book is beautifully written. I reads like a wistful memoir for the life of a machine. The story is of the creation of Project Eagle in the Late 70's/Early 80's at Data General. If you are interested in computers, their history, or how they were dreamed up and made, this is essential reading. I loved reading about the creation of a computer during the age when people thought that they were going to be the impetus of revolution. This is really a love letter for the wild-west age of computing.