Rating:  - The world of computers, perfectly captured
As one who lived and worked in this field through the era that Kidder described, I can tell you that his book totally and accurately captures it. Whether from the marketing standpoint, the business standpoint, the historical standpoint, or (the focus of the book) the engineering development and people standpoint, he got it onto the page. It is also a fun, interesting, and even suspenseful read. As its NY Times reviewer said (as quoted on the flyleaf of the hardback) it is understandable even if you are nontechnical and can't tell software from hardware. Kidder copyrighted it in 1981--the year the first IBM PC came out. It is thus really interesting to read this book from a 2007 perspective, since a lot of what has happened in the PC-microcomputer era is **just** like what Kidder described in 1981 at what turned out to be the end of the minicomputer era. Enjoy!!
Rating: - The soul of a great team!
How can a book about such a geeky subject be so gripping? I think I know. The book is about the development of new technology, yes, but more than that this is the narrative of teamwork. Every so often, a team of people with a shared goal come together and create greatness. This book is a look into that fascinating process and the culture that encouraged it.
I couldn't put this down until the last page was turned -- it is just fantastic.
Rating: - Great historical nerd book.
Worth a read. Looks at the management and culture of the heady early days of the computer industry and explains much that we see in our culture now.
Rating: - Kidder captures the essence of engineering
If you're an electrical, computer, or software engineer, you must read this book. Even though the technology described is dated, "The Soul of a New Machine" really does capture what it's like to work in technology. The fight to work on something cool, to try and have ownership over what you do, and the different types of relationships and people you encounter as an engineer are all described right here in gory detail.
This book is outstanding.
Rating:  - Engineering Must-Read
As an engineer in high-tech, I assumed our culture of evolved as quickly as our livelihood. Not so, I found, reading about the engineering mindset ("It doesn't matter if you're ugly or graceless or even half crazy; if you produce right results in this world, your colleagues must accept you."), the inability to *completely* verify a design ("it would be possible to test fully... but it would take literally forever to do so."), that we all like video games and Star Trek, that the term "gunslinger" (someone who "shoots from the hip") isn't something our generation of engineers coined, and that what drives us today is the same that drove the previous two generations of engineers ("I'll have to work hard, and if we do a good job, we get to do it again."). Instead of writing an account of engineers building a computer chip, Kidder has created an allegory exposing the roots of engineering to genererations beyond. Wish I had read this early in my career to know what I have to look forward to...
"I'm going to a commune in Vermont and will deal with no unit of time
shorter than a season."
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