The Soul of a New Machine is a non-fiction book, written by Tracy Kidder. It was published in 1981 and won a Pulitzer Prize and an American Book Award. It chronicles the true story of a computer design team racing to complete a next generation computer design under a blistering schedule and tremendous pressure. Non-fiction is an account or representation of a subject which is presented as fact. ... Tracy Kidder (born November 12, 1945 in New York City) is an American author of multiple books. ... 1981 (MCMLXXXI) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The gold medal awarded for Public Service in Journalism The Pulitzer Prize is an American award regarded as the highest honor in print journalism, literary achievements, and musical compositions. ... The National Book Award is one of the most important literary prizes in the United States, presented annually for the best books by living U.S. citizens published in the U.S. The awards have been presented since 1950 in at least one category, and are presently awarded in each...

Plot

The book opens with a turf war between two computer design groups within Data General Corporation, a minicomputer vendor in the 1970s. Most of the senior designers are assigned the "sexy" job of designing the next generation machine, which will be done in North Carolina. Their project (code-named "Fountainhead") is to give DG a machine to compete with Digital Equipment Corporations' new VAX computer, which is starting to take over the new 32-bit minicomputer market. The few senior designers who are left in corporate headquarters at Westborough, MA are given the much more humble job to design enhancements of the existing product lines. Tom West, the leader of Westboro designers, starts a skunk works project which becomes a backup plan in case Fountainhead fails. Eventually, the skunk works project (code-named "Eagle") becomes the company's only hope in catching up with DEC. In order to complete the project on-time, West takes risks in not only new technology but also relying on new college graduates (who have never designed anything so complex) to make up the bulk of his design team. The book follows many of the designers as they give up every waking moment of their lives in order to design and debug the new machine on schedule. Data General was one of the first minicomputer firms from the late 1960s. ... Minicomputer (colloquially, mini) is a largely obsolete term for a class of multi-user computers which make up the middle range of the computing spectrum, in between the largest multi-user systems (traditionally, mainframe computers) and the smallest single-user systems (microcomputers or personal computers). ... The 1970s decade refers to the years from 1970 to 1979, inclusive. ... Official language(s) English Capital Raleigh Largest city Charlotte Area  Ranked 28th  - Total 53,865 sq mi (139,509 km²)  - Width 500 miles (805 km)  - Length 150 miles (240 km)  - % water 9. ... Digital Equipment Corporation was a pioneering company in the American computer industry. ... This article is about the computing term VAX, not to be confused with the vacuum cleaner/floorcare manufacturer Vax. ... Minicomputer (colloquially, mini) is a largely obsolete term for a class of multi-user computers which make up the middle range of the computing spectrum, in between the largest multi-user systems (traditionally, mainframe computers) and the smallest single-user systems (microcomputers or personal computers). ... Westborough is a town located in Worcester County, Massachusetts. ... Skunk works is a term used in engineering and technical applications for secret (black) projects. ...

Themes

The work environment described in the book is in many ways opposite of what is taught in business schools. Instead of top-down management, many of the innovations are started at the grass-roots level. Instead of management having to coerce labor to work harder, labor volunteers to complete the project on-time. The reason for this is that people will give their best when the work itself is challenging and rewarding. Many of the engineers state that "They don't work for the money", meaning they work for the challenge of inventing and creating. The motivational system is akin to the game of pinball, the analogy that if you win this round, you get to play the game again; that is, build the next generation of computers. This article is about the arcade game. ...

The book's portrayal of engineers avoids the stereotypes of either mindless drones or of propeller-heads working on James-Bondian gadgets. Instead, the engineers are shown as inventors, problem solvers and occasionally artists.

Tom West practices the '"Mushroom Theory of Management" - "keeping them in the dark and feeding them sh*t". That is, isolating the design team from outside influences and instead using the fear of the unknown to motivate the team. Tom West (born 22 November 1939; full name J. Thomas West III) is the protagonist of the Pulitzer Prize winning book The Soul of a New Machine. ...

The "Soul" of the new machine comes from the dedicated managers and engineers who bring it to "life" with their endless hours of attention and toil.

Trivia

Several of the designers on the project went on to become luminaries within the computer industry. The architect of the Eagle project, Steve Wallach, would later found Convex Computer, one of the most successful minisupercomputer companies. Dave Epstein would become one of the leaders of NexGen, a company that helped AMD regain competitive footing against Intel. Convex Computer was a company that produced a number of vector minisupercomputers, supercomputers for small-to-medium-sized businesses. ... Minisupercomputers constituted a class of computers that emerged in the mid-1980s. ... A NexGen Nx586 processor NexGen was a private semiconductor company that designed x86 PC central processing units until it was purchased by AMD in 1996. ... Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. ... Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC, SEHK: 4335), founded in 1968 as Integrated Electronics Corporation, is an American multinational corporation that is best known for designing and manufacturing microprocessors and specialized integrated circuits. ...

The Eagle project becomes the Eclipse MV/8000 product line. While successful, it never approached the market dominance of the DEC's VAX product line.

One engineer who burned out fighting nano-second level timing bugs was seduced by the attraction of commune living and left to live in the country. His resignation note declared "From now on I will deal in no unit of time shorter than a season". A Commune is a kind of intentional community where most resources are shared and there is little or no personal property. ...

One side effect of the book was to popularize throughout the computer world the term canard, which had been in-house slang at Data General, with the meaning "mistaken and confused belief". This page refers to the term canard, as used in computer jargon. ... Slang is the use of highly informal words and expressions that are not considered standard in the speakers dialect or language. ... Data General was one of the first minicomputer firms from the late 1960s. ...

External links

• Wired article revisiting the book and the team after twenty years