The Soul of an Old Machine

"That fellow West is a good man in a storm." … "He didn't sleep for four nights! Four whole nights." And if that trip had been his idea of a vacation, where, the psychologist wanted to know, did he work? The most famous book written about designing computers features a company - Data General - and a computer - the Eclipse MV/8000 - that both disappeared a long time ago. It’s a testament to that book’s quality that it’s just as fascinating as it was when it was published four decades ago. What makes Tracy Kidder’s ‘The Soul of a New Machine’ so good? 1. “There’s so goddamn much money to be made.” “I’m Ed de Castro, president of Data General Corporation. Seven months ago we started the richest small computer company in history. This month we’re announcing our first product: the best small computer in the world … Because if you’re going to make a small inexpensive computer you have to sell a lot of them to make a lot of money. And we intend to make a lot of money.” Data General Corpor ... Read full article.