Over the summer, I managed to read a bunch of books. Most of them were related to the MA module that I’m about to start studying (A893), but there were a couple that related to my day job. The first was The Science of Storytelling by Will Storr, which I might blog about later. The second was a popular science (or popular engineering) book called The Soul of a New Machine by Tracy Kidder.
I must have been introduced to this text by a colleague. It describes the building of a Data General minicomputer, code named Eagle, in the late 1970s and early 1980s. I didn’t know it at the time, but Kidder was awarded a Pulitzer Prize in non-fiction for his book. I can kind of see why.
There are a number of aspects of his text that have stuck with me. The first is that he clearly foregrounds character; the project to build a new machine catalyses the action. Although it does contain some interesting description of computer engineering, replete with explanatory similes, the engineering team is afforded richer descriptions. Just as the computer has its design flaws, the engineers have their character flaws – some of which are necessary and needed to get to the bottom of pernicious technical problems. The backstories of the engineers are expressed, along with an understanding of what motivates them.
It isn’t all good. Kidder highlights some of the negatives: long hours, burnouts, evidence of engineers damaging walls; people not getting along with each other - recriminations of what bits of a hardware design is to blame. In a memorable section, Kidder starts to interrogate the ethics of what they were all doing and building. After all, any technology can be used for good, or for ill – are the engineers concerned with how their machine might be used? Issues of diversity are mentioned, but very briefly. The cast of characters are mainly men, with the women engineers garnering only brief mentions. Importantly, Kidder reports that a woman in the office was subjected to harassment through technology, which is then investigated. Kidder also quotes engineers commenting on a competitor creating advertising materials that feature people from diverse backgrounds, with the implication that this was (at the time), a curiosity.
Although the text is clearly of its time, having been published in 1981, I do feel it has aged relatively well. What I like about it is that Kidder has attempted to capture the temporary and ephemeral. In my eyes, the text is a combination of a history book, an ethnography, and journalism. He also completes his story by telling us what happened to the main characters. After I got to the epilogue, I couldn’t help but look up what happened to Data General; it was a manufacturer that I was always vaguely aware of, but never knew much about. I alway had the impression they built mainframe rather than minicomputers.
Kidder’s book has some interesting similarities with Steven Levy’s Insanely Great, which describes the building of the Apple Macintosh computer, and the influence of Steve Jobs. In Kidder’s text, Tom Ward comes across as an infinitely more likeable (and technically able) character. The circumstances are also curiously similar: the Mac was developed in the shadow of Apple’s Lisa computer. In Data General, the Eagle was developed in the shadow of another computer development project.
Kidder’s text can, of course, be read alongside other histories computing, such as Fumbling the Future by Alexander and Smith, which is a history of the Xerox Alto computer, and the brilliant Fire in the Valley by Swaine and Freiberger, which examines personal computing history from a wider perspective. A text that ties history and computing together is one entitled Where Wizards Stay Up Late by Hafner. These are all worth reading.
There is always more to read. Next on my list is an article How a band of renegades designed the Alpha chip, by Katz, which is available in the OU library. I also have book entitled A Computer Called Leo in my To Be Read (TBR) pile, which offers a British perspective.
Kidder’s book reminds me of the importance of writing stuff down. I would like to read more of Kidder’s work. He has apparently written about the building of a house, friendships in elderly residential homes, and more. I also would like to read a contemporary history about the development of the current generation of AI systems. I would like to learn more about the engineers who are working on these products. Perhaps there is a journalist somewhere working to capture their history right now. I only hope that, like Kidder, they are asked to reflect on the ethical implications of what they are building.
Kidder, T. (1981) The Soul of a New Machine. Allen Lane. ISBN 0 7139 1482 3.
The Soul of a New Machine
Over the summer, I managed to read a bunch of books. Most of them were related to the MA module that I’m about to start studying (A893), but there were a couple that related to my day job. The first was The Science of Storytelling by Will Storr, which I might blog about later. The second was a popular science (or popular engineering) book called The Soul of a New Machine by Tracy Kidder.
I must have been introduced to this text by a colleague. It describes the building of a Data General minicomputer, code named Eagle, in the late 1970s and early 1980s. I didn’t know it at the time, but Kidder was awarded a Pulitzer Prize in non-fiction for his book. I can kind of see why.
There are a number of aspects of his text that have stuck with me. The first is that he clearly foregrounds character; the project to build a new machine catalyses the action. Although it does contain some interesting description of computer engineering, replete with explanatory similes, the engineering team is afforded richer descriptions. Just as the computer has its design flaws, the engineers have their character flaws – some of which are necessary and needed to get to the bottom of pernicious technical problems. The backstories of the engineers are expressed, along with an understanding of what motivates them.
It isn’t all good. Kidder highlights some of the negatives: long hours, burnouts, evidence of engineers damaging walls; people not getting along with each other - recriminations of what bits of a hardware design is to blame. In a memorable section, Kidder starts to interrogate the ethics of what they were all doing and building. After all, any technology can be used for good, or for ill – are the engineers concerned with how their machine might be used? Issues of diversity are mentioned, but very briefly. The cast of characters are mainly men, with the women engineers garnering only brief mentions. Importantly, Kidder reports that a woman in the office was subjected to harassment through technology, which is then investigated. Kidder also quotes engineers commenting on a competitor creating advertising materials that feature people from diverse backgrounds, with the implication that this was (at the time), a curiosity.
Although the text is clearly of its time, having been published in 1981, I do feel it has aged relatively well. What I like about it is that Kidder has attempted to capture the temporary and ephemeral. In my eyes, the text is a combination of a history book, an ethnography, and journalism. He also completes his story by telling us what happened to the main characters. After I got to the epilogue, I couldn’t help but look up what happened to Data General; it was a manufacturer that I was always vaguely aware of, but never knew much about. I alway had the impression they built mainframe rather than minicomputers.
Kidder’s book has some interesting similarities with Steven Levy’s Insanely Great, which describes the building of the Apple Macintosh computer, and the influence of Steve Jobs. In Kidder’s text, Tom Ward comes across as an infinitely more likeable (and technically able) character. The circumstances are also curiously similar: the Mac was developed in the shadow of Apple’s Lisa computer. In Data General, the Eagle was developed in the shadow of another computer development project.
Kidder’s text can, of course, be read alongside other histories computing, such as Fumbling the Future by Alexander and Smith, which is a history of the Xerox Alto computer, and the brilliant Fire in the Valley by Swaine and Freiberger, which examines personal computing history from a wider perspective. A text that ties history and computing together is one entitled Where Wizards Stay Up Late by Hafner. These are all worth reading.
There is always more to read. Next on my list is an article How a band of renegades designed the Alpha chip, by Katz, which is available in the OU library. I also have book entitled A Computer Called Leo in my To Be Read (TBR) pile, which offers a British perspective.
Kidder’s book reminds me of the importance of writing stuff down. I would like to read more of Kidder’s work. He has apparently written about the building of a house, friendships in elderly residential homes, and more. I also would like to read a contemporary history about the development of the current generation of AI systems. I would like to learn more about the engineers who are working on these products. Perhaps there is a journalist somewhere working to capture their history right now. I only hope that, like Kidder, they are asked to reflect on the ethical implications of what they are building.
Kidder, T. (1981) The Soul of a New Machine. Allen Lane. ISBN 0 7139 1482 3.