Summary of Tracy Kidder's The Soul of A New Machine

By IRB Media

Get the Summary of Tracy Kidder's The Soul of A New Machine in 20 minutes. Please note: This is a summary & not the original book. Original book introduction: omputers have changed since 1981, when The Soul of a New Machine first examined the culture of the computer revolution. What has not changed is the feverish pace of the high-tech industry, the go-for-broke approach to business that has caused so many computer companies to win big (or go belly up), and the cult of pursuing mind-bending technological innovations.

The Soul of a New Machine is an essential chapter in the history of the machine that revolutionized the world in the twentieth century.

• Language: English
• Publisher: IRB Media
• Release date: Dec 7, 2021
• ISBN: 9781669342304

IRB Media

With IRB books, you can get the key takeaways and analysis of a book in 15 minutes. We read every chapter, identify the key takeaways and analyze them for your convenience.

Book preview

Insights on Tracy Kidder's The Soul of A New Machine

Contents

Insights from Chapter 1

Insights from Chapter 2

Insights from Chapter 3

Insights from Chapter 4

Insights from Chapter 5

Insights from Chapter 6

Insights from Chapter 7

Insights from Chapter 8

Insights from Chapter 9

Insights from Chapter 10

Insights from Chapter 11

Insights from Chapter 12

Insights from Chapter 13

Insights from Chapter 14

Insights from Chapter 15

Insights from Chapter 16

Insights from Chapter 17

Insights from Chapter 1

#1

Data General is a computer company that was founded in the 1960s. It is best known for having its headquarters in Westborough, Massachusetts, in a building that looks like a fortress.

#2

The lobby of the NOVA Data General could have been that of a motor inn. It had orange carpeting and a plastic case containing the computer’s inner workings. Someone unfamiliar with the company’s financial reports might have missed the fairy tale hidden inside the numbers.

#3

The first modern computers were developed in the late 1940s and early 1950s, and while many contributed to their invention, it was the military that really pushed the technology forward.

#4

The second stage in the development of the Information Age was the development of integrated circuits, or chips, which allowed for the efficient transfer of information between different devices.

#5

The first computers were large, mainframe devices. Then came the smaller, cheaper, and more powerful minicomputers. The third generation consisted of microprocessors and the like. But then, many imitators emerged claiming to make computers, when really they were making little more than glorified calculators.

#6

Data General benefited from the growing demand for small computers, which led to a multibillion-dollar industry.

#7

In 1968, Data General was founded by de Castro and two other young engineers who had left DEC.

#8

The first Data General machine, the NOVA, was simple and