Tracy Kidder, Author of 'The Soul of a New Machine', Dies At 80 (nytimes.com)
- Reference: 0181108212
- News link: https://news.slashdot.org/story/26/03/26/1628201/tracy-kidder-author-of-the-soul-of-a-new-machine-dies-at-80
- Source link: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/25/books/tracy-kidder-dead.html
> [2]Tracy Kidder , author of " [3]The Soul of a New Machine ," has [4]died at the age of 80 . "The Soul of a New Machine" is about the people who designed and built the Data General Nova, one of the 32 bit superminis that were released in the 1980's just before the PC destroyed that industry. It was excerpted in [5]The Atlantic .
>
> "I'm going to a commune in Vermont and will deal with no unit of time shorter than a season."
[1] https://slashdot.org/~wiredog
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tracy_Kidder
[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Soul_of_a_New_Machine
[4] https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/25/books/tracy-kidder-dead.html
[5] https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1981/07/flying-upside-down/306467/
I thought it was the DG Eclipse (Score:5, Informative)
I thought it was the development of the DG Eclipse that the book was about.
In any case it was a great story, with the machines named Coke and Gollum. Originally the idea was Coke and Pepsi, but one of the machines was temperemental so it got renamed.
Re: (Score:3)
Aaak. I think it was. That'll teach me to work off of decade old memories...
Well, it probably won't teach me.
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Yes, you're right, the book is about the machine that later became the Eclipse. The Nova was DG's first machine I think.
+1 (Score:3)
Novas were 16-bit machines. I know because there are 16 select toggles on the front of mine :)
Soul of a New Machine was about the development of the MV line, which was the 32-bit extension of the Eclipse line, which was an extension (virtual memory, multitasking, etc.) of the Nova line. Similar to how VAXes were based on the PDP-11 architecture.
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If I remember correctly, and its been decades, the CALMA system's used the DG's for the brains and then some customer graphics for the clam shells. Those CALMA's were part of the heritage of the evolution of the chip biz. CALMA developed stream format if I remember correctly and it is still used today for many purposes, although much bigger files. I've seen 130GB. I do remember taping out on CALMA's and waiting like an hour to write the real 9 track tape and it was way short of 130G.
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Yup - Calma is where gdsii came from. Still in use today. The term for release to manufacturing - tapeout - comes from sending a 9-track tape with the gdsii file to the reticle house.
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I recall writing software to read/write stream format. I wrote a library of routines that would read/write a full record (like everything in a polygon, path, text etc) so that it was easy to process a thing. Back then it was very proprietary and I was pretty lucky to get a copy of the spec. Plex'es and properties were the magic they used to convert pcells. I ended up writing a ton of useful programs for processing stream. text modification programs, hierarchy listings (fancy tree commands) layer changers, l
We're dating ourselves. (Score:2)
But going from obsessing over nanosecond timing to "deal with no unit of time shorter than a season" resonates with all of us. That is certainly the line I remember well from the book, and everybody else I've talked to remembers it as well.
Even today i suggest engineers read that book (Score:2)
It realy shows how to test a project and how complex problems can be solved!
32 bits? nobody would ever need more then that
Winner of the Pulitzer (Score:3)
Soul of a New Machine is a really fun book from the standpoint of the technology and culture of the time. But let's not forget it was widely regarded as just awesome writing: it won the Pulitzer and the National Book Award for nonfiction.
Tracey Kidder also wrote [1]Mountains Beyond Mountains [wikipedia.org], about Dr. Paul Farmer and the work of his medical non-profit Partners In Health. Another excellent read.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mountains_Beyond_Mountains&oldid=1332414346
Also required reading in history of technology (Score:2)
Also assigned reading in Michael Mahoney's course on the history of science and technology at Princeton circa 1984. Although I had read it already -- and found it inspiring.
RIP Tracy Kidder.
And also RIP Professor Mahoney who died in 2008 at the relatively young age of 69 -- just when a historian is typically getting very productive.
[1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]
[2]https://www.dailyprincetonian.... [dailyprincetonian.com]
"Histories of Computing"
[3]https://www.hup.harvard.edu/bo... [harvard.edu]
"Computer technology is pervasive in the modern world,
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Sean_Mahoney
[2] https://www.dailyprincetonian.com/article/2008/07/historian-of-science-and-longtime-professor-mahoney-gs-67-dies
[3] https://www.hup.harvard.edu/books/9780674055681
XYZZY (Score:2)
It's been almost 30 years since I touched AOS/VS. If you typed in "XYZZY" on the 16-bit version, I believe it come back with "Nothing happens." I worked for years on systems running PRIMOS (Prime Computer). Both were mini-computer systems whose star rose and sank. Side note: In 1992, two weeks after I left the job that was running Prime Computer stuff (9955, 9955 Mod-II), PRIME Computer announced it was getting out of the hardware business.
'Soul' is utterly briliant (Score:2)
I had been working for a large timeshare company for several years before "Soul of a New Machine" was published. At the risk of being immodest, every page could have been written about my experiences and collegues, at a fantastic workplace filled with brilliant people who I will never forget. Sorry to hear of your swapout, Ms Kidder.
Really great book (Score:2)
It combines 2 things, very good portraits of the people designing computers, and very good "bird's eye views" of how computers work. Particularly the later is great as the author managed to distill the core of each concept into something even a lay-person can swallow and understand. It's didactical simplification to the point and not beyond it. So what he says is stays correct, only ignoring things that are not important.
late 1970s (Score:2)
The DG Eclipse and the DEC VAX were released in the late 1970s.
For a decade, the DEC salesforce, had any easy time selling machines. One of my sales was for $3M in 1983.
Great book, partially why I am a programmer (Score:5, Informative)
I loved that book! It romanticized computers and programming and partially inspired my career.
RIP, Mr Kidder.
The screwdriver is used up! (Score:2)
But at least it wasn't used for welding.
I concur and still remember many details from The Soul of a New Machine many decades after reading it. Makes me feel used up to hear that he's gone. And my age now feels too close to his...
Most recent of his books that I read was called Mountains Beyond Mountains about Dr Paul Farmer, another great man who died relatively young... Turns out I haven't been able to find any of his other books locally, which surprised me.
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> Turns out I haven't been able to find any of his other books locally, which surprised me.
"House"
Re: The screwdriver is used up! (Score:2)
I found "House" well written, not exciting, but worth reading.
You won't read on an Ereader or phone ?