Estimated reading time: 3 minutes

Dan’s Biz Bookshelf: ‘The Soul of a New Machine’

Every once in a while, it's worth pulling an old book off the shelf to see if it still has something to teach us. That's exactly what I did recently with Tracy Kidder's Pulitzer Prize-winning The Soul of a New Machine. I first read it more than 40 years ago when it was considered essential reading for anyone interested in technology and engineering. I wondered if it would still hold up after all these years. More importantly, I wanted to see how much the electronics industry had changed since the late 1970s and early 1980s.

Here's the answer: The industry has changed beyond anything those engineers could have imagined. But the people haven't changed nearly as much. That’s what makes this book such a fascinating read today.

When Kidder takes us inside Data General's race to build a new minicomputer, we enter a world where memory is measured in kilobytes, processors fill circuit boards, and engineers spend countless hours squeezing every ounce of performance from hardware that today would be hopelessly obsolete. Reading those technical details now almost makes you smile. The smartphone in your pocket has more computing power than entire computer rooms did back then. The design software, simulation tools, automated testing, AI-assisted engineering, and manufacturing technologies we take for granted simply didn't exist.

As someone who has spent most of my career in the PCB industry, I couldn't help comparing that era with today's electronics world. Back then, laying out a circuit board was painstaking work. Communication happened face-to-face or over the telephone. Product development cycles stretched for months or years.

Today, engineers collaborate around the world in real time. AI assists with design, and PCB manufacturers build incredibly complex HDI boards with features those early designers would have considered impossible. The technology has advanced at an astonishing pace.

Yet what struck me most during this second reading wasn't the technology, it was the people.

What Kidder understood then remains true today. Great products are still created by passionate people who become obsessed with solving difficult problems. They still work late into the night, argue over technical decisions, and celebrate breakthroughs that outsiders would never understand. They still pour themselves into projects because they care deeply about building something remarkable.

That hasn't changed at all.

One reason this book became a classic is that it isn't really about computers. It's about innovation, leadership, and teamwork. It's also about ambition and the emotional roller coaster of trying to create something that has never existed before. Those lessons are timeless.

Reading it again also reminded me how far our industry has come. Today's electronics manufacturers routinely produce products that once belonged in science fiction: Flexible circuits wrap around medical devices. Satellites contain electronics that survive the harsh conditions of space. Autonomous vehicles process enormous amounts of data every second. Smartphones connect billions of people across the globe. None of this would have seemed remotely possible to the engineers Kidder followed.

Yet every one of today's breakthroughs rests on the shoulders of people like those pioneers. Their work laid the foundation for everything that followed.

I also found myself appreciating Kidder's writing more than I did the first time around. Forty years ago, I was fascinated by engineering. Today, I'm more interested in the leadership lessons, personalities, sacrifices, and culture of innovation. Experience changes the way you read a book. What seemed like technical storytelling decades ago now feels like a study of what motivates exceptional people. That's the mark of a truly great book.

Reading this book again reminded me that the best books don't change. We do. If you've never read The Soul of a New Machine, I highly recommend it, especially if you work in electronics, engineering, manufacturing, or technology. Do yourself a favor and read it again. You'll see it through entirely different eyes. I certainly did.

Forty years later, I found myself marveling not only at how much electronics has evolved but also at how remarkably consistent human ingenuity remains. Innovation is still driven by curious people willing to tackle impossible problems.

That's what Tracy Kidder captured so brilliantly all those years ago, and that's why The Soul of a New Machine remains just as relevant today as it was when it first appeared on bookstore shelves.

Sometimes, looking back is the best way to appreciate just how far we've come.

Dan Beaulieu is president of D.B. Management Group.

Title: The Soul of the New Machine
Author: Tracy Kidder
Copyright: 1982 by Little Brown and Company
Price: $9.99 (Kindle)
Pages: 297