At the level of the microcode, physical and abstract meet. The
Tracy Kidder The Soul of a New Machine
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In "The Soul of a New Machine," Tracy Kidder delves into the intricate world of computer engineering, where the tangible aspects of hardware and the conceptual nature of software converge. The book illustrates how engineers navigate both physical components and abstract ideas, showcasing the complexity of creating innovative technology. This intersection is central to understanding modern computing, as it highlights the collaboration between different types of knowledge and expertise.

Kidder emphasizes the intense dedication and creativity required in the engineering process, revealing the challenges faced by the teams working on breakthrough projects. By focusing on the human elements intertwined with technical struggles, the narrative brings to life the passion and ingenuity that drive advancements in the field. Ultimately, the book serves as a testament to the transformative power of technology and the minds behind it.

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The Soul of a New Machine
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Other quotes in The Soul of a New Machine

Among engineers generally, the most common form of ambition-the one made most socially acceptable-has been the desire to become a manager. If you don't become one by a certain age, then in the eyes of many of your peers you become a failure. Among computer engineers, I think, the wish to manage must be a virtual instinct.
Tracy Kidder The Soul of a New Machine
Among engineers generally, the most common form of ambition-the one made most socially acceptable-has been the desire to become a manager. If you don't become one by a certain age, then in the eyes of many of your peers you become a failure. Among computer engineers, I think, the wish to manage must be a virtual instinct.
Yet it is a fact, not entirely lost on management consultants, that some people would rather work twelve hours a day of their own choosing than eight that are prescribed. Provided, of course, that the work is interesting. That was the main thing.
Tracy Kidder The Soul of a New Machine
Yet it is a fact, not entirely lost on management consultants, that some people would rather work twelve hours a day of their own choosing than eight that are prescribed. Provided, of course, that the work is interesting. That was the main thing.
Engineers want to produce something, said Wallach. I didn't go to school for six years just to get a paycheck. I thought that if this is what engineering's all about, the hell with it. He went to night school, to get a master's in business administration. I was always looking for the buck. I'd get the M.B.A., go back to New York, and make some money, he figured. But he didn't really want to do that. He wanted to build computers.
Tracy Kidder The Soul of a New Machine
Engineers want to produce something, said Wallach. I didn't go to school for six years just to get a paycheck. I thought that if this is what engineering's all about, the hell with it. He went to night school, to get a master's in business administration. I was always looking for the buck. I'd get the M.B.A., go back to New York, and make some money, he figured. But he didn't really want to do that. He wanted to build computers.
About ten other young, male undergraduates regularly attended these sessions of midnight programming. It was a whole subculture. It's been popularized now, but it was a secret cult in my days, said Alsing. The game of programming-and it is a game-was so fascinating. We'd stay up all night and experience it. It really is like a drug, I think. A few of his fellow midnight programmers began to ignore their girlfriends and eventually lost them for the sake of playing with the machine all night. Some started sleeping days and missed all their classes, thereby ruining their grades. Alsing and a few others flunked out of school.
Tracy Kidder The Soul of a New Machine
About ten other young, male undergraduates regularly attended these sessions of midnight programming. It was a whole subculture. It's been popularized now, but it was a secret cult in my days, said Alsing. The game of programming-and it is a game-was so fascinating. We'd stay up all night and experience it. It really is like a drug, I think. A few of his fellow midnight programmers began to ignore their girlfriends and eventually lost them for the sake of playing with the machine all night. Some started sleeping days and missed all their classes, thereby ruining their grades. Alsing and a few others flunked out of school.
It was an IBM machine, archaic now but gaudy then. The university owned it, in effect, and it lay inside a room that none but the machine's professional caretakers could enter during the day. But Alsing found out that a student could just walk into that room at night and play with the computer. Alsing didn't drink much and he never took any other drugs. "I was a midnight programmer," he confessed.
Tracy Kidder The Soul of a New Machine
It was an IBM machine, archaic now but gaudy then. The university owned it, in effect, and it lay inside a room that none but the machine's professional caretakers could enter during the day. But Alsing found out that a student could just walk into that room at night and play with the computer. Alsing didn't drink much and he never took any other drugs. "I was a midnight programmer," he confessed.
a professor of computer science at MIT named Joseph Weizenbaum writes of a malady he calls the compulsion to program. He describes the afflicted as bright young men of disheveled appearance, often with sunken, glowing eyes, who play out megalomaniacal fantasies of omnipotence at computer consoles; they sit at their machines, he writes, their arms tensed and waiting to fire their fingers, already poised to strike, at the buttons and keys on which their attention seems to be as riveted as a gambler's on the rolling dice.
Tracy Kidder The Soul of a New Machine
a professor of computer science at MIT named Joseph Weizenbaum writes of a malady he calls the compulsion to program. He describes the afflicted as bright young men of disheveled appearance, often with sunken, glowing eyes, who play out megalomaniacal fantasies of omnipotence at computer consoles; they sit at their machines, he writes, their arms tensed and waiting to fire their fingers, already poised to strike, at the buttons and keys on which their attention seems to be as riveted as a gambler's on the rolling dice.
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Other quotes in book quote

All the things you can talk about in anyone's work are the things that are least important.
Edward Gorey Ascending Peculiarity:...
All the things you can talk about in anyone's work are the things that are least important.
{...} what I wish for Chizalum is the following: that she is full of opinions, and that her opinions stem from a well-informed, humane, and open mind. That she have health and happiness. That she have the life she wants to have.
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Dear Ijeawele, or A...
{...} what I wish for Chizalum is the following: that she is full of opinions, and that her opinions stem from a well-informed, humane, and open mind. That she have health and happiness. That she have the life she wants to have.
«In memory of the countless men and women of all creeds, nations, and races who fell victim to the fascist and communist belief in the Inexorable Laws of Historical Destiny.»
Mario Vargas Llosa The call of the tribe
«In memory of the countless men and women of all creeds, nations, and races who fell victim to the fascist and communist belief in the Inexorable Laws of Historical Destiny.»
"That's a huge gamble." "We're long past the time for careful certainty."
Peter F. Hamilton The Evolutionary Void
"That's a huge gamble." "We're long past the time for careful certainty."
When had it become so ingrained in her to apologize whenever she wanted something for herself?
Robin Hobb The Rain Wilds...
When had it become so ingrained in her to apologize whenever she wanted something for herself?
Relationships and marriages are hard enough, but you add war into the mix and small fissures become gaping wounds. No one sees what you're seeing - again that clear-eyed, unbiased thing - except your fellow soldiers. It's like one of those movies where only the hero can see the ghosts and everyone else thinks the hero is crazy.
Harlan Coben Fool Me Once
Relationships and marriages are hard enough, but you add war into the mix and small fissures become gaping wounds. No one sees what you're seeing - again that clear-eyed, unbiased thing - except your fellow soldiers. It's like one of those movies where only the hero can see the ghosts and everyone else thinks the hero is crazy.
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