Discover the fascinating story of minicomputers and their pivotal role in shaping personal computing. Explore the intense rivalry between tech giants like Digital Equipment Corporation and Data General. Hear firsthand accounts of innovations like the advanced 32-bit design and the challenges of developing the Eagle computer. Delve into the balance of work and life in the tech industry, along with the sacrifices of the unsung heroes behind these groundbreaking advancements.
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Data General's Internal Rivalry
Data General, to compete with DEC, split its engineering department, sending one team to North Carolina to develop a 32-bit machine (Project Fountainhead).
The remaining engineers, feeling slighted, secretly started their own project (Project Eagle) under Tom West's leadership.
question_answer ANECDOTE
The Two Stories of Project Eagle
Tom West presented two stories about his team's project: an enhancement of the old product line to DeCastro, and a market-killing 32-bit machine to his team.
This clandestine approach allowed the Eagle project to proceed in secret.
insights INSIGHT
Bridging the 16-bit and 32-bit Worlds
The Eagle project faced the challenge of transitioning from 16-bit to 32-bit architecture while maintaining backward compatibility for existing software.
This was crucial to retain customers invested in older technology.
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The Soul of a New Machine is a Pulitzer Prize-winning book that tells the story of a team of engineers at Data General who were tasked with designing a new 32-bit minicomputer, the Eclipse MV/8000, to compete with Digital Equipment Corporation's VAX computer. The book, written by Tracy Kidder, provides a detailed and compelling account of the engineers' year-long effort, highlighting the intense work ethic, technological innovations, and personal sacrifices involved in the project. It explores the culture of the high-tech industry, the grassroots approach to innovation, and the tension between engineering quality and time to market. The book is praised for its narrative art and its insight into the human side of technological development.
We partnered with Red Hat to promote Season 4 of Command Line Heroes — a podcast about the people who transform technology from the command line up. Season 4 is all about hardware that changed the game. We’re featuring episode 1 from season 4 — called “Minicomputers: The soul of an old machine.” This is the story of Minicomputers and how they paved the way for the personal computers that could fit in a bag and, eventually, the phones in our pockets.
They don’t fit in your pocket. But in their day, minicomputers were an order of magnitude smaller than the room-sized mainframes that preceded them. And they paved the way for the personal computers that could fit in a bag and, eventually, the phones in your pocket.
16-bit minicomputers changed the world of IT in the 1970s. They gave companies the opportunity for each engineer to have their own machines. But it wasn’t quite enough, not until the arrival of 32-bit versions.
Carl Alsing and Jim Guyer recount their work at Data General to create a revolutionary new 32-bit machine. But their now legendary work was done in secret. Codenamed “Eagle,” their machine was designed to compete with one being built by another team in their own company. These engineers recall the corporate politics and intrigue required to keep the project going—and how they turned restrictions into advantages. Neal Firth discusses life on an exciting-but-demanding project. One where the heroes worked together because they wanted to, without expectations of awards or fame. And all three discuss how this story was immortalized in the non-fiction engineering classic, The Soul of a New Machine by Tracy Kidder.
The Changelog: Software Development, Open Source 