Minicomputers: The Soul of an Old Machine

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.


 If you want to read up on some of our research on
minicomputers, you can check out all our bonus material over at
redhat.com/commandlineheroes. You’ll find extra content for every
episode. Follow along with the episode transcript.