The Completion of Eagle

The last third of the book chronicles the long awaited and successful completion of Eagle, Data General's new computer. The team of engineers, technicians and managers have at this point devoted themselves to the machine and the final debugging process. So many people and such complexity of design are involved that the machine is in part mysterious; it is more than the sum of its parts. There is a great deal of tension with every failure during the debugging stage because there is always a chance that there will be a fatal flaw, a "time bomb," set way back in the initial construction of the machine that will obliterate it. However, in the end the team is successful and Eagle is indeed a superior machine, the fastest of its kind to date.
One interesting reflection I had about this was that the group experienced an intense "postpartum depression" after the birth of Eagle. They eventually disbanded completely, and Tom West, the leader of the group, moved away to train engineers in Asia. As I noted in my previous blog, these people were not motivated by money or power, but rather by the sheer pleasure of building a machine, of making it work, of putting a small piece of themselves into it. Once this was accomplished they seemed to lose motivation. I think the very end of the book sheds some light on why the come down was so hard for the creators of Eagle. At Eagle's formal unveiling ceremony in NYC, the regional sales manager gives a speech to inspire his sales people. He asks, "What motivates people?" And he answers himself, "Ego and the money to buy things that they and their families want." Kidder concludes the book here, stating: "Clearly, the machine no longer belonged to its makers."
Unfortunately, I think there is a lot of truth in the salesperson's view of motivation. Technology can and is used for materialistic and egotistical purposes. It is also used as a tool of war and domination, since it is largely controlled by the rich and powerful. Of course, it can and is used in positive ways too. As I incorporate technology into my classroom I want to teach it conscientiously and encourage students to use it thoughtfully. I think they are the generation that will need to really define the ethical use of technology. How will they ensure privacy, peace and socioeconomic equality in this new technological era? How can it be used to improve the world?