Microserfs

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Microserfs
Author Douglas Coupland
Cover artist William Graef
Country Canada
Language English
Genre(s) Epistolary novel
Publisher Regan Books, HarperCollins
Publication date June, 1995
Media type Print (Hardback & Paperback)
Pages 371 pp (Hardback)
ISBN ISBN 0-06-039148-0 (USA hardback), ISBN 0-00-224404-7 (Canada hardback)
Preceded by Life After God
Followed by Polaroids from the Dead

Microserfs, published by HarperCollins in 1995, is a novel by Douglas Coupland. It first appeared in short story form [1] as the cover article for the January, 1994 issue of Wired [2] and was subsequently expanded to full novel length. Set in the early 1990s, it portrays the lives of coworkers and friends in the software industry and the effect of their work on their relationships and lives.

The novel is presented in the form of diary entries maintained on a computer by the narrator. Because of this, as well as its formatting and usage of emoticons, this novel is similar to the modern blog format, although its setting for the most part predates the widespread usage of the web.

Coupland revisits many of the ideas in Microserfs in his 2006 novel JPod.

Contents

[edit] Explanation of the novel's title

The novel's title is a play on words involving the software company Microsoft—most of the major characters in the novel are initially employees of the company—and the term serf (the lowest social class of the feudal society).

[edit] Plot summary

The novel begins with a glimpse into the lives of employees of Microsoft: the people that create the technology that sits on the majority of office desks in the world. Microsoft is portrayed as having a feudalistic structure, with Bill Gates as its lord and the employees as Microserfs. The characters, most of them in their early or mid-twenties, share the same workplace and home in the Seattle area. They decry their employment situation and the effects it has on their social lives: their daily schedules are dictated by software product cycles.

When one of them decides to leave Microsoft and found a software company to create a Lego-like software toy called "Oop!" (a reference to object-oriented programming), the others jump at the opportunity to join him in California. They leave behind stability and job security for the relative unknowns of a start-up company. The characters are driven not only by the chance that their software product will be financially successful, but also by the chance to be "One-Point-Oh": "To be the first to do the first version of something". The novel examines the effects on their personal lives of their struggle to obtain venture capital and bring their software to market. Also, as one character alluded, the change of cultures from Microsoft to Silicon Valley triggers the group to grow and blossom as individuals.

[edit] Characters

Daniel 
The book's narrator and main character. Initially a software tester for Microsoft.
Susan 
A programmer initially working for Microsoft. Throughout the novel, Susan attempts to find and maintain a meaning to life outside of work, not always successfully. She eventually gains semi-celebrity status after founding a group called Chyx, a support group for Valley women who code.
Todd 
A tester and coworker of Daniel who is obsessed with bodybuilding and is continually searching for something to believe in. He eventually fathers a baby by Dusty.
Bug 
A tester and coworker of Daniel — "the World's Most Bitter Man". He is older than most of the other characters, and likes to remind them of his greater experience in the software industry. Eventually he comes out of the closet. His primary reason for leaving Microsoft for Oop! was to "leave the old me behind" and start over.
Michael 
A highly gifted, yet somewhat stereotypically socially awkward, programmer initially working for Microsoft. Michael's decision to leave Microsoft and found a software start-up company is the impetus that changes the lives of the characters of the novel. Michael lives on a "Flatlander" diet, meaning he eats only things that are two dimensional; this began after a period during which he barred himself in his office, eating only what his co-workers slid under the door. His screen name is "Kraft Singles". Michael is addicted to taking large doses of Robitussin cough mixture, which contains the dissociative drug dextromethorphan.
Karla 
A coder, coworker, and girlfriend of Daniel. Karla's developing relationship with Daniel forms a major component of the novel.
Abe 
MIT graduate coder who stays with Microsoft when the rest of the characters leave for California, although he eventually joins them. His emails with Daniel are an integral part of the novel.
Ethan 
President and co-founder of Oop!, primarily business-minded, has been a millionaire three times over with various (later failed) projects. He devotes his time to seeking venture capital for the startup company. Ethan's personality is diametrically opposed to the other characters, in part because of his relative lack of technical knowledge. He suffers from bad dandruff and scabs on his back from moles. It is suggested at the end of the novel that he is suffering from cancer, as he begins to have chemotherapy.
Anatole 
French coder who is Daniel's neighbor and used to work for Apple. Although not an Oop! employee, he visits the team often and even accompanied them to Las Vegas for the CES convention. Anatole is the only coder of the group that has been to Las Vegas more than once. His accent becomes stronger around women.
Dusty 
Female bodybuilder and coder who is introduced later in the novel. She is romantically involved with Todd, and they have a baby together (Lindsay). Becomes an employee at Oop! She and Todd are obsessed with creating their bodies to be perfect "machines" by going to the gym every day and taking protein pills and drinks.
Emmett 
graphic artist from Detroit hired by Oop! who develops a relationship with Susan.
Amy 
Michael's fiancée whom he met over the internet when she was a university student in Waterloo, Canada. She is also on a "Flatlander" diet. Her screen name is "BarCode" and she has a barcode tattoo on her wrist. She joins Oop! after graduating with a computer engineering degree.
Lindsay 
Dusty and Todd's infant daughter.
Daniel's Father 
A mid-level manager at IBM who represents an older generation of technical workers. After being laid off, he begins to work closely with Michael on a secret project that evokes feelings of jealousy from Daniel.
Daniel's Mother 
A librarian with little technical knowledge who serves to give the group insight into what the laypeople understand about technology.
Jed 
Daniel's younger brother who died in a childhood drowning accident. He is referenced in the book, and is a looming presence in Daniel's mind throughout.
Misty 
The Underwoods' overweight dog. She was originally trained to be a seeing eye dog, but did not pass her exam because she was too affectionate.
Jeremy 
Bug's brief partner. He is "highly into body manipulation: tattoos, piercings, and (scary) branding". Bug breaks up with him because he is "too politicized and too extreme".
Sig 
Bug's next partner, who accompanies him to the CES convention in Las Vegas.

[edit] Allusions to actual History, Geography, and current Science

The book takes place first at Microsoft in Redmond, Washington (near Seattle) and then Silicon Valley (near San Francisco). The time period is 1993–1995, at a time when Microsoft has reached dominance in the software industry and emerged victorious from the lawsuit by Apple (see Apple Computer, Inc. v. Microsoft Corp.), a company that seemed in danger of falling apart.

The Northridge earthquake takes place during the story and has a profound effect on Ethan, who eventually constructs a replica highway interchange out of Lego pieces to honor the infrastructure destroyed by the earthquake.

[edit] Trivia

 Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines.
The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.

Matthew Perry recorded the abridged audiobook version of Microserfs.

"Building Seven," the office block where Daniel and his colleagues work before they move to California, does not exist on Microsoft's Redmond campus. New hires and interns are sometimes told to go to meetings or pick up free food at this infamous building. Since Microsoft's first construction in Redmond, Building 7 has become notorious for its absence.

Several coded messages are included within the text:[3]

  • On page 104–105 there is an encoded binary message that reads, when decoded:
"I heart LiSA Computers
"This is my computer. There are many like it, but this one is mine. My computer is my best friend. It is my life. I must master it, as I must master my life. Without me, my computer is useless. Without my computer, I am useless. I must use my computer true. I true. I must compute faster than my enemy who is trying to kill me. I must outcompute him before he outcomputes me. I will. Before God, I swear this creed. My computer and myself are defenders of this country. We are masters of our enemy. We are the saviours of my life. So be it until there is no enemy, but peace. Amen.
"Tinned Peaches Yttrium San Fran
This message is an adapted version of the Rifleman's Creed.
  • On pages 308–309, consonants appear on one page and vowels on the other. This text is taken from a letter written by Patty Hearst to her parents when she was kidnapped.

[edit] Release details

[edit] References

  1. ^ Wired 3.07, July 1995. Microserfs: Transhumanity
  2. ^ Wired 2.01, January 1994. Microserfs
  3. ^ Microserfs Mystery Messages

[edit] External links

Languages