Microserfs
Encyclopedia
Microserfs, published by HarperCollins
in 1995, is an epistolary novel
by Douglas Coupland
. It first appeared in short story form as the cover article for the January 1994 issue of Wired
magazine and was subsequently expanded to full novel length. Set in the early 1990s, it captures the state of the technology industry before Windows 95
, and predicts the dot-com bubble
of the late 1990s.
The novel is presented in the form of diary entries
maintained on a PowerBook
by the narrator, Daniel. Because of this, as well as its formatting and usage of emoticons, this novel is similar to what emerged a decade later as the blog
format.
Coupland revisited many of the ideas in Microserfs in his 2006 novel JPod
, which has been labeled "Microserfs for the Google generation".
and in Redmond
, Washington, and the movement to Silicon Valley
and the "Oop!" project.
The novel begins in Redmond as the characters are working on different projects at Microsoft's main campus. Life at the campus feels like a feudalistic
society, with Bill Gates as the lord, and the employees the serf
s. The majority of the main characters—Daniel (the narrator), Susan, Todd, Bug, Michael, and Abe—are living together in a "geek house", and their lives are dedicated to their projects and the company. Daniel's foundations are shaken when his father, a longtime employee of IBM
, is laid off. The lifespan of a Microsoft coder weighs heavily on Daniel's mind.
The second movement of the novel begins when the characters are offered jobs in Silicon Valley working on a project for Michael, who has by then left Redmond. All of the housemates—some immediately, some after thought—decide to move to the Valley.
The characters' lives change drastically once they leave the limited sphere of the Microsoft campus and enter the world of "One-Point-Oh". They begin to work on a project called "Oop!" (a reference to object-oriented programming
). Oop! is a Lego
-like design program, allowing dynamic creation of many objects, bearing a resemblance to 2009's Minecraft
. (Coupland appears on the rear cover of the novel's hardcover versions photographed in Denmark
's Legoland Billund
, holding a Lego 747.)
One of the undercurrents of the plot is Daniel and his family's relationship to Jed, Daniel's younger brother who died in a boating accident while they were children.
Susan
Todd
Bug Barbecue
Michael
Karla
Abe
Ethan
Dusty
Amy
Emmett
Anatole
Daniel's father
Daniel's mother
Jed
Misty
The novel was a radical departure from Coupland's previous novel, Life After God
. "I wrote the two books under radically different mind-sets, and Serfs was a willful rerouting into a different realm". Coupland first noticed that his art school friends were working in computers in 1992.
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 "Look & Feel" lawsuit by Apple Inc., a company that had at times 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.
magazine in 1994. The story would later be expanded into the novel.
Shortly before the publication of Microserfs, Coupland began to distance himself from his label as spokesperson for Generation X
.
Coupland's novel predicted the outcome of the late-1990s dot-com bubble
with his depiction of the Oop! project's search for capital.
The abridged
audiobook for Microserfs was read by Matthew Perry
.
This message is an adapted version of the Rifleman's Creed
.
HarperCollins
HarperCollins is a publishing company owned by News Corporation. It is the combination of the publishers William Collins, Sons and Co Ltd, a British company, and Harper & Row, an American company, itself the result of an earlier merger of Harper & Brothers and Row, Peterson & Company. The worldwide...
in 1995, is an epistolary novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
by Douglas Coupland
Douglas Coupland
Douglas Coupland is a Canadian novelist. His fiction is complemented by recognized works in design and visual art arising from his early formal training. His first novel, the 1991 international bestseller Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture, popularized terms such as McJob and...
. It first appeared in short story form as the cover article for the January 1994 issue of Wired
Wired (magazine)
Wired is a full-color monthly American magazine and on-line periodical, published since January 1993, that reports on how new and developing technology affects culture, the economy, and politics...
magazine and was subsequently expanded to full novel length. Set in the early 1990s, it captures the state of the technology industry before Windows 95
Windows 95
Windows 95 is a consumer-oriented graphical user interface-based operating system. It was released on August 24, 1995 by Microsoft, and was a significant progression from the company's previous Windows products...
, and predicts the dot-com bubble
Dot-com bubble
The dot-com bubble was a speculative bubble covering roughly 1995–2000 during which stock markets in industrialized nations saw their equity value rise rapidly from growth in the more...
of the late 1990s.
The novel is presented in the form of diary entries
Diary
A diary is a record with discrete entries arranged by date reporting on what has happened over the course of a day or other period. A personal diary may include a person's experiences, and/or thoughts or feelings, including comment on current events outside the writer's direct experience. Someone...
maintained on a PowerBook
PowerBook
The PowerBook was a line of Macintosh laptop computers that was designed, manufactured and sold by Apple Computer, Inc. from 1991 to 2006. During its lifetime, the PowerBook went through several major revisions and redesigns, often being the first to incorporate features that would later become...
by the narrator, Daniel. Because of this, as well as its formatting and usage of emoticons, this novel is similar to what emerged a decade later as the blog
Blog
A blog is a type of website or part of a website supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in...
format.
Coupland revisited many of the ideas in Microserfs in his 2006 novel JPod
JPod
JPod is a novel by Douglas Coupland published by Random House of Canada in 2006. Set in 2005, the book explores the strange and unconventional everyday life of the main character, Ethan Jarlewski, and his team of video game programmers whose last names all begin with the letter 'J'.JPod was...
, which has been labeled "Microserfs for the Google generation".
Plot
The plot of the novel has two distinct movements: the events at MicrosoftMicrosoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
and in Redmond
Redmond, Washington
Redmond is a city in King County, Washington, United States, located east of Seattle. The population was 54,144 at the 2010 census,up from 45,256 in 2000....
, Washington, and the movement to Silicon Valley
Silicon Valley
Silicon Valley is a term which refers to the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area in Northern California in the United States. The region is home to many of the world's largest technology corporations...
and the "Oop!" project.
The novel begins in Redmond as the characters are working on different projects at Microsoft's main campus. Life at the campus feels like a feudalistic
Feudalism
Feudalism was a set of legal and military customs in medieval Europe that flourished between the 9th and 15th centuries, which, broadly defined, was a system for ordering society around relationships derived from the holding of land in exchange for service or labour.Although derived from the...
society, with Bill Gates as the lord, and the employees the serf
SERF
A spin exchange relaxation-free magnetometer is a type of magnetometer developed at Princeton University in the early 2000s. SERF magnetometers measure magnetic fields by using lasers to detect the interaction between alkali metal atoms in a vapor and the magnetic field.The name for the technique...
s. The majority of the main characters—Daniel (the narrator), Susan, Todd, Bug, Michael, and Abe—are living together in a "geek house", and their lives are dedicated to their projects and the company. Daniel's foundations are shaken when his father, a longtime employee of IBM
IBM
International Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas...
, is laid off. The lifespan of a Microsoft coder weighs heavily on Daniel's mind.
The second movement of the novel begins when the characters are offered jobs in Silicon Valley working on a project for Michael, who has by then left Redmond. All of the housemates—some immediately, some after thought—decide to move to the Valley.
The characters' lives change drastically once they leave the limited sphere of the Microsoft campus and enter the world of "One-Point-Oh". They begin to work on a project called "Oop!" (a reference to object-oriented programming
Object-oriented programming
Object-oriented programming is a programming paradigm using "objects" – data structures consisting of data fields and methods together with their interactions – to design applications and computer programs. Programming techniques may include features such as data abstraction,...
). Oop! is a Lego
Lego
Lego is a line of construction toys manufactured by the Lego Group, a privately held company based in Billund, Denmark. The company's flagship product, Lego, consists of colorful interlocking plastic bricks and an accompanying array of gears, minifigures and various other parts...
-like design program, allowing dynamic creation of many objects, bearing a resemblance to 2009's Minecraft
Minecraft
Minecraft is a sandbox-building independent video game written in Java originally by Swedish creator Markus "Notch" Persson and now by his company, Mojang, formed from the proceeds of the game. It was released as an alpha on May 17, 2009, with a beta version on December 20, 2010...
. (Coupland appears on the rear cover of the novel's hardcover versions photographed in Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
's Legoland Billund
Legoland Billund
Legoland Billund, the original Legoland park, opened in 1968 in Billund, Denmark. The Park is located next to the original Lego factory and Denmark's second busiest airport Billund Airport. 1.6 million guests visited the park in 2007 and over the years more than 40 million guests have been through...
, holding a Lego 747.)
One of the undercurrents of the plot is Daniel and his family's relationship to Jed, Daniel's younger brother who died in a boating accident while they were children.
Characters
Daniel- The book's narrator and main character. Initially a software tester for Microsoft. His thoughts are funneled into the book through the epistolary format of the novel, and also as he records stream of consciousness lists of terms that he believes exist in a computer's subconscious.
Susan
- A programmer initially working for Microsoft. Throughout the novel, Susan attempts (not always successfully) to find and maintain a meaning to life outside of work. She eventually gains semi-celebrity status after founding Chyx, a feminist support group for Valley women who code.
Todd
- A tester and coworker of Daniel's who is obsessed with bodybuildingBodybuildingBodybuilding is a form of body modification involving intensive muscle hypertrophy. An individual who engages in this activity is referred to as a bodybuilder. In competitive and professional bodybuilding, bodybuilders display their physiques to a panel of judges, who assign points based on their...
and is continually searching for something to believe in. His family is very ChristianChristianA Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
, while Todd has rejected his parents' faith.
Bug Barbecue
- A tester and coworker of Daniel's; "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 closetComing outComing out is a figure of speech for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people's disclosure of their sexual orientation and/or gender identity....
. His primary reason for leaving Microsoft for Oop! was to "leave the old me behind" and start over.
Michael
- A gifted programmer with high-functioning autismHigh-functioning autismHigh-functioning autism is an informal term applied to autistic people who are deemed to be "higher functioning" than other autistic people, by one or more metrics. There is no consensus as to the definition. HFA is not yet a recognised diagnosis in the DSM-IV-TR or the ICD-10.The amount of...
(specifically dyspraxiaDyspraxiaDevelopmental dyspraxia is a motor learning difficulty that can affect planning of movements and co-ordination as a result of brain messages not being accurately transmitted to the body...
) initially working for Microsoft. Michael's decision to leave Microsoft and found a startup companyStartup companyA startup company or startup is a company with a limited operating history. These companies, generally newly created, are in a phase of development and research for markets...
is the impetus for the change in lives of the other characters. Michael lives on a "FlatlandFlatlandFlatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions is an 1884 satirical novella by the English schoolmaster Edwin Abbott Abbott. Writing pseudonymously as "A Square", Abbott used the fictional two-dimensional world of Flatland to offer pointed observations on the social hierarchy of Victorian culture...
er" diet, meaning that 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 RobitussinRobitussinRobitussin is a line of cold and cough medicines currently produced by Pfizer. Robitussin is available in various formulations. Robitussin contains an expectorant ; Robitussin DM adds a cough suppressant to the expectorant ; Robitussin CF is a cold formula that adds an expectorant and a nasal...
cough syrup, which contains the dissociative drug dextromethorphanDextromethorphanDextromethorphan is an antitussive drug. It is one of the active ingredients in many over-the-counter cold and cough medicines, such as Robitussin, NyQuil, Dimetapp, Vicks, Coricidin, Delsym, and others, including generic labels. Dextromethorphan has also found other uses in medicine, ranging...
.
Karla
- A coder, coworker, and girlfriend of Daniel. Karla's relationship with her family is tense, and she actively avoids contact with them. She begins the story as a closed-off person, but as the novel unfolds her character begins to be more open and understanding. She has a history of an eating disorderEating disorderEating disorders refer to a group of conditions defined by abnormal eating habits that may involve either insufficient or excessive food intake to the detriment of an individual's physical and mental health. Bulimia nervosa, anorexia nervosa, and binge eating disorder are the most common specific...
.
Abe
- MIT graduate coder and multimillionaire who stays with Microsoft when the rest of the characters leave for California. His email conversations with Daniel appear throughout the novel. Abe, who dearly missed his friends, eventually joins Oop! and saves the company from financial ruin.
Ethan
- President and co-founder of Oop!. Primarily business-minded, he has been a millionaire three times over with various (eventually 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 dandruffDandruffDandruff is the shedding of dead skin cells from the scalp . Dandruff is sometimes caused by frequent exposure to extreme heat and cold. As it is normal for skin cells to die and flake off, a small amount of flaking is normal and common; about 487,000 cells/cm2 get released normally after...
and his skin is pocked by scars from procedures to remove cancerous growths.
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). She becomes an employee at Oop!. She and Todd are obsessed with transforming their bodies into perfect "machines" by going to the gym every day and taking protein pills and drinks.
Amy
- A Canadian computer engineering student who is introduced later in the novel. She and Michael meet on the internet and fall in love despite never meeting in person or even knowing each other's genders. Due to Michael's fear of rejection, Daniel is sent to the University of WaterlooUniversity of WaterlooThe University of Waterloo is a comprehensive public university in the city of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. The school was founded in 1957 by Drs. Gerry Hagey and Ira G. Needles, and has since grown to an institution of more than 30,000 students, faculty, and staff...
to meet her. Amy becomes engaged to Michael and joins the Oop! team after graduating from university.
Emmett
- Introduced later in the novel, Emmett is a meek and asthmatic storyboard artist hired by Oop! who enters into a submissive relationship with Susan. He collects mangaMangaManga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
despite his hatred of Japan's influence on American animation.
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 accompanies them to Las Vegas for the CESConsumer Electronics ShowThe International Consumer Electronics Show is a major technology-related trade show held each January in the Las Vegas Convention Center, Las Vegas, Nevada, United States. Not open to the public, the Consumer Electronics Association-sponsored show typically hosts previews of products and new...
convention. His accent becomes stronger around women.
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, she 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 a looming presence in Daniel's mind throughout the novel.
Misty
- The Underwoods' overweight dog. She was originally trained to be a seeing eye dogGuide dogGuide dogs are assistance dogs trained to lead blind and visually impaired people around obstacles.Although the dogs can be trained to navigate various obstacles, they are partially color blind and are not capable of interpreting street signs...
, but failed the exam because she was too affectionate.
Microsoft, Silicon Valley, and geek culture
Coupland lived in Redmond, Washington for six weeks and Palo Alto, Silicon Valley for four months researching the lives of Microsoft workers. "It was a 'Gorillas in the Mist' kind of observation… What do they put in their glove compartments? What snack foods do they eat? What posters are on their bedroom walls?" Friends from Microsoft and Apple also helped him with research.The novel was a radical departure from Coupland's previous novel, Life After God
Life After God
Life After God is a collection of short stories by Douglas Coupland, published in 1994. The stories are set around a theme of a generation raised without religion. The jacket for the hardcover book reads “You are the first generation to be raised without religion.” The text is an exploration of...
. "I wrote the two books under radically different mind-sets, and Serfs was a willful rerouting into a different realm". Coupland first noticed that his art school friends were working in computers in 1992.
Digital faith
Coupland's research turned up links to the themes of Life After God. "What surprised me about Microsoft is that no one has any conception of an afterlife. There is so little thought given to eternal issues that their very absence make them pointedly there. These people are so locked into the world, by default some sort of transcendence is located elsewhere, and obviously machines become the totem they imbue with sacred properties, wishes, hopes, goals, desires, dreams. That sounds like 1940s SF, but it's become the world."Allusions to history, geography, and science
The book takes place first at MicrosoftMicrosoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
in Redmond, Washington
Redmond, Washington
Redmond is a city in King County, Washington, United States, located east of Seattle. The population was 54,144 at the 2010 census,up from 45,256 in 2000....
(near Seattle) and then Silicon Valley
Silicon Valley
Silicon Valley is a term which refers to the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area in Northern California in the United States. The region is home to many of the world's largest technology corporations...
(near San Francisco). The time period is 1993–1995, at a time when Microsoft
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
has reached dominance in the software industry and emerged victorious from the "Look & Feel" lawsuit by Apple Inc., a company that had at times 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
Highway
A highway is any public road. In American English, the term is common and almost always designates major roads. In British English, the term designates any road open to the public. Any interconnected set of highways can be variously referred to as a "highway system", a "highway network", or a...
interchange
Interchange (road)
In the field of road transport, an interchange is a road junction that typically uses grade separation, and one or more ramps, to permit traffic on at least one highway to pass through the junction without directly crossing any other traffic stream. It differs from a standard intersection, at which...
out of Lego pieces to honor the infrastructure destroyed by the earthquake.
History
Coupland's interest in the world of Microsoft and technology workers began with the publication of a short story in WiredWired (magazine)
Wired is a full-color monthly American magazine and on-line periodical, published since January 1993, that reports on how new and developing technology affects culture, the economy, and politics...
magazine in 1994. The story would later be expanded into the novel.
Shortly before the publication of Microserfs, Coupland began to distance himself from his label as spokesperson for Generation X
Generation X
Generation X, commonly abbreviated to Gen X, is the generation born after the Western post–World War II baby boom ended. While there is no universally agreed upon time frame, the term generally includes people born from the early 1960's through the early 1980's, usually no later than 1981 or...
.
Coupland's novel predicted the outcome of the late-1990s dot-com bubble
Dot-com bubble
The dot-com bubble was a speculative bubble covering roughly 1995–2000 during which stock markets in industrialized nations saw their equity value rise rapidly from growth in the more...
with his depiction of the Oop! project's search for capital.
The abridged
Abridgement
Abridgement or abridgment is a term defined as "shortening" or "condensing" and is most commonly used in reference to the act of reducing a written work, typically a book, into a shorter form...
audiobook for Microserfs was read by Matthew Perry
Matthew Perry (actor)
Matthew Langford Perry is a Canadian-American actor and comedian, best known for his Emmy-nominated role as Chandler Bing on the popular, long-running NBC television sitcom Friends...
.
Coded messages
Several coded messages are included within the text:- On pages 104–105 there is an encoded binary message that reads, when decoded:
This message is an adapted version of the Rifleman's Creed
Rifleman's Creed
The Rifleman's Creed is a part of basic United States Marine Corps doctrine. Major General William H. Rupertus wrote it during World War II, probably in late 1941 or early 1942. All Marines learn the creed at recruit training and they are expected to live by it...
.
- On pages 308–309, consonants appear on one page and vowels on the other. This text is taken from a letter written by Patty HearstPatty HearstPatricia Campbell Hearst , now known as Patricia Campbell Hearst Shaw, is an American newspaper heiress, socialite, actress, kidnap victim, and convicted bank robber....
to her parents when she was kidnapped.
Release
- 1995, USA, Regan Books ISBN 0-06-039148-0, Pub date June 1995, Hardback
- 1995, Canada, HarperCollins ISBN 0-00-224404-7, Pub date June 1995, Hardback
- 1996, USA, Regan Books ISBN 0-06-098704-9, Pub date June 19, 1996, Paperback
External links
- David Louis Edelman's review of the book, published in the Baltimore Evening Sun, June 26, 1995