Tom West

Joseph Thomas West III (November 22, 1939 – May 19, 2011) was an American technologist. West is notable for being the key figure in the Pulitzer Prize winning non-fiction book ''The Soul of a New Machine''.

West began his career in computer design at RCA, after seven years at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, a job he'd gotten right out of college. He started working for Data General in 1974. He became the head of Data General's Eclipse group and then became the lead on the Eagle project, building a machine officially named the Eclipse MV/8000. After the publication of ''Soul of a New Machine'', West was sent to Japan by Data General where he helped design DG-1, the first full-screen laptop. His last project in 1996, a thin Web server, was intended to be an internet-ready machine. West retired as Chief Technologist in 1998. Provided by Wikipedia