1 00:00:00,280 --> 00:00:02,920 Speaker 1: Brought to you by the reinvented two thousand twelve Camray. 2 00:00:03,160 --> 00:00:08,840 Speaker 1: It's ready. Are you get in touch with technology with 3 00:00:09,000 --> 00:00:17,639 Speaker 1: tech Stuff from how stuff dot com. Hello everyone, and 4 00:00:17,680 --> 00:00:20,360 Speaker 1: welcome to tech Stuff. My name is Chris Poulette and 5 00:00:20,360 --> 00:00:23,080 Speaker 1: I am an editor at how stuff works dot com, 6 00:00:23,120 --> 00:00:28,560 Speaker 1: and sitting across from me is senior writer Jonathan Strickland 7 00:00:28,920 --> 00:00:32,160 Speaker 1: the sun shone having no alternative on the nothing new 8 00:00:33,000 --> 00:00:37,200 Speaker 1: mm hmm. Welcome to part two of our story about 9 00:00:37,240 --> 00:00:41,159 Speaker 1: Hewlett Packard, which has been a company about almost everything 10 00:00:41,200 --> 00:00:42,959 Speaker 1: new in a lot of ways. Yeah, it was all 11 00:00:43,000 --> 00:00:49,919 Speaker 1: about new measuring devices for other devices. If you're just 12 00:00:50,040 --> 00:00:53,840 Speaker 1: tuning in. Two guys named Bill and Dave decided to 13 00:00:54,720 --> 00:00:58,960 Speaker 1: work in a garage create a company because they were 14 00:00:59,000 --> 00:01:03,240 Speaker 1: both electrical engineer years and their their mentor from college 15 00:01:03,240 --> 00:01:06,880 Speaker 1: from Stanford University in Palo Alto, California, and said, hey, 16 00:01:06,920 --> 00:01:08,720 Speaker 1: you know you, you should come up with some kind 17 00:01:08,760 --> 00:01:13,880 Speaker 1: of measurement tools that will be able to help companies 18 00:01:13,920 --> 00:01:18,280 Speaker 1: identify negative feedback. Uh. And they did, and then they 19 00:01:18,360 --> 00:01:22,760 Speaker 1: started making other kinds of products too, and uh gradually uh. 20 00:01:22,760 --> 00:01:26,920 Speaker 1: And when I say gradually, very rapidly in a burgeoning 21 00:01:26,959 --> 00:01:32,039 Speaker 1: electronic field. We're able to demonstrate their leadership both as 22 00:01:32,319 --> 00:01:37,760 Speaker 1: innovators in technology and innovators in price. We're able to 23 00:01:37,800 --> 00:01:41,600 Speaker 1: accumulate a pretty big business customer base in very short time. 24 00:01:41,720 --> 00:01:44,360 Speaker 1: They also did a lot to help employees and change 25 00:01:44,360 --> 00:01:47,280 Speaker 1: the way people did business in the United States. And 26 00:01:47,319 --> 00:01:51,080 Speaker 1: if you're wondering about other famous companies that began as 27 00:01:51,160 --> 00:01:54,920 Speaker 1: a business run out of a garage in California, look 28 00:01:55,000 --> 00:02:00,520 Speaker 1: up companies like Apple, Microsoft, and Google. Yes, because, as 29 00:02:00,560 --> 00:02:02,800 Speaker 1: it turns out, if you want to create a technology 30 00:02:02,840 --> 00:02:05,480 Speaker 1: company in California, your best bet is to start in 31 00:02:05,560 --> 00:02:08,400 Speaker 1: someone's garage. You know, I necessarily have to be yours either, 32 00:02:09,240 --> 00:02:12,000 Speaker 1: you know. I uh, I have a car poard and 33 00:02:12,040 --> 00:02:13,920 Speaker 1: I feel like most of my projects are short of 34 00:02:13,919 --> 00:02:17,840 Speaker 1: open ended, right right, So I don't know, Yeah, it 35 00:02:17,880 --> 00:02:22,160 Speaker 1: doesn't You don't have the full protection that a garage provides. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. 36 00:02:22,280 --> 00:02:24,600 Speaker 1: I've got a garage, but I only run a lemonade stand, 37 00:02:24,600 --> 00:02:27,000 Speaker 1: and unfortunately my garage does not face the road, so 38 00:02:27,160 --> 00:02:31,119 Speaker 1: it has had some hard times starting off. Also, we're 39 00:02:31,120 --> 00:02:34,960 Speaker 1: in the winter right now, so not a huge demand. Clearly, 40 00:02:35,120 --> 00:02:37,560 Speaker 1: I should have looked at my goals a little more 41 00:02:37,639 --> 00:02:40,960 Speaker 1: closely before I launched this this endeavor. But let's get 42 00:02:40,960 --> 00:02:43,320 Speaker 1: back to HP. Yeah, we decided we were going to 43 00:02:43,360 --> 00:02:45,920 Speaker 1: take a break towards the end of the nineteen fifties, 44 00:02:46,000 --> 00:02:50,640 Speaker 1: right before the end of the nineteen fifties, literally because um, again, 45 00:02:50,680 --> 00:02:54,079 Speaker 1: as you're just tuning in, HP has grown so much 46 00:02:54,080 --> 00:02:59,840 Speaker 1: in its first twenty years. Um that wait, no, yeah, 47 00:03:00,080 --> 00:03:04,600 Speaker 1: first twenty years right that it has decided that it 48 00:03:04,680 --> 00:03:08,720 Speaker 1: can grow globally, and it um decides to open its 49 00:03:08,720 --> 00:03:15,280 Speaker 1: own marketing group in Switzerland and a manufacturing operation in Germany. 50 00:03:15,560 --> 00:03:18,880 Speaker 1: So now we've got UH locations in Europe and in 51 00:03:18,960 --> 00:03:22,600 Speaker 1: the United States, and it has become a multinational corporation. Yes. 52 00:03:23,200 --> 00:03:28,639 Speaker 1: Also in nineteen HP acquired its second company, the Boonton 53 00:03:29,160 --> 00:03:32,760 Speaker 1: Radio Corporation, which was originally founded in nineteen thirty four, 54 00:03:33,160 --> 00:03:37,280 Speaker 1: and this company created electronic test equipment, so right there 55 00:03:37,320 --> 00:03:41,920 Speaker 1: in HP's wheelhouse. So the company is kind of solidifying 56 00:03:42,120 --> 00:03:47,400 Speaker 1: it's it's u place in the electronics market and again 57 00:03:48,000 --> 00:03:53,680 Speaker 1: still really concentrating on one particular set of electronic devices, 58 00:03:53,720 --> 00:03:58,400 Speaker 1: stuff that's not for consumers. I think it's interesting because Chris, 59 00:03:58,400 --> 00:04:01,680 Speaker 1: now when you think of HP today, you often what 60 00:04:01,680 --> 00:04:03,560 Speaker 1: what sort of products do you think of Well, I 61 00:04:03,600 --> 00:04:07,640 Speaker 1: think of of consumer products, especially computers, because that's what 62 00:04:07,720 --> 00:04:11,680 Speaker 1: I see more advertising for, and computers. I tend to 63 00:04:11,680 --> 00:04:14,440 Speaker 1: think also of printers. HP is very big in the 64 00:04:14,480 --> 00:04:16,760 Speaker 1: world of printers, so we we tend to think of 65 00:04:16,800 --> 00:04:19,440 Speaker 1: these devices as HP. If you say HP today, and 66 00:04:20,360 --> 00:04:22,719 Speaker 1: we'll get to it in our our third part about 67 00:04:22,760 --> 00:04:26,240 Speaker 1: how when HP was looking at the possibility of spinning 68 00:04:26,240 --> 00:04:29,400 Speaker 1: off its personal computer business, everyone freaked out. But really, 69 00:04:29,400 --> 00:04:31,320 Speaker 1: when you look at the history of the company as 70 00:04:31,360 --> 00:04:35,360 Speaker 1: a whole, the personal computer business is just a very 71 00:04:35,400 --> 00:04:38,440 Speaker 1: tiny sliver of what that company is all about. And 72 00:04:38,480 --> 00:04:41,080 Speaker 1: it's easy to forget that because that's sort of the 73 00:04:41,120 --> 00:04:45,480 Speaker 1: face that the public is really familiar with. But yes, this, 74 00:04:45,720 --> 00:04:49,640 Speaker 1: this Boonton Radio Corporation was more along the lines of 75 00:04:49,680 --> 00:04:53,359 Speaker 1: what the real core of HP's business was all about. 76 00:04:53,440 --> 00:04:59,360 Speaker 1: Creating these these devices that help companies measure and quantify 77 00:05:00,040 --> 00:05:02,520 Speaker 1: what their systems are doing. This is really important in 78 00:05:02,560 --> 00:05:07,000 Speaker 1: businesses like radio or telecommunications, where you build up these 79 00:05:07,120 --> 00:05:11,240 Speaker 1: complex networks, these complex infrastructures, and you have to be 80 00:05:11,279 --> 00:05:13,960 Speaker 1: able to test different parts of the infrastructure to make 81 00:05:13,960 --> 00:05:17,960 Speaker 1: sure everything's working properly right um well as as you 82 00:05:18,080 --> 00:05:21,560 Speaker 1: pointed out to UM, you know, UH, you might think 83 00:05:21,600 --> 00:05:25,960 Speaker 1: that a company that is started and organized and run 84 00:05:26,000 --> 00:05:29,720 Speaker 1: by engineers might be more uh methodical and may not 85 00:05:29,800 --> 00:05:33,960 Speaker 1: necessarily have that UM business aspect to it, where the 86 00:05:34,279 --> 00:05:38,320 Speaker 1: person running the company as a real business person. But 87 00:05:39,880 --> 00:05:44,240 Speaker 1: Bill Hewlett and and Dave Packard always had the sort 88 00:05:44,279 --> 00:05:46,919 Speaker 1: of an idea of how they wanted to run a 89 00:05:47,040 --> 00:05:49,520 Speaker 1: company behind it, and they came up with the HP 90 00:05:49,680 --> 00:05:53,120 Speaker 1: way of doing things, and uh Mr Packard came up 91 00:05:53,200 --> 00:05:59,960 Speaker 1: with his UH rules interactions, and those included keeping an 92 00:06:00,000 --> 00:06:04,359 Speaker 1: I on your core businesses and uh growing to to 93 00:06:04,520 --> 00:06:07,279 Speaker 1: make sure that you're competitive in the future. And this 94 00:06:07,360 --> 00:06:10,640 Speaker 1: acquisition sort of I think exemplifies that because it is 95 00:06:10,680 --> 00:06:13,880 Speaker 1: it is both of those things. And also in nineteen 96 00:06:13,920 --> 00:06:16,440 Speaker 1: fifty nine, that was the year. If you listen to 97 00:06:16,480 --> 00:06:20,040 Speaker 1: our previous podcast about HP, I mentioned that HP had 98 00:06:20,040 --> 00:06:23,800 Speaker 1: created a spinoff company called Well, originally Dinak but then 99 00:06:23,920 --> 00:06:26,760 Speaker 1: later di mac uh and they did they figured out 100 00:06:26,760 --> 00:06:30,000 Speaker 1: the name by flipping the HP logo upside down and saying, hey, 101 00:06:30,000 --> 00:06:33,400 Speaker 1: this HP looks like a d y uh. Well in 102 00:06:33,720 --> 00:06:38,680 Speaker 1: nine that's when they folded DIMEC back into the HP. Actually, 103 00:06:38,720 --> 00:06:41,960 Speaker 1: I guess not back into but brought DIMEC under the 104 00:06:42,000 --> 00:06:45,520 Speaker 1: fold of the umbrella of HP and UH, and it 105 00:06:45,560 --> 00:06:49,039 Speaker 1: became a division within the company. Now that was when 106 00:06:49,279 --> 00:06:53,279 Speaker 1: HP had created this whole division structure, So DIMEC became 107 00:06:53,360 --> 00:06:57,320 Speaker 1: its own sort of autonomous division within HP, and that 108 00:06:57,400 --> 00:07:02,880 Speaker 1: and that organization was built. You basically offer UH solutions 109 00:07:03,200 --> 00:07:07,120 Speaker 1: to customers using HP products. So it made sense that 110 00:07:07,160 --> 00:07:09,920 Speaker 1: they weren't so far removed from the mother company that 111 00:07:10,240 --> 00:07:12,560 Speaker 1: it was going to be a poor fit. Now, do 112 00:07:12,600 --> 00:07:15,080 Speaker 1: you have anything for nineteen sixty because my next note 113 00:07:15,120 --> 00:07:19,960 Speaker 1: for sixty one another acquisition? Uh? Yeah, Well they acquire 114 00:07:20,080 --> 00:07:23,680 Speaker 1: the Sandborn Company, which was a medical equipment manufacturer and 115 00:07:23,800 --> 00:07:25,480 Speaker 1: this is a different a bit of a different field 116 00:07:25,520 --> 00:07:27,680 Speaker 1: for them, right and uh and this would be part 117 00:07:27,720 --> 00:07:31,320 Speaker 1: of HP for well several decades um. It would eventually 118 00:07:31,320 --> 00:07:33,400 Speaker 1: spin off, and we'll talk about that when it happens. 119 00:07:33,440 --> 00:07:36,680 Speaker 1: But this was an attempt on HPS part to really 120 00:07:36,800 --> 00:07:40,160 Speaker 1: kind of broaden its its horizons and get into some 121 00:07:40,320 --> 00:07:44,800 Speaker 1: industries that at this point it really hadn't dipped its 122 00:07:44,840 --> 00:07:47,720 Speaker 1: toe into. And also in nineteen sixty one, it was 123 00:07:47,960 --> 00:07:51,640 Speaker 1: a big year for HP because on March seventeenth, it 124 00:07:51,760 --> 00:07:53,680 Speaker 1: listed for the very first time on the New York 125 00:07:53,680 --> 00:07:58,040 Speaker 1: Stock Exchange. Yes, so, uh, you know, it had launched 126 00:07:58,080 --> 00:08:01,120 Speaker 1: its I p O previously, but now it's actually listed 127 00:08:01,160 --> 00:08:04,000 Speaker 1: on the n y s E. Which is that's a 128 00:08:04,040 --> 00:08:07,240 Speaker 1: big deal for a company. Yes, yes, um. And as 129 00:08:07,240 --> 00:08:10,440 Speaker 1: a matter of fact, in sixty two, HP had a 130 00:08:10,440 --> 00:08:15,920 Speaker 1: a another famous uh organization, take note of them, Fortune 131 00:08:16,400 --> 00:08:19,120 Speaker 1: the magazine. They were named to the Fortune List at 132 00:08:19,160 --> 00:08:21,440 Speaker 1: number four sixty. It's hard for me to believe now 133 00:08:22,360 --> 00:08:25,040 Speaker 1: that HP was ever that low on that list, but 134 00:08:25,280 --> 00:08:27,800 Speaker 1: you know they didn't start at one point yep, yep. 135 00:08:27,880 --> 00:08:29,680 Speaker 1: And this is you know again, it's the company is 136 00:08:29,680 --> 00:08:33,480 Speaker 1: not even thirty years old yet, and it's uh, that's impressive. Yeah, 137 00:08:33,520 --> 00:08:37,400 Speaker 1: and it makes the Fortune List and that's pretty pretty impressive. 138 00:08:37,440 --> 00:08:39,599 Speaker 1: And that year they brought in revenues of around a 139 00:08:39,679 --> 00:08:42,760 Speaker 1: hundred ten million dollars and they had more than six 140 00:08:42,760 --> 00:08:46,480 Speaker 1: thousand employees by now, so big jump from that two 141 00:08:46,520 --> 00:08:50,760 Speaker 1: employee operation run out of a garage in Palo Alto. Yes, indeed. 142 00:08:51,480 --> 00:08:54,520 Speaker 1: So in in nineteen sixty three, the eight the company 143 00:08:54,520 --> 00:08:58,400 Speaker 1: comes up with the fifty one hundred A frequency analyzer, 144 00:08:59,040 --> 00:09:02,160 Speaker 1: which you know, it's it's one of those pieces of 145 00:09:02,160 --> 00:09:05,600 Speaker 1: equipment again not meant for the average consumer unless you 146 00:09:05,679 --> 00:09:08,959 Speaker 1: go into space. Yeah. Yeah, Now, if you want to 147 00:09:09,000 --> 00:09:11,720 Speaker 1: take a look at these, HP has a lot of 148 00:09:12,400 --> 00:09:15,839 Speaker 1: pictures of these and and I don't know if you 149 00:09:15,880 --> 00:09:17,760 Speaker 1: took a look at some of them for some of 150 00:09:17,760 --> 00:09:21,760 Speaker 1: these products brochures as well to sell those products, which 151 00:09:21,800 --> 00:09:24,920 Speaker 1: are very very entertaining. Um, but you can get an 152 00:09:24,920 --> 00:09:28,200 Speaker 1: idea of looking at of looking at these early instruments 153 00:09:28,200 --> 00:09:31,400 Speaker 1: that HP was providing. Now, the documentation I read about 154 00:09:31,400 --> 00:09:34,640 Speaker 1: them was that they were very They weren't glamorous, they 155 00:09:34,640 --> 00:09:38,040 Speaker 1: weren't pretty boxes, but they did they worked very well. 156 00:09:38,200 --> 00:09:42,160 Speaker 1: The early ones were actually housed in wooden boxes, wooden cabinets. 157 00:09:42,240 --> 00:09:46,480 Speaker 1: But eventually HP came up with decided that this this 158 00:09:46,559 --> 00:09:49,160 Speaker 1: sort of decorative finish. All it really did was it 159 00:09:49,200 --> 00:09:51,959 Speaker 1: added bulk and expense to the item, and it wasn't 160 00:09:52,000 --> 00:09:54,959 Speaker 1: really useful. I mean, but yeah, there was a time 161 00:09:55,240 --> 00:09:58,720 Speaker 1: early in the history of HPS products where if you 162 00:09:58,760 --> 00:10:00,600 Speaker 1: bought one of these devices that be have you know, 163 00:10:00,640 --> 00:10:03,200 Speaker 1: the metal front facing with all the controls and everything, 164 00:10:03,520 --> 00:10:07,000 Speaker 1: and then the actual frame was would and they used 165 00:10:07,000 --> 00:10:10,840 Speaker 1: oak by the way, that was the wood the voice, yes, 166 00:10:10,960 --> 00:10:13,640 Speaker 1: and what they decided not to go with the industry standard, 167 00:10:13,880 --> 00:10:15,720 Speaker 1: and they decided to go with Oak. By the way, 168 00:10:15,760 --> 00:10:18,480 Speaker 1: when you talk about those brochures trying to sell these products, 169 00:10:18,720 --> 00:10:21,960 Speaker 1: I can't help but think of like the stereotypical nineteen 170 00:10:22,000 --> 00:10:24,120 Speaker 1: fifties commercial where you hear like the music do do 171 00:10:24,120 --> 00:10:26,920 Speaker 1: Do Do Do Do Do Do do, and say have 172 00:10:27,160 --> 00:10:29,480 Speaker 1: you come back from a long day at work only 173 00:10:29,520 --> 00:10:33,160 Speaker 1: to jump into your deep space exploration vehicle and realize 174 00:10:33,240 --> 00:10:36,240 Speaker 1: you don't have a frequency analyzer. We have just the 175 00:10:36,320 --> 00:10:39,400 Speaker 1: item for you. And it sounds like the Raymond Scott 176 00:10:39,400 --> 00:10:45,520 Speaker 1: accompany accompanied uh item of the future. Um yeah, these 177 00:10:45,640 --> 00:10:49,280 Speaker 1: these pieces of equipment, um, since they weren't really aimed 178 00:10:49,320 --> 00:10:51,480 Speaker 1: at the consumer market, they're the kinds of things that 179 00:10:52,200 --> 00:10:54,360 Speaker 1: look like they cam came off the set of a 180 00:10:54,559 --> 00:10:57,800 Speaker 1: nineteen fifties science fiction film when they're trying to recreate 181 00:10:57,800 --> 00:11:01,559 Speaker 1: the control room of a spaceship. Yeah, these are definitely exactly. 182 00:11:01,600 --> 00:11:05,000 Speaker 1: These are definitely the machines that go ping. Um yeah. 183 00:11:05,120 --> 00:11:08,959 Speaker 1: And also they work. They did their actual work very well. Yes, 184 00:11:09,040 --> 00:11:13,160 Speaker 1: not not exciting to know. It's if to the average 185 00:11:13,200 --> 00:11:15,880 Speaker 1: person that it looks like, you know, random piece of 186 00:11:15,920 --> 00:11:18,440 Speaker 1: electronic equipment a Hey, it's got a meter on it. 187 00:11:18,480 --> 00:11:21,640 Speaker 1: What does it do? And it measures the sound frequencies 188 00:11:21,720 --> 00:11:24,760 Speaker 1: there really what does it do? Why? Why does it 189 00:11:24,840 --> 00:11:28,160 Speaker 1: do that? It's use but yeah, yeah, that's that's the 190 00:11:28,240 --> 00:11:30,760 Speaker 1: trick of really learning about HPS early products is that 191 00:11:30,800 --> 00:11:33,760 Speaker 1: if you really want to know, you know, why these 192 00:11:33,760 --> 00:11:36,320 Speaker 1: things were important, you'd have to have we'd have to 193 00:11:36,360 --> 00:11:39,640 Speaker 1: do like two more podcasts just to explain the the 194 00:11:39,640 --> 00:11:43,240 Speaker 1: the equipment that this stuff was used to measure. Yes, 195 00:11:43,320 --> 00:11:49,160 Speaker 1: but it helped the companies that use them, uh measurably. Yes. Well. 196 00:11:49,200 --> 00:11:52,400 Speaker 1: In nineteen sixty three, they also entered their first joint 197 00:11:52,559 --> 00:11:57,760 Speaker 1: venture from the Yokagawa Hewlett Packard venture in Tokyo. Yeah. 198 00:11:57,840 --> 00:12:01,720 Speaker 1: So uh, this again shows that the company is looking 199 00:12:01,760 --> 00:12:06,840 Speaker 1: to expand and this uh Yoka Gawa Hewlett Packard adventure 200 00:12:06,880 --> 00:12:12,559 Speaker 1: would actually meet with great success become very uh a 201 00:12:12,640 --> 00:12:16,160 Speaker 1: very powerful company in its own right. So uh nine 202 00:12:16,440 --> 00:12:20,880 Speaker 1: six four, we have some some titles coming down. Packard 203 00:12:20,920 --> 00:12:25,520 Speaker 1: becomes the CEO of Hewlett Packard and Hewlett becomes the 204 00:12:25,559 --> 00:12:28,800 Speaker 1: president of Hewlett Packard. He's also the Packard was also 205 00:12:28,840 --> 00:12:31,640 Speaker 1: the chairman. Yes, he would later become the chairman as well, 206 00:12:31,840 --> 00:12:36,000 Speaker 1: and in fact, that's different jafferent chairman, different chairman of 207 00:12:36,040 --> 00:12:39,840 Speaker 1: the board. UM. In fact, eventually, not yet, but eventually 208 00:12:39,920 --> 00:12:44,160 Speaker 1: it would become pretty standard at HP for a single 209 00:12:44,240 --> 00:12:47,720 Speaker 1: person to hold the titles of CEO, President and chairman. 210 00:12:48,320 --> 00:12:51,000 Speaker 1: Now at this point that's divided up. Packard is CEO 211 00:12:51,040 --> 00:12:54,040 Speaker 1: and chairman and Hewlett as the president. UM. In ninety 212 00:12:54,120 --> 00:12:59,160 Speaker 1: four was also when the fifties sixty A launched the 213 00:12:59,160 --> 00:13:03,000 Speaker 1: atomic claws and you standard for international time. Yeah, tomic 214 00:13:03,040 --> 00:13:06,880 Speaker 1: clock is very very accurate. You know, nothing, nothing says 215 00:13:07,120 --> 00:13:10,600 Speaker 1: what time? Is it? Like atomic decay? Yep, yep. And again, 216 00:13:10,640 --> 00:13:12,240 Speaker 1: if you look at one of these things, it doesn't 217 00:13:12,280 --> 00:13:15,320 Speaker 1: look like your average desk or your clock radio that 218 00:13:15,320 --> 00:13:17,840 Speaker 1: sits on your bedside table. It's it's a big machine 219 00:13:17,840 --> 00:13:19,839 Speaker 1: with lots of things on it, right, it's not When 220 00:13:19,920 --> 00:13:22,319 Speaker 1: Mickey's big hand is on the mushroom cloud and his 221 00:13:22,440 --> 00:13:25,000 Speaker 1: little hand is on the Manhattan Project, that means it's 222 00:13:25,000 --> 00:13:28,080 Speaker 1: time to get out of the house, crawl into something 223 00:13:28,080 --> 00:13:33,239 Speaker 1: that's lead. Yeah, there's a completely different clock from the 224 00:13:33,240 --> 00:13:36,200 Speaker 1: the bulletin the atomic scientists that that measures that I 225 00:13:36,200 --> 00:13:39,920 Speaker 1: read a different brochure than you did. Anyway. Okay, so 226 00:13:39,920 --> 00:13:44,000 Speaker 1: should we get into the nineteen six period. That's when 227 00:13:44,320 --> 00:13:50,319 Speaker 1: HP laboratories laboratories laboratories, that was that was the first 228 00:13:50,360 --> 00:13:52,640 Speaker 1: time at which they actually said, hey, let's set aside 229 00:13:52,679 --> 00:13:55,920 Speaker 1: a group of people dedicated to come up with new 230 00:13:56,000 --> 00:13:59,320 Speaker 1: and cool stuff. Yeah, this is their research and development 231 00:13:59,559 --> 00:14:03,760 Speaker 1: arm where they're really looking into breaking ground in new technologies, 232 00:14:03,800 --> 00:14:07,720 Speaker 1: which you know, again, HP wasn't so concerned with previously 233 00:14:07,720 --> 00:14:10,199 Speaker 1: in its history. It's not that they weren't innovative. They were. 234 00:14:10,440 --> 00:14:14,760 Speaker 1: They really looked at improving existing technologies, making the more affordable, 235 00:14:14,800 --> 00:14:18,880 Speaker 1: making them more efficient. UM and both Hewlett and Packard 236 00:14:18,960 --> 00:14:22,720 Speaker 1: were were known for designing their own, you know, devices 237 00:14:22,720 --> 00:14:25,600 Speaker 1: that would later become products within the HP line. But 238 00:14:25,680 --> 00:14:30,120 Speaker 1: this is a group specifically dedicated to, hey, guys, UH 239 00:14:30,320 --> 00:14:33,520 Speaker 1: make new stuff. And they picked a guy named Barney 240 00:14:33,520 --> 00:14:36,200 Speaker 1: Oliver to lead the group. He was the founding director 241 00:14:36,240 --> 00:14:39,640 Speaker 1: of HP Labs. UH. And in nineteen sixty six was 242 00:14:39,680 --> 00:14:45,960 Speaker 1: also when a new first for HP launched a Yes, 243 00:14:46,960 --> 00:14:51,200 Speaker 1: first computer. H have you seen this thing? Yes, when 244 00:14:51,240 --> 00:14:54,760 Speaker 1: Mickey's big hand is on the mushroom cloud. No, I did, 245 00:14:54,840 --> 00:14:57,480 Speaker 1: I did see this. It was it was it was 246 00:14:57,520 --> 00:15:01,040 Speaker 1: pretty big. Although we should say not as big as 247 00:15:01,080 --> 00:15:04,440 Speaker 1: some of the other computers that were they were just 248 00:15:04,560 --> 00:15:07,440 Speaker 1: hitting the market or in the in the mid sixties. 249 00:15:07,760 --> 00:15:10,640 Speaker 1: I love the language that HP used on its timeline 250 00:15:10,680 --> 00:15:14,160 Speaker 1: for this, the first go anywhere, do anything comput Yes, 251 00:15:14,280 --> 00:15:17,320 Speaker 1: if you had a forklift right. But still it was 252 00:15:17,400 --> 00:15:20,880 Speaker 1: not the size of room. It wasn't as big as 253 00:15:20,880 --> 00:15:23,200 Speaker 1: an entire room like some computers were. This is not 254 00:15:23,280 --> 00:15:25,120 Speaker 1: what you would consider a netbook counter now, but it 255 00:15:25,200 --> 00:15:28,080 Speaker 1: was the first time the HP used integrated circuits in 256 00:15:28,160 --> 00:15:32,160 Speaker 1: its electronics, and uh, the computer was meant to work 257 00:15:32,360 --> 00:15:36,160 Speaker 1: in and a quote unquote average environment, meaning that you 258 00:15:36,160 --> 00:15:40,200 Speaker 1: wouldn't necessarily have to have a heavily air conditioned room 259 00:15:40,600 --> 00:15:44,120 Speaker 1: with spring loaded floors so that so that it could 260 00:15:44,160 --> 00:15:48,160 Speaker 1: support this machine and make sure that doesn't overheat. You know. 261 00:15:48,200 --> 00:15:51,160 Speaker 1: The idea was that HPCE was trying to aim for 262 00:15:51,200 --> 00:15:55,400 Speaker 1: a market for businesses that needed computing power but didn't 263 00:15:55,520 --> 00:15:59,440 Speaker 1: necessarily have the um the money to spend not just 264 00:15:59,640 --> 00:16:03,720 Speaker 1: on the computer, but also on completely renovating a part 265 00:16:03,720 --> 00:16:06,800 Speaker 1: of their building so that could support a computer. Because 266 00:16:06,840 --> 00:16:09,120 Speaker 1: think about that. Let's say that you own a business 267 00:16:09,120 --> 00:16:12,000 Speaker 1: already and it's a successful business, and you need a 268 00:16:12,000 --> 00:16:16,000 Speaker 1: computer for some reason like database management. And you realize 269 00:16:16,040 --> 00:16:18,240 Speaker 1: that if you were to buy the computer, not only 270 00:16:18,280 --> 00:16:20,600 Speaker 1: would it cost an astronomical amount, but you would have 271 00:16:20,680 --> 00:16:24,880 Speaker 1: to completely change at least part of your building so 272 00:16:24,920 --> 00:16:27,720 Speaker 1: that it could hold a computer. This was kind of 273 00:16:27,880 --> 00:16:32,440 Speaker 1: HP's solution to that problem. And uh, it originally had 274 00:16:32,720 --> 00:16:37,080 Speaker 1: four K of magnetic core memory, expandable up to thirty 275 00:16:37,080 --> 00:16:40,200 Speaker 1: two K. Yeah. Yeah. Now, now it's important to to 276 00:16:40,320 --> 00:16:45,000 Speaker 1: note that they developed this this device very quickly for 277 00:16:45,520 --> 00:16:49,560 Speaker 1: a device like it, and um, it was fairly rare 278 00:16:49,680 --> 00:16:53,080 Speaker 1: for a computer to ship with its own software at 279 00:16:53,080 --> 00:16:56,280 Speaker 1: this point, but but this one did. Um. As a 280 00:16:56,280 --> 00:16:59,760 Speaker 1: matter of fact, it took several data systems engineers and 281 00:17:00,280 --> 00:17:03,760 Speaker 1: DIMAC employees working together to get this thing going. But 282 00:17:04,240 --> 00:17:08,400 Speaker 1: it did power the woods whole ocean at graphic institutes 283 00:17:09,400 --> 00:17:11,760 Speaker 1: work for many years. Yeah. And it was actually used 284 00:17:11,840 --> 00:17:15,280 Speaker 1: on a boat. It was so so it was exposed 285 00:17:15,280 --> 00:17:17,760 Speaker 1: to see air and was still able to work for 286 00:17:17,840 --> 00:17:20,760 Speaker 1: more than a decade. You mean, the chain that was 287 00:17:20,800 --> 00:17:23,959 Speaker 1: the research vessel that used this this computer. And so 288 00:17:24,040 --> 00:17:26,600 Speaker 1: the original cost for one of these things, depending on 289 00:17:26,720 --> 00:17:28,720 Speaker 1: if you wanted it totally tricked out or not, the 290 00:17:28,760 --> 00:17:31,680 Speaker 1: base cost trick you mean with the flame paint job 291 00:17:31,840 --> 00:17:35,480 Speaker 1: and the side and and yeah, and it and the 292 00:17:35,560 --> 00:17:40,880 Speaker 1: glowing undercarriage tricked out, meaning that it had memory. Uh 293 00:17:41,040 --> 00:17:45,440 Speaker 1: you hear it going down. The base price was base 294 00:17:46,600 --> 00:17:50,240 Speaker 1: The base price was twenty five grand, and the upper 295 00:17:50,359 --> 00:17:53,680 Speaker 1: level of it was a fifty grand, which in today's dollars, 296 00:17:53,960 --> 00:17:56,480 Speaker 1: because he knew I had to do that, right, one 297 00:17:57,000 --> 00:18:01,879 Speaker 1: forty six thousand for the cheap cheap or two d 298 00:18:02,560 --> 00:18:06,199 Speaker 1: three thousand, ninety three dollars for the expensive one. So 299 00:18:06,240 --> 00:18:08,159 Speaker 1: more than a quarter of a million dollars if you 300 00:18:08,160 --> 00:18:11,000 Speaker 1: wanted to have that thirty two k of memory. Boy, 301 00:18:11,040 --> 00:18:15,919 Speaker 1: I'm glad the memory prices have gone down recently. Well, um, 302 00:18:15,960 --> 00:18:19,000 Speaker 1: it's interesting. Uh, we should probably step it up because 303 00:18:19,000 --> 00:18:21,360 Speaker 1: we're hoping to make it to the eighties here. Um, 304 00:18:21,440 --> 00:18:24,080 Speaker 1: but that that isn't important. That is an important product. Also. 305 00:18:24,119 --> 00:18:25,879 Speaker 1: The next one that I had was the one that 306 00:18:25,920 --> 00:18:28,600 Speaker 1: came out with the Night which, depending on how you 307 00:18:28,640 --> 00:18:31,560 Speaker 1: looked at it, was the first personal computer. Ye, if 308 00:18:31,600 --> 00:18:35,480 Speaker 1: you looked at the advertising computer. So this is the 309 00:18:35,520 --> 00:18:40,080 Speaker 1: first time, the first documented case of the term personal computer, 310 00:18:40,400 --> 00:18:46,280 Speaker 1: and it's for the the HP A. And this was 311 00:18:46,320 --> 00:18:49,919 Speaker 1: not a personal computer. The way you and I are familiar. Um, 312 00:18:50,080 --> 00:18:52,880 Speaker 1: it's not not like a desktop computer you sit down, 313 00:18:53,000 --> 00:18:54,760 Speaker 1: or even a laptop or anything. No, it was a 314 00:18:54,840 --> 00:19:00,280 Speaker 1: scientific calculator. Um. It was meant as a personal computer 315 00:19:00,320 --> 00:19:03,560 Speaker 1: in the sense that it could compute operations like you 316 00:19:03,600 --> 00:19:06,400 Speaker 1: would put in a scientific operation and it could give 317 00:19:06,440 --> 00:19:09,119 Speaker 1: you the answer. It wasn't meant as a computer that 318 00:19:09,160 --> 00:19:13,000 Speaker 1: would run programs the way that the modern computers do well. 319 00:19:13,000 --> 00:19:16,960 Speaker 1: Wired magazine said it was the first personal computer. And 320 00:19:16,960 --> 00:19:18,760 Speaker 1: I would argue that if you take it in the 321 00:19:18,800 --> 00:19:22,680 Speaker 1: literal sense, they're probably right. Um it's it's a fairly 322 00:19:22,720 --> 00:19:24,680 Speaker 1: big machine. Again, there are photos of it on the 323 00:19:25,040 --> 00:19:29,760 Speaker 1: the HP website. Um, but it was a pretty significant machine. 324 00:19:29,800 --> 00:19:32,959 Speaker 1: I mean compared to other devices that would would do 325 00:19:33,119 --> 00:19:36,679 Speaker 1: this level of work. Um. You know, it was a 326 00:19:36,760 --> 00:19:39,919 Speaker 1: smaller device and it could be used, uh, you know, 327 00:19:39,960 --> 00:19:43,440 Speaker 1: pretty easily. Um. It is bulky by today's terms, by 328 00:19:43,640 --> 00:19:47,440 Speaker 1: by every stretch of the imagination. Um, but it could 329 00:19:47,480 --> 00:19:51,399 Speaker 1: do a lot um and uh, and it was you 330 00:19:51,440 --> 00:19:53,639 Speaker 1: know able, you could you could put this on your desk. 331 00:19:54,480 --> 00:19:57,400 Speaker 1: So you know, I think it's I think it's when 332 00:19:57,400 --> 00:19:59,640 Speaker 1: you take it down to the term computer, I think 333 00:19:59,640 --> 00:20:02,000 Speaker 1: that's an accurate description. But yeah, it doesn't do all 334 00:20:02,000 --> 00:20:03,720 Speaker 1: the stuff that you're not you're not going to play 335 00:20:03,720 --> 00:20:06,240 Speaker 1: farm villains. You're not going to figure it as a PC. No. 336 00:20:06,640 --> 00:20:09,000 Speaker 1: But but that is interesting that it was the first 337 00:20:09,040 --> 00:20:11,119 Speaker 1: documented case of personal computer. And now, of course that 338 00:20:11,160 --> 00:20:15,280 Speaker 1: doesn't necessarily mean that what that term wasn't used before this. 339 00:20:15,320 --> 00:20:18,520 Speaker 1: It's just this is the earliest documented instance. So in 340 00:20:18,640 --> 00:20:25,479 Speaker 1: nineteen sixty nine, UM, the United States calls upon Packard. Again, 341 00:20:25,560 --> 00:20:30,240 Speaker 1: Hewlett had uh been uh in shure. You know, Hewlett 342 00:20:30,280 --> 00:20:32,840 Speaker 1: had served time in the United States Army as an 343 00:20:32,840 --> 00:20:37,679 Speaker 1: officer from UH forty one through forty seven. But in 344 00:20:37,840 --> 00:20:41,320 Speaker 1: nineteen sixty nine, the United States government called upon Packard 345 00:20:41,359 --> 00:20:45,679 Speaker 1: and appointed him to be the US Deputy of Defense. Yeah, 346 00:20:45,760 --> 00:20:49,399 Speaker 1: so Hewlett became the CEO, the president and CEO in 347 00:20:49,440 --> 00:20:55,760 Speaker 1: Packard's absence. UM. Yeah, that that's pretty significant because again, 348 00:20:55,800 --> 00:20:59,000 Speaker 1: one of the commitments that he wanted to make for 349 00:20:59,040 --> 00:21:03,520 Speaker 1: the company was service, um, serving your community and serving 350 00:21:03,560 --> 00:21:07,479 Speaker 1: your country. And yeah, nineteen sixty nine through nineteen seventy two, 351 00:21:07,560 --> 00:21:11,439 Speaker 1: that's an extensive time period for any any you know, 352 00:21:11,560 --> 00:21:18,320 Speaker 1: industry leader to step away and refocus on a government position. 353 00:21:19,119 --> 00:21:21,280 Speaker 1: And this is also a time when the company is 354 00:21:21,320 --> 00:21:25,320 Speaker 1: sort of gradually expanding its work to include more than 355 00:21:25,359 --> 00:21:29,000 Speaker 1: just measurement and medical devices, but they're also getting in 356 00:21:29,040 --> 00:21:31,720 Speaker 1: on the ground floor of what would become personal computing. 357 00:21:32,680 --> 00:21:39,760 Speaker 1: So nineteen seventy one HP introduces laser interferometers, which take 358 00:21:39,800 --> 00:21:44,239 Speaker 1: measurements using lasers, so that they started to get into that. Uh. 359 00:21:44,400 --> 00:21:48,200 Speaker 1: Nineteen seventy two they introduced the HP three thousand, which 360 00:21:48,280 --> 00:21:52,040 Speaker 1: was a computer meant for businesses. It wasn't a personal computer, 361 00:21:52,359 --> 00:21:56,400 Speaker 1: but it was meant to help businesses manage databases. And 362 00:21:56,720 --> 00:22:00,560 Speaker 1: they also introduced the HP thirty five. Uh. Now, the 363 00:22:00,680 --> 00:22:04,320 Speaker 1: HP thirty five actually are a couple models, UM, well, 364 00:22:04,400 --> 00:22:10,119 Speaker 1: sort of. The HP thirty five Classic is a handheld calculator. UM. 365 00:22:10,200 --> 00:22:15,080 Speaker 1: They did, however, UH offer Mr Hewlett at abacus version 366 00:22:15,119 --> 00:22:18,160 Speaker 1: of it. They took a shell and put an avocus 367 00:22:18,200 --> 00:22:20,440 Speaker 1: where the buttons would be and presented it to him. 368 00:22:20,480 --> 00:22:23,080 Speaker 1: There's a photo of it. It's classic. It's an awesome 369 00:22:23,160 --> 00:22:25,320 Speaker 1: jo Apparently he thought it was hilarious. I didn't see 370 00:22:25,359 --> 00:22:27,440 Speaker 1: this one, but that does sound like something he would appreciate. 371 00:22:27,800 --> 00:22:31,359 Speaker 1: Would hold generally, I try not to hold stuff up 372 00:22:31,400 --> 00:22:33,280 Speaker 1: where Jonathan can see it during the podcast because he 373 00:22:33,520 --> 00:22:35,560 Speaker 1: you know, sort of goes home, especially since I don't 374 00:22:35,560 --> 00:22:38,600 Speaker 1: have my glasses on. Okay, well then i'll show it 375 00:22:38,640 --> 00:22:40,879 Speaker 1: to you later. But yeah, this was This was a 376 00:22:42,080 --> 00:22:44,560 Speaker 1: When I think of calculators in the nineteen seventies, I 377 00:22:44,560 --> 00:22:46,840 Speaker 1: think of t I Texas Instruments, a company we have 378 00:22:46,880 --> 00:22:50,800 Speaker 1: already talked about. But HP was definitely right in there 379 00:22:50,840 --> 00:22:53,679 Speaker 1: with them mixing it up. UM and the HP thirty 380 00:22:53,680 --> 00:22:58,040 Speaker 1: five was one of the workhorses of the seventies handheld calculators, 381 00:22:58,240 --> 00:23:02,439 Speaker 1: and HP claims it's the first handheld scientific calculator, so 382 00:23:02,520 --> 00:23:06,359 Speaker 1: not necessarily the first handheld calculator, but first handheld scientific calculator. 383 00:23:07,040 --> 00:23:11,880 Speaker 1: So they were doing science. Yes, this is a triumph 384 00:23:12,119 --> 00:23:15,679 Speaker 1: making a note here success, we'll look at us here 385 00:23:15,720 --> 00:23:21,120 Speaker 1: talking when there's science to be done. H this is 386 00:23:21,119 --> 00:23:24,040 Speaker 1: not the one that can print in Japanese, because there 387 00:23:24,119 --> 00:23:26,720 Speaker 1: is the nineteen seventy three they did introduce a scientific 388 00:23:26,720 --> 00:23:29,840 Speaker 1: calculator that could print in Japanese. That was actually, you know, 389 00:23:30,440 --> 00:23:32,880 Speaker 1: that sounds like it might be pretty trivial, but really, 390 00:23:32,880 --> 00:23:37,000 Speaker 1: when you think about how complex the um that it 391 00:23:37,119 --> 00:23:40,600 Speaker 1: is to to be able to print in a another 392 00:23:40,680 --> 00:23:42,960 Speaker 1: language like that, especially one that has a completely different 393 00:23:42,960 --> 00:23:46,360 Speaker 1: concept as far as alphabets are concerned. Um, well, there's 394 00:23:46,359 --> 00:23:50,680 Speaker 1: a big deal. AT had a numbered data registers and 395 00:23:50,720 --> 00:23:55,040 Speaker 1: the ability to store and recall um math and could 396 00:23:55,400 --> 00:23:58,280 Speaker 1: could do built in conversion. It's better at math than 397 00:23:58,320 --> 00:24:00,520 Speaker 1: I am than I can store and recall. Also had 398 00:24:00,680 --> 00:24:03,239 Speaker 1: a hidden timer inside, so if you weren't doing your 399 00:24:03,240 --> 00:24:05,879 Speaker 1: work fast stuff. I'm kidding. UM. And the and the 400 00:24:06,000 --> 00:24:09,760 Speaker 1: HP eight was the first pocket sized business calculator UM, 401 00:24:09,800 --> 00:24:13,240 Speaker 1: which was following on the the HP thirty five success. 402 00:24:14,040 --> 00:24:16,560 Speaker 1: And then it had an HP There was an HP 403 00:24:16,720 --> 00:24:20,719 Speaker 1: eighty one which had a desktop printing capability to so 404 00:24:20,800 --> 00:24:25,040 Speaker 1: in nineteen seventy four, HP produced the first mini computer 405 00:24:25,240 --> 00:24:28,639 Speaker 1: to rely on dynamic random access memory chips or DAM. 406 00:24:29,320 --> 00:24:32,080 Speaker 1: We've talked about that recently on the show. And they 407 00:24:32,119 --> 00:24:36,560 Speaker 1: also created the first programmable pocket calculator. I'm the operator 408 00:24:36,600 --> 00:24:42,960 Speaker 1: of my pocket calculator. Nineteen they introduced an interface bus, 409 00:24:43,080 --> 00:24:46,080 Speaker 1: which was you know, this is what allopts computers work 410 00:24:46,119 --> 00:24:49,200 Speaker 1: with other devices. Um, so's the place where you plug 411 00:24:49,200 --> 00:24:52,080 Speaker 1: in other stuff, right, So I mean again, it sounds like, well, 412 00:24:52,280 --> 00:24:54,199 Speaker 1: you know what's the big deal there? Well, if you 413 00:24:54,240 --> 00:24:56,760 Speaker 1: don't have one of these, then your devices are all 414 00:24:57,119 --> 00:24:59,679 Speaker 1: working independently of each other, and in order for you 415 00:24:59,760 --> 00:25:04,399 Speaker 1: to to plug in information from one to another, you 416 00:25:04,440 --> 00:25:07,320 Speaker 1: have to do it manually. This would allow devices to 417 00:25:07,359 --> 00:25:11,720 Speaker 1: actually communicate with one another. Um. Pretty limited basis at 418 00:25:11,720 --> 00:25:14,480 Speaker 1: this point in the history of computing, but still a 419 00:25:14,560 --> 00:25:19,600 Speaker 1: big development. Yep. And you can tell again we're getting 420 00:25:19,600 --> 00:25:21,879 Speaker 1: into the era where things are supposed to talk to 421 00:25:21,960 --> 00:25:25,320 Speaker 1: other things. So, um, if you had a calculator, you 422 00:25:25,400 --> 00:25:27,880 Speaker 1: might need it to print, um, And you might want 423 00:25:27,880 --> 00:25:30,000 Speaker 1: a pocket calculator that might need to be attached to 424 00:25:30,040 --> 00:25:33,000 Speaker 1: a printer, or a computer that might need to be 425 00:25:33,080 --> 00:25:35,280 Speaker 1: attached to a printer. So that's something like that is 426 00:25:35,359 --> 00:25:40,240 Speaker 1: very important. And then so my next note is in 427 00:25:40,320 --> 00:25:44,440 Speaker 1: nineteen in nineteen seventy said, well, I had the HP seven, 428 00:25:45,040 --> 00:25:49,240 Speaker 1: which is yet another calculator. Again, they're they're making business machines. 429 00:25:49,480 --> 00:25:53,280 Speaker 1: But if you think about it, UM, a measuring device 430 00:25:53,480 --> 00:25:56,040 Speaker 1: might be used by the engineers and the department of 431 00:25:56,080 --> 00:25:59,320 Speaker 1: a different company. So this is my my take on this. 432 00:25:59,600 --> 00:26:05,359 Speaker 1: You start thinking about scientific calculators, handheld calculators, pocket calculators, 433 00:26:05,760 --> 00:26:07,640 Speaker 1: these are the kinds of things that might be used 434 00:26:07,640 --> 00:26:12,360 Speaker 1: by the engineers and the business people the count inside 435 00:26:12,480 --> 00:26:17,320 Speaker 1: or yeah, this is we're marketing transition where the devices 436 00:26:17,320 --> 00:26:20,959 Speaker 1: are getting less specialized. Um and and really you can 437 00:26:21,000 --> 00:26:23,280 Speaker 1: look at this also as a slow move towards the 438 00:26:23,320 --> 00:26:26,320 Speaker 1: consumer market. It would still be a while before we 439 00:26:26,359 --> 00:26:30,600 Speaker 1: actually hit true consumer products through HP. But it's um 440 00:26:30,640 --> 00:26:35,760 Speaker 1: it's a good indicator. So in Hewlett retires as president, 441 00:26:35,800 --> 00:26:39,080 Speaker 1: but he remains the CEO, and a fellow by the 442 00:26:39,119 --> 00:26:42,359 Speaker 1: name of John Young becomes the president of HP, and 443 00:26:42,440 --> 00:26:47,720 Speaker 1: Packard remains the chairman of the board. Yes, um, did 444 00:26:47,760 --> 00:26:52,120 Speaker 1: you want to talk about the HP zero one? Well, 445 00:26:52,200 --> 00:26:54,280 Speaker 1: I don't have any notes on it, so I could, 446 00:26:54,320 --> 00:26:55,679 Speaker 1: but if I do, I'm going to be making it 447 00:26:55,720 --> 00:27:01,240 Speaker 1: all up. The HP zero one calculator watch. It looked 448 00:27:01,280 --> 00:27:03,639 Speaker 1: like a digital watch but had a calculator and there 449 00:27:03,640 --> 00:27:06,280 Speaker 1: it had more than three dozen functions according to HP. 450 00:27:06,560 --> 00:27:08,680 Speaker 1: So we're beginning to learn a lot more about Mr 451 00:27:08,720 --> 00:27:12,400 Speaker 1: Palette in this podcast, as his excitement over calculators becomes 452 00:27:12,440 --> 00:27:16,679 Speaker 1: something troubling to me. Uh, well, sometimes you need that 453 00:27:16,720 --> 00:27:21,080 Speaker 1: extra digit. Um. I love the way that says the 454 00:27:21,440 --> 00:27:23,600 Speaker 1: copy on the HP website said it allowed you to 455 00:27:23,680 --> 00:27:26,120 Speaker 1: manipulate an inter re late time so apparently you could 456 00:27:26,160 --> 00:27:28,280 Speaker 1: go forward and backward in time, so then you could 457 00:27:28,320 --> 00:27:33,120 Speaker 1: go back to that stock and head forward to UM. 458 00:27:33,160 --> 00:27:38,360 Speaker 1: It was code named Cricket, and it was a business failure. 459 00:27:38,480 --> 00:27:41,760 Speaker 1: It was huge UM and they only sold it through 460 00:27:41,960 --> 00:27:44,520 Speaker 1: like Huge as in the It was a large watch. 461 00:27:45,200 --> 00:27:48,040 Speaker 1: You couldn't lift your arm, put your arms down when 462 00:27:48,040 --> 00:27:50,520 Speaker 1: you get to school. No, I'm kidding, I'm kidding, I'm teasing, 463 00:27:50,560 --> 00:27:52,440 Speaker 1: but it was. It was bulky. If you look again, 464 00:27:52,440 --> 00:27:54,680 Speaker 1: they have photos on the HP site. It was not 465 00:27:55,680 --> 00:27:59,520 Speaker 1: a small device by UM, but it did have a 466 00:27:59,720 --> 00:28:03,560 Speaker 1: alis built into the bracelet part of the watch, so 467 00:28:03,600 --> 00:28:06,600 Speaker 1: you could use it for that. UM. It was also 468 00:28:07,320 --> 00:28:09,280 Speaker 1: to the point where they only sold it in high 469 00:28:09,359 --> 00:28:13,520 Speaker 1: end jewelry store so you know UM. However, because they 470 00:28:14,119 --> 00:28:20,600 Speaker 1: the miniaturization was kind of UM proprietary, you might say, uh, 471 00:28:20,840 --> 00:28:24,879 Speaker 1: as soon as they discontinued its manufacturer, they destroyed it 472 00:28:25,000 --> 00:28:27,280 Speaker 1: so that they couldn't that no one else could get 473 00:28:27,280 --> 00:28:29,919 Speaker 1: hold of the it wouldn't fall into the wrong hands. Well, 474 00:28:29,920 --> 00:28:32,200 Speaker 1: if you've got a time machine, you gotta be destroy 475 00:28:32,240 --> 00:28:34,600 Speaker 1: it because otherwise who knows could who could get hold 476 00:28:34,600 --> 00:28:36,520 Speaker 1: of it? Yes, yes, but at the time it was 477 00:28:36,560 --> 00:28:39,360 Speaker 1: released you could buy one for six fifty dollars for 478 00:28:39,360 --> 00:28:41,840 Speaker 1: the silver version or seven fifty for the gold version. 479 00:28:43,120 --> 00:28:48,320 Speaker 1: Not cheap. That's not cheap in to day's dollars. So anyhow, So, 480 00:28:48,440 --> 00:28:52,280 Speaker 1: getting close to the end of the seventies, Yeah, Hewlett 481 00:28:52,360 --> 00:28:57,240 Speaker 1: retires completely from the company and John John Young becomes presidency. 482 00:28:57,600 --> 00:29:00,959 Speaker 1: Well Hewlett, they had trouble retired, true retiring Yeah, well, 483 00:29:01,000 --> 00:29:04,240 Speaker 1: these it was their baby. I don't blame they made 484 00:29:04,240 --> 00:29:08,040 Speaker 1: this this company. But he's no longer the the head 485 00:29:08,200 --> 00:29:11,360 Speaker 1: of the company. John Young is both president and CEO 486 00:29:11,480 --> 00:29:16,320 Speaker 1: at that time. And then in nineteen seventy nine, HP 487 00:29:16,560 --> 00:29:20,960 Speaker 1: creates the HP Company Foundation. Uh. And at this point 488 00:29:21,760 --> 00:29:24,400 Speaker 1: the revenues for the company are at two point four 489 00:29:24,600 --> 00:29:28,760 Speaker 1: billion with a B dollars and and HP employees more 490 00:29:28,760 --> 00:29:32,800 Speaker 1: than fifty thousand people. Yes, and this is when they 491 00:29:32,800 --> 00:29:36,040 Speaker 1: decide that HP will be far more successful if disco 492 00:29:36,160 --> 00:29:40,120 Speaker 1: music weren't popular, So they began a campaign to end 493 00:29:40,160 --> 00:29:44,400 Speaker 1: the popular hitting. It's forty years after the founding of 494 00:29:44,400 --> 00:29:48,720 Speaker 1: the company and now they are success. I mean, no, 495 00:29:48,800 --> 00:29:52,960 Speaker 1: no portal joke intended there exactly really absolutely established itself 496 00:29:53,000 --> 00:29:57,200 Speaker 1: as a massive success. And uh, this marks a time 497 00:29:57,320 --> 00:30:00,280 Speaker 1: where you know, in nineteen eighty we're going to see 498 00:30:00,320 --> 00:30:05,800 Speaker 1: some some interesting UM developments, including HPS move into the 499 00:30:05,800 --> 00:30:09,040 Speaker 1: industries that were familiar with today, the consumer industries were 500 00:30:09,040 --> 00:30:12,360 Speaker 1: familiar with today. But I think that that will serve 501 00:30:12,520 --> 00:30:16,240 Speaker 1: as our third and final part of the HP story 502 00:30:16,800 --> 00:30:20,040 Speaker 1: as it stands today. Clearly the company is still going 503 00:30:20,160 --> 00:30:22,840 Speaker 1: as we speak, so it's not that their history is over, 504 00:30:22,960 --> 00:30:26,800 Speaker 1: but we are going to cover from night up to 505 00:30:26,920 --> 00:30:30,320 Speaker 1: present day as of the recording of this podcast. Anyway, 506 00:30:30,600 --> 00:30:33,600 Speaker 1: in our next segment, Yes, it gets considerably messier in 507 00:30:33,640 --> 00:30:35,960 Speaker 1: the next segment. Yeah, this is where we start to 508 00:30:36,080 --> 00:30:40,160 Speaker 1: wins UM and we'll get into why that is. And 509 00:30:40,200 --> 00:30:44,760 Speaker 1: it's it's a complex story and not an entirely happy one, 510 00:30:45,520 --> 00:30:48,480 Speaker 1: but still very important company, so we will we will 511 00:30:48,520 --> 00:30:50,640 Speaker 1: cover that in our next episode. If you guys have 512 00:30:50,680 --> 00:30:53,720 Speaker 1: any suggestions for topics you would like us to cover, 513 00:30:53,800 --> 00:30:57,480 Speaker 1: whether it's another focus on a company or an innovator, 514 00:30:58,120 --> 00:31:01,240 Speaker 1: or if it's a specific product or just a concept 515 00:31:01,240 --> 00:31:04,200 Speaker 1: in technology in general, let us know. You can drop 516 00:31:04,240 --> 00:31:06,720 Speaker 1: us a line on Facebook or Twitter or handled there 517 00:31:06,840 --> 00:31:09,480 Speaker 1: is tech stuff. H s W and Chris and I 518 00:31:09,480 --> 00:31:13,800 Speaker 1: will talk to you again really soon. Be sure to 519 00:31:13,880 --> 00:31:16,680 Speaker 1: check out our new video podcast, Stuff from the Future. 520 00:31:17,000 --> 00:31:19,320 Speaker 1: Join how Stuff Work staff as we explore the most 521 00:31:19,320 --> 00:31:24,160 Speaker 1: promising and perplexing possibilities of tomorrow. The house Stuff Works 522 00:31:24,200 --> 00:31:32,200 Speaker 1: iPhone app has arrived. Download it today on iTunes. Brought 523 00:31:32,280 --> 00:31:35,440 Speaker 1: to you by the reinvented two thousand twelve camera. It's ready, 524 00:31:35,640 --> 00:31:36,080 Speaker 1: are you