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 --> 00:00:08,880 Speaker 1: It's ready. Are you get in touch with technology? With 3 00:00:09,000 --> 00:00:17,680 Speaker 1: tech Stuff from how stuff dot com. Hello, and welcome 4 00:00:17,720 --> 00:00:19,760 Speaker 1: to tech Stuff. My name is Chris Poulett, and I'm 5 00:00:19,760 --> 00:00:22,360 Speaker 1: an editor at how stuff works dot Com. Sitting across 6 00:00:22,360 --> 00:00:26,520 Speaker 1: from me, as usual, is senior writer Jonathan Strickland. Happy 7 00:00:26,560 --> 00:00:29,720 Speaker 1: families are all alike. Every unhappy family is unhappy in 8 00:00:29,760 --> 00:00:33,360 Speaker 1: its own way. Okay, now that was poignant. Yes, I 9 00:00:33,400 --> 00:00:35,800 Speaker 1: saved that one for this part of our three part 10 00:00:35,920 --> 00:00:41,000 Speaker 1: epic extravaganza on the Hewlett Packard story. Okay, and it's 11 00:00:41,840 --> 00:00:44,839 Speaker 1: again if you are just joining us. A couple of 12 00:00:44,840 --> 00:00:47,919 Speaker 1: guys named Dave and Bill started late on tech stuff. Uh. 13 00:00:48,080 --> 00:00:50,120 Speaker 1: A couple of guys named Dave and Bill started company 14 00:00:50,200 --> 00:00:55,480 Speaker 1: in a garage in Palo Alto, California for eight dollars 15 00:00:55,520 --> 00:00:59,160 Speaker 1: and a drill press. Yes, no kidding, They really did that, 16 00:00:59,560 --> 00:01:03,400 Speaker 1: and then basically built it up into a powerhouse of 17 00:01:04,080 --> 00:01:11,360 Speaker 1: electronic electronical electrical engineering feats of master. They were very 18 00:01:11,360 --> 00:01:15,400 Speaker 1: suburbian kill suburbian, Yes, I totally checked over that. Anyway, 19 00:01:15,440 --> 00:01:18,360 Speaker 1: They made all sorts of really cool stuff that that 20 00:01:18,520 --> 00:01:21,319 Speaker 1: helped other companies build their businesses. They made a lot 21 00:01:21,360 --> 00:01:28,840 Speaker 1: of electrical engineering, measurement tools, oscillators, um frequency device, all 22 00:01:28,920 --> 00:01:31,040 Speaker 1: kinds of stuff that you or I would probably never 23 00:01:31,120 --> 00:01:35,000 Speaker 1: lay hands on about. Yeah. Yeah, we're talking about stuff 24 00:01:35,000 --> 00:01:37,480 Speaker 1: that behind the scenes is very important, but to the 25 00:01:37,520 --> 00:01:43,400 Speaker 1: consumer is mostly incomprehensible. It started in thirty nine, made 26 00:01:43,440 --> 00:01:47,640 Speaker 1: its way through the forties and fifties and grew exponentially. Um. 27 00:01:47,800 --> 00:01:52,320 Speaker 1: And also they began to move into other fields medical technology, 28 00:01:52,440 --> 00:01:55,360 Speaker 1: computers in the sixties, Yes, and computers. And when we 29 00:01:55,360 --> 00:01:57,240 Speaker 1: were talking about computers in our last episode, we were 30 00:01:57,240 --> 00:01:59,720 Speaker 1: talking about how they were computers. They were there too, 31 00:01:59,840 --> 00:02:03,760 Speaker 1: how people compute things. Yeah, they're talking about business, business computers, 32 00:02:03,800 --> 00:02:06,400 Speaker 1: research computers, that sort of thing, not something again for 33 00:02:06,640 --> 00:02:09,560 Speaker 1: the consumer. We're talking about computers that are the size 34 00:02:09,560 --> 00:02:15,920 Speaker 1: of say a person's desk, not not a desktop, large calculators. 35 00:02:15,960 --> 00:02:20,120 Speaker 1: But um uh. Now we're getting into the eighties. And 36 00:02:20,200 --> 00:02:24,079 Speaker 1: the reason why we decided to stop our last podcast 37 00:02:24,160 --> 00:02:27,280 Speaker 1: at nineteen seventy nine is because in nineteen eighty that's 38 00:02:27,280 --> 00:02:32,640 Speaker 1: when HP launched its very first personal computer for for 39 00:02:32,720 --> 00:02:36,839 Speaker 1: the personal computer market, right before they released a very 40 00:02:36,919 --> 00:02:40,400 Speaker 1: large calculator that got called at the first personal computer, 41 00:02:41,480 --> 00:02:44,959 Speaker 1: but it was a scientific calculator. It wasn't a device 42 00:02:45,080 --> 00:02:48,040 Speaker 1: meant to run programs and have an operating system and 43 00:02:48,040 --> 00:02:49,760 Speaker 1: all that kind of stuff. Right, it's not a computer. 44 00:02:49,960 --> 00:02:52,400 Speaker 1: It is a computer, literally, but it is not a 45 00:02:52,400 --> 00:02:55,639 Speaker 1: computer in what we in the twenty first century consider 46 00:02:55,680 --> 00:02:59,600 Speaker 1: a computer. Um so in marketing terms, that's what they 47 00:02:59,600 --> 00:03:01,320 Speaker 1: had called it. But yeah, this this is when we're 48 00:03:01,320 --> 00:03:06,480 Speaker 1: getting into the time of real um of modern personal computers. 49 00:03:06,840 --> 00:03:11,160 Speaker 1: So nineteen eight launches the HP eight five and it 50 00:03:11,200 --> 00:03:14,240 Speaker 1: had input output ports that allowed it to connect to 51 00:03:14,360 --> 00:03:19,680 Speaker 1: other computers and also to various electronic instruments. So uh 52 00:03:19,919 --> 00:03:23,919 Speaker 1: not again not necessarily something for the average consumer, but 53 00:03:24,000 --> 00:03:28,200 Speaker 1: we're slowly moving that way. Now in nineteen eight one 54 00:03:28,600 --> 00:03:31,800 Speaker 1: we get yet another calculator. So I expect Mr Plette 55 00:03:31,880 --> 00:03:35,000 Speaker 1: will dance around the room and squeel like a little 56 00:03:35,360 --> 00:03:39,360 Speaker 1: joyful I like calculators. Apparently you do. It's the HP 57 00:03:39,480 --> 00:03:41,880 Speaker 1: twelve C. It's a business calculator. Yeah, that the twelve 58 00:03:42,440 --> 00:03:44,800 Speaker 1: The funny thing about the twelve C is now that 59 00:03:44,960 --> 00:03:49,920 Speaker 1: this device was introduced in they still sell them. Uh 60 00:03:50,000 --> 00:03:53,960 Speaker 1: They're they're tiny devices. About the sizes we would expect 61 00:03:53,960 --> 00:03:56,800 Speaker 1: a pocket calculator to be now, um, but it was 62 00:03:56,840 --> 00:04:01,680 Speaker 1: designed to be a financial calculator. Um. So this is 63 00:04:01,760 --> 00:04:06,360 Speaker 1: kind of kind of interesting because again HP had been 64 00:04:06,920 --> 00:04:11,320 Speaker 1: was started as a company that made electric electronic testing equipment. 65 00:04:12,000 --> 00:04:16,600 Speaker 1: So now they are really moving like making a dedicated 66 00:04:16,600 --> 00:04:20,240 Speaker 1: push into other areas of business and trying to reach 67 00:04:20,279 --> 00:04:23,279 Speaker 1: out to other business customers who might want their products. 68 00:04:23,279 --> 00:04:26,360 Speaker 1: Because again, if you've listened to our previous podcast on HP, 69 00:04:26,480 --> 00:04:31,120 Speaker 1: you know that one of the foundation, uh parts of 70 00:04:31,160 --> 00:04:33,599 Speaker 1: their philosophy is that you have to continue to grow 71 00:04:33,720 --> 00:04:36,960 Speaker 1: as a business or you perish. And the best and 72 00:04:36,960 --> 00:04:39,440 Speaker 1: the best part is it had a gold tone, so 73 00:04:39,520 --> 00:04:43,600 Speaker 1: you knew it was good. Um. Two, they introduced HP 74 00:04:43,720 --> 00:04:49,839 Speaker 1: seventy handheld computer. It's actually a mobile computing device and uh, 75 00:04:49,920 --> 00:04:52,960 Speaker 1: you know, it's kind of interesting it if you look 76 00:04:53,000 --> 00:04:56,120 Speaker 1: at it today. I mean, granted, it looks bulkier than 77 00:04:56,200 --> 00:04:58,719 Speaker 1: what we think of as a mobile computer now, but 78 00:04:59,040 --> 00:05:01,640 Speaker 1: HP really had they were ahead of their time, really, 79 00:05:01,680 --> 00:05:05,960 Speaker 1: but they had really predicted the whole mobile computing UM movement. 80 00:05:06,120 --> 00:05:10,680 Speaker 1: Although at this point movement see what because they're mobile 81 00:05:11,120 --> 00:05:14,200 Speaker 1: but although at this point the they're much more primitive 82 00:05:14,240 --> 00:05:17,800 Speaker 1: than the ones we use today. The HP seventy five C, however, 83 00:05:17,960 --> 00:05:20,320 Speaker 1: even had input output drive so you can connect it 84 00:05:20,360 --> 00:05:24,960 Speaker 1: to a printer or a digital cassette drive. Remember digital cassettes. 85 00:05:25,760 --> 00:05:30,880 Speaker 1: These are not not like disks. You actually stored things 86 00:05:30,960 --> 00:05:34,760 Speaker 1: on tape magnetically. But yeah, it was. It was ten 87 00:05:34,760 --> 00:05:38,599 Speaker 1: inches long, about twenty five point four centimeters um by 88 00:05:38,640 --> 00:05:41,200 Speaker 1: five inches by one inch, so it was only you know, 89 00:05:41,720 --> 00:05:45,440 Speaker 1: two point five four centimeters thick. It was. It was 90 00:05:45,640 --> 00:05:47,560 Speaker 1: glad I have that memorized, because that's about the only 91 00:05:48,000 --> 00:05:50,320 Speaker 1: metric conversion I have memorized. It was a bit larger 92 00:05:50,360 --> 00:05:55,680 Speaker 1: than uh, your typical calculator at that point, forty eight 93 00:05:55,800 --> 00:05:58,680 Speaker 1: k of RAM sixteen k ram. You know. It ran 94 00:05:58,720 --> 00:06:02,200 Speaker 1: basic and visit calc and and you could use it 95 00:06:02,200 --> 00:06:05,920 Speaker 1: as a clock or an alarm for appointments only cost 96 00:06:06,000 --> 00:06:10,720 Speaker 1: nine when Mickey's big hand is on the digital one. Anyway. 97 00:06:11,360 --> 00:06:15,640 Speaker 1: So in nineteen two they also HP introduced within the 98 00:06:15,680 --> 00:06:19,400 Speaker 1: company itself, an electronic mail system where you could send 99 00:06:19,480 --> 00:06:26,279 Speaker 1: messages to other HP employees. So oh and yeah, no, 100 00:06:26,440 --> 00:06:31,599 Speaker 1: that's right. Okay, I was like, what but the electronic 101 00:06:31,640 --> 00:06:34,400 Speaker 1: mail was all internal, It wasn't this wasn't something Whearing 102 00:06:34,560 --> 00:06:38,960 Speaker 1: an HP pioneered email. Email actually had existed for a 103 00:06:39,000 --> 00:06:42,800 Speaker 1: little while and other research facilities, but this was It 104 00:06:42,839 --> 00:06:45,440 Speaker 1: was a pretty big move for a company to do that. Now. Granted, 105 00:06:45,760 --> 00:06:48,800 Speaker 1: HP at this point is a very large company that's 106 00:06:48,920 --> 00:06:52,880 Speaker 1: continued to expands, got more than fifty employees, so it 107 00:06:52,960 --> 00:06:57,080 Speaker 1: was very important that they developed a way to communicate 108 00:06:57,160 --> 00:07:00,880 Speaker 1: between different departments and within departments because it's getting too 109 00:07:00,960 --> 00:07:04,960 Speaker 1: large to just rely on paper all the time. Yeah, 110 00:07:05,160 --> 00:07:07,839 Speaker 1: and frankly, it's inconvenient to staple notes to people's foreheads 111 00:07:07,839 --> 00:07:10,800 Speaker 1: as they walk by. Yeah. I have had many people 112 00:07:10,800 --> 00:07:13,400 Speaker 1: talk to me about my habit of doing that now, 113 00:07:13,520 --> 00:07:15,200 Speaker 1: and I'm just pointing it out. In AP two, they 114 00:07:15,200 --> 00:07:19,640 Speaker 1: also introduced the HP nine thousand, Ah, the HP nine thousands. 115 00:07:19,720 --> 00:07:23,600 Speaker 1: It was a main frame computer, but a desktop main frame. 116 00:07:23,640 --> 00:07:27,120 Speaker 1: Now when what when you hear the term mainframe computer, 117 00:07:27,600 --> 00:07:30,920 Speaker 1: what you're supposed to think about is a computer that's 118 00:07:30,960 --> 00:07:33,760 Speaker 1: so large it fills up an entire room. Yeah, I 119 00:07:33,800 --> 00:07:39,080 Speaker 1: think of specifically of the digital vacts yeah vas. Yeah, 120 00:07:39,120 --> 00:07:43,040 Speaker 1: so you're talking about these enormous computing machines that uh 121 00:07:43,400 --> 00:07:46,000 Speaker 1: that you know, you'd open up a door and you're 122 00:07:46,040 --> 00:07:48,520 Speaker 1: looking at a computer. That's pretty much what these things 123 00:07:48,560 --> 00:07:51,760 Speaker 1: look like. Now. The HP nine thousand was a departure 124 00:07:51,800 --> 00:07:55,760 Speaker 1: from that. It was a computer that had mainframe capabilities, 125 00:07:55,920 --> 00:07:58,000 Speaker 1: one that was just as powerful to say, a supercomputer 126 00:07:58,080 --> 00:08:01,520 Speaker 1: from the nineteen sixties, but it could it on a desktop. Now, 127 00:08:01,560 --> 00:08:06,360 Speaker 1: this is a really good illustration of a an observation 128 00:08:06,440 --> 00:08:11,720 Speaker 1: made by um Uh, an Intel co founder. We're of 129 00:08:11,760 --> 00:08:15,240 Speaker 1: course referring to Moore's law here, and Moore's law is 130 00:08:15,280 --> 00:08:17,640 Speaker 1: really an observation. If you've listened to our podcast, you've 131 00:08:17,680 --> 00:08:22,559 Speaker 1: heard us talk about it a number of times quote 132 00:08:22,600 --> 00:08:26,280 Speaker 1: unquote law. But the observation essentially is that about every 133 00:08:26,320 --> 00:08:29,880 Speaker 1: two years or so, and the time changes depending upon 134 00:08:29,880 --> 00:08:32,320 Speaker 1: when you look at this law, about every two years, 135 00:08:32,600 --> 00:08:36,200 Speaker 1: the number of discrete elements that can be fit upon 136 00:08:36,400 --> 00:08:42,160 Speaker 1: a square inch of silicon waffer Uh doubles. So what 137 00:08:42,280 --> 00:08:45,160 Speaker 1: that means to the layman is that the number of 138 00:08:45,160 --> 00:08:49,280 Speaker 1: transistors on a microprocessor tends to double every two years, 139 00:08:49,320 --> 00:08:52,520 Speaker 1: which means that you can cram more transistors onto the 140 00:08:52,600 --> 00:08:55,839 Speaker 1: same space as you could two years ago, and thus 141 00:08:56,240 --> 00:09:01,160 Speaker 1: devices can get smaller while maintaining a level of power. 142 00:09:01,600 --> 00:09:04,640 Speaker 1: So by two it was possible to build a machine 143 00:09:04,960 --> 00:09:06,640 Speaker 1: that fit on a desktop that would have the same 144 00:09:06,679 --> 00:09:10,720 Speaker 1: amount of power as in nineteen sixties super computer super 145 00:09:10,920 --> 00:09:12,600 Speaker 1: which is you know, that's a pretty big deal. Now. 146 00:09:12,640 --> 00:09:15,760 Speaker 1: Of course, today the computers that you run out and 147 00:09:15,800 --> 00:09:18,800 Speaker 1: buy in the store have more power to them than 148 00:09:18,960 --> 00:09:22,000 Speaker 1: some of those supercomputers did back in the nineteen sixties. 149 00:09:22,240 --> 00:09:25,079 Speaker 1: You know, you could buy a netbook that has more 150 00:09:25,120 --> 00:09:28,640 Speaker 1: power than some of those supercomputers. But but you know, 151 00:09:28,720 --> 00:09:33,199 Speaker 1: this was this was a good illustration of that that 152 00:09:33,200 --> 00:09:36,560 Speaker 1: that observation. You can buy a smartphone. Yeah, it's kind 153 00:09:36,600 --> 00:09:38,720 Speaker 1: of crazy. But that's the thing about Moore's law, right, 154 00:09:38,760 --> 00:09:41,640 Speaker 1: I mean, it's exponential growth. So if if More's law 155 00:09:41,679 --> 00:09:44,160 Speaker 1: were not correct, then we wouldn't be able to do 156 00:09:44,240 --> 00:09:46,880 Speaker 1: those things. But it's so far held out to be true, 157 00:09:47,200 --> 00:09:50,640 Speaker 1: although of course, every single year that passes someone predicts 158 00:09:50,640 --> 00:09:52,360 Speaker 1: will be the final year for Moore's law to be 159 00:09:52,360 --> 00:09:54,440 Speaker 1: able to hold true, because we keep thinking we're going 160 00:09:54,480 --> 00:09:57,360 Speaker 1: to run into some sort of fundamental obstacle that will 161 00:09:57,360 --> 00:10:01,160 Speaker 1: prevent us from continuing, and yet engineers figure out a 162 00:10:01,160 --> 00:10:04,679 Speaker 1: way around it because they're crafty that and because they 163 00:10:04,720 --> 00:10:08,000 Speaker 1: want I think, haven't we established that they generally want 164 00:10:08,040 --> 00:10:10,760 Speaker 1: to try to. It's a self fulfilling prophecy when you 165 00:10:11,080 --> 00:10:13,120 Speaker 1: try to make it work, right, Yeah, it becomes one 166 00:10:13,120 --> 00:10:17,280 Speaker 1: of those things where you know, engineers in general and 167 00:10:17,559 --> 00:10:21,360 Speaker 1: even companies in particular, will dedicate a lot of resources 168 00:10:21,400 --> 00:10:24,079 Speaker 1: to keep it going because you never I don't think 169 00:10:24,120 --> 00:10:28,000 Speaker 1: anyone wants to reach the point where they say, we've 170 00:10:28,000 --> 00:10:30,960 Speaker 1: reached the end of of what Moore's Law has predicted. 171 00:10:31,000 --> 00:10:35,160 Speaker 1: We cannot we cannot continue at that pace. It doesn't 172 00:10:35,200 --> 00:10:37,920 Speaker 1: necessarily mean when Moore's Law does come to an end, 173 00:10:37,960 --> 00:10:40,480 Speaker 1: whenever that may be, it doesn't necessarily mean that we 174 00:10:40,679 --> 00:10:45,800 Speaker 1: that progress will stop. It may just slow down significantly. Anyway, 175 00:10:45,960 --> 00:10:50,880 Speaker 1: we got way off track there. They introduced the HP 176 00:10:51,040 --> 00:10:55,720 Speaker 1: one fifty touch screen computer. Yes, which you know, if 177 00:10:55,760 --> 00:11:00,200 Speaker 1: you think about it, the touch screen PC. Yeah, and 178 00:11:00,360 --> 00:11:02,880 Speaker 1: we're still talking about I mean, think about this. HP 179 00:11:03,080 --> 00:11:08,439 Speaker 1: is has managed to launch a mobile device much earlier 180 00:11:08,440 --> 00:11:11,240 Speaker 1: than mobile computing takes off. They launched this touch screen 181 00:11:11,320 --> 00:11:14,400 Speaker 1: computer way before we start seeing a lot of these 182 00:11:14,440 --> 00:11:17,439 Speaker 1: touch screen interfaces come out, really ahead of its time. 183 00:11:18,440 --> 00:11:21,120 Speaker 1: The the HP one also had a keyboard, so it 184 00:11:21,160 --> 00:11:24,840 Speaker 1: wasn't exclusively touch screen, but you could select items on 185 00:11:24,880 --> 00:11:28,680 Speaker 1: the screen by touching them, so again kind of predicting 186 00:11:28,960 --> 00:11:34,079 Speaker 1: the craze. Now granted almost three decades too early, but 187 00:11:34,080 --> 00:11:39,480 Speaker 1: but it's still pretty impressive. And oh you uh, you 188 00:11:39,480 --> 00:11:43,920 Speaker 1: didn't mention one thing about Mr Hewlett, Which are you 189 00:11:43,960 --> 00:11:46,199 Speaker 1: going with the awards? Yes, I did not. I did 190 00:11:46,200 --> 00:11:48,720 Speaker 1: not include the awards. I didn't well, we don't have 191 00:11:48,800 --> 00:11:52,600 Speaker 1: as many as uh in our Texas Instruments podcast. But 192 00:11:52,880 --> 00:11:56,720 Speaker 1: he did get the National Medal of Science. But you 193 00:11:56,800 --> 00:12:02,600 Speaker 1: were going to mention the big ants actually two of them, 194 00:12:02,640 --> 00:12:08,040 Speaker 1: both coming from the the Graphic Recording Division. Yeah. Um, specifically, 195 00:12:08,080 --> 00:12:12,080 Speaker 1: I was going to talk about the thermal ink jet printer. Uh, 196 00:12:12,120 --> 00:12:16,320 Speaker 1: that's that's the year that HP introduced that idea. And um, 197 00:12:16,600 --> 00:12:18,560 Speaker 1: I guess that's where the name think jet comes from. 198 00:12:18,920 --> 00:12:22,319 Speaker 1: Think jet comes from thermal ink jet. And this was 199 00:12:22,360 --> 00:12:25,560 Speaker 1: a new way of printing. Now, the major kind of 200 00:12:25,559 --> 00:12:28,680 Speaker 1: printer that was on the market before this was a 201 00:12:28,720 --> 00:12:35,040 Speaker 1: dot matrix printer. Those things were loud, very loud. When 202 00:12:35,080 --> 00:12:37,480 Speaker 1: that when they were printing you, you pretty much couldn't 203 00:12:37,480 --> 00:12:40,000 Speaker 1: hear yourself think. You had to sort of train yourself 204 00:12:40,040 --> 00:12:45,679 Speaker 1: to ignore the root noises. Um, as well as the 205 00:12:45,679 --> 00:12:48,480 Speaker 1: crunchy noises of the paper getting caught up in spokes 206 00:12:48,480 --> 00:12:51,920 Speaker 1: and things. It was not always pleasant. That's all right. 207 00:12:51,960 --> 00:12:57,280 Speaker 1: I had a daisy wheel even better. Whack whack, black Whackum. 208 00:12:57,320 --> 00:13:00,839 Speaker 1: So they do have. Earlier in the podcast we were 209 00:13:00,840 --> 00:13:08,079 Speaker 1: talking about, how about how HP has descriptions and photos 210 00:13:08,200 --> 00:13:12,200 Speaker 1: of these items on their history part of their website. Um, 211 00:13:12,240 --> 00:13:14,680 Speaker 1: it's interesting they have a they have a sound sample 212 00:13:14,720 --> 00:13:19,040 Speaker 1: of the think jet, and it's funny because the literature 213 00:13:19,320 --> 00:13:22,640 Speaker 1: surrounding it talks about how much quieter it is. It's 214 00:13:22,640 --> 00:13:29,000 Speaker 1: not what you would call quiet swissbur quiet. It's quieter er. Yeah, 215 00:13:29,200 --> 00:13:32,040 Speaker 1: it's not as loud. How about that? So, yeah, that 216 00:13:32,120 --> 00:13:34,360 Speaker 1: was a big deal, you said, You said too. Was 217 00:13:34,400 --> 00:13:36,079 Speaker 1: there a second part to that that you wanted to 218 00:13:36,120 --> 00:13:40,240 Speaker 1: talk about? That? That's all I jotted down. Oh well yeah, 219 00:13:40,240 --> 00:13:43,880 Speaker 1: there was another big printing advance right about the same time, 220 00:13:45,559 --> 00:13:50,400 Speaker 1: the laser jet. Oh, the laser jet. Yes, I didn't 221 00:13:50,400 --> 00:13:53,199 Speaker 1: have that down. Yeah, the laser I think jet and 222 00:13:53,280 --> 00:13:58,559 Speaker 1: laser jet were both both came out in the same year. Um. Now, 223 00:13:58,880 --> 00:14:01,480 Speaker 1: the thing jet was thing that you might would be 224 00:14:01,559 --> 00:14:05,480 Speaker 1: obviously well maybe not obviously, but a less expensive um device. 225 00:14:05,559 --> 00:14:09,400 Speaker 1: But the laser jet uh started in three thousand, five 226 00:14:09,480 --> 00:14:14,160 Speaker 1: hundred dollars, and it was a completely different kind of printing. 227 00:14:14,200 --> 00:14:16,640 Speaker 1: I mean, this was now talk about quiet. This is 228 00:14:16,640 --> 00:14:20,080 Speaker 1: gonna be a lot quieter than that ink jet printer. Um. 229 00:14:20,120 --> 00:14:22,880 Speaker 1: And this is also the point where uh, you know, 230 00:14:23,360 --> 00:14:28,400 Speaker 1: computers are becoming more common sites in offices and and 231 00:14:28,400 --> 00:14:31,720 Speaker 1: and they will be in homes uh in very very 232 00:14:31,760 --> 00:14:35,040 Speaker 1: short period of time. Is also the same year that 233 00:14:35,080 --> 00:14:38,440 Speaker 1: the mac uh, well, the Macintosh, I should say, the 234 00:14:38,520 --> 00:14:41,200 Speaker 1: Macintosh computer premiered in nineteen eight four, and we had 235 00:14:41,240 --> 00:14:44,000 Speaker 1: the IBM PC. Yeah, IBMPC had been out for a while, 236 00:14:44,040 --> 00:14:46,720 Speaker 1: and of course you know Apple had some computers help 237 00:14:46,880 --> 00:14:49,360 Speaker 1: for a few years before the Macintosh, and even the 238 00:14:49,400 --> 00:14:52,360 Speaker 1: Commodore sixty four, which debuted in nineteen eight two. So 239 00:14:53,240 --> 00:14:56,800 Speaker 1: the personal computer is starting to gain ground, yep. And 240 00:14:56,880 --> 00:14:59,720 Speaker 1: so you know you might have a think jet and 241 00:14:59,800 --> 00:15:02,600 Speaker 1: a in a home because it's a less expensive printer. 242 00:15:03,120 --> 00:15:05,240 Speaker 1: Still a lot of dot Matrix and Daisy Wheel out there, 243 00:15:05,240 --> 00:15:07,880 Speaker 1: but laser chat was what you might see in an office, 244 00:15:08,160 --> 00:15:11,400 Speaker 1: and uh, talk about a popular product. Of course, the 245 00:15:11,440 --> 00:15:15,600 Speaker 1: line still exists today. Um. It was uh in eight 246 00:15:15,720 --> 00:15:18,560 Speaker 1: four two, I believe that's when HP made Fortunes list 247 00:15:18,640 --> 00:15:21,560 Speaker 1: of the hundred Best Companies to Work for, number seven 248 00:15:21,560 --> 00:15:25,080 Speaker 1: on that list. So it's another indication that HP took 249 00:15:25,640 --> 00:15:29,600 Speaker 1: taking care of its employees very seriously. Do you have 250 00:15:29,640 --> 00:15:32,200 Speaker 1: anything for eighty seven, because my next thing is, oh, well, 251 00:15:32,240 --> 00:15:35,760 Speaker 1: I had had eighty six when HP introduced the RISK 252 00:15:37,120 --> 00:15:42,040 Speaker 1: architecture Reduced Instruction Set computing, which is, it's a it's 253 00:15:42,080 --> 00:15:46,680 Speaker 1: a type of architecture for micro processor for many computers. UM, 254 00:15:46,840 --> 00:15:52,960 Speaker 1: it's typically less expensive than other architectures. It's also, according 255 00:15:53,000 --> 00:15:58,920 Speaker 1: to many people, a better UH way of computing than SISK, 256 00:15:59,120 --> 00:16:04,720 Speaker 1: which is it's it's counterpart. But um, that's a that 257 00:16:04,800 --> 00:16:09,840 Speaker 1: goes back to the power PC versus Intel days. When 258 00:16:09,880 --> 00:16:11,840 Speaker 1: you can hear that you can get so much, you 259 00:16:11,840 --> 00:16:16,520 Speaker 1: can get some some debate going upon. It's funny because 260 00:16:16,560 --> 00:16:19,920 Speaker 1: when you when you bring this up to computer engineers 261 00:16:19,920 --> 00:16:24,120 Speaker 1: and computer scientists, you can get to some pretty crazy 262 00:16:24,200 --> 00:16:30,400 Speaker 1: debates on the various benefits and um and problems with 263 00:16:30,520 --> 00:16:34,040 Speaker 1: various kinds of architecture. Most of us just say, I 264 00:16:34,080 --> 00:16:36,320 Speaker 1: just want my computer to go fast and do things 265 00:16:36,640 --> 00:16:40,400 Speaker 1: I don't I don't care how it does that. Oh 266 00:16:40,480 --> 00:16:44,840 Speaker 1: and we didn't talk about the integral computer they were 267 00:16:44,840 --> 00:16:47,080 Speaker 1: released in all in one. I didn't find it very 268 00:16:47,080 --> 00:16:52,720 Speaker 1: integral on the podcast, and it anyway, it's also rather heavy. Yeah. 269 00:16:53,760 --> 00:16:56,440 Speaker 1: They also came out with a number of different UH 270 00:16:56,480 --> 00:16:59,800 Speaker 1: scientific calculators, like the HP eight teen C and thirty 271 00:16:59,840 --> 00:17:03,320 Speaker 1: two S eight nine. I gave up on the calculators. 272 00:17:03,360 --> 00:17:05,359 Speaker 1: There's a lot of them. I couldn't I couldn't keep up, 273 00:17:05,640 --> 00:17:08,359 Speaker 1: but it was it was a lucrative line of business 274 00:17:08,440 --> 00:17:11,399 Speaker 1: for me. And in eight seven they began their hardware 275 00:17:11,440 --> 00:17:14,720 Speaker 1: recycling program, which is again ahead of its time. Yeah. 276 00:17:14,720 --> 00:17:17,080 Speaker 1: One of those things again about HP. If you've listened 277 00:17:17,080 --> 00:17:19,240 Speaker 1: to the previous podcast, HP wanting to be a good 278 00:17:19,280 --> 00:17:24,800 Speaker 1: corporate citizen, so trying to do responsible things and not uh, 279 00:17:24,840 --> 00:17:29,080 Speaker 1: you know, not contribute too much to pollution and other problems. 280 00:17:29,119 --> 00:17:31,400 Speaker 1: In fact, there are a lot of initiatives that HP 281 00:17:31,560 --> 00:17:36,840 Speaker 1: launched that help make it a at least put it 282 00:17:36,880 --> 00:17:39,520 Speaker 1: in light of as a company that is UH is 283 00:17:39,520 --> 00:17:43,600 Speaker 1: concerned about the environment, including things like tracking greenhouse gases 284 00:17:43,680 --> 00:17:47,480 Speaker 1: that that happened later on UH. Oh, I'm sorry, you've 285 00:17:47,480 --> 00:17:50,680 Speaker 1: got a point here, just a small point that Jonathan 286 00:17:50,720 --> 00:17:52,520 Speaker 1: thought was long dead and you might have to if 287 00:17:52,520 --> 00:17:56,440 Speaker 1: you listen to the parts one and two. UM. In 288 00:17:56,440 --> 00:17:59,440 Speaker 1: in the first part we talked about the birthplace of HP. 289 00:17:59,680 --> 00:18:04,800 Speaker 1: That UM after UH Mr Hewlett and Mr Packard moved 290 00:18:04,800 --> 00:18:07,359 Speaker 1: out of the house where the garage was, they left 291 00:18:07,400 --> 00:18:10,919 Speaker 1: it to other owners and tenants over the years, but 292 00:18:12,800 --> 00:18:17,480 Speaker 1: HP decided that, uh the garage was significant UM and 293 00:18:17,520 --> 00:18:20,960 Speaker 1: probably I think because of something that you mentioned before too. 294 00:18:21,480 --> 00:18:25,520 Speaker 1: Other companies looked to HP as a leader and they started, 295 00:18:25,840 --> 00:18:29,359 Speaker 1: I think the the mythos of the whole uh starting 296 00:18:29,359 --> 00:18:31,440 Speaker 1: a tech company in your garage thing. I mean, it's 297 00:18:31,440 --> 00:18:35,080 Speaker 1: been done by others, Apple and Google, you mentioned Microsoft, 298 00:18:35,280 --> 00:18:38,359 Speaker 1: Origin Games started out of a garage well, and and 299 00:18:38,440 --> 00:18:41,400 Speaker 1: many other businesses have too. But I think HP decided 300 00:18:41,600 --> 00:18:44,080 Speaker 1: at that point that, look, other people have done this 301 00:18:44,160 --> 00:18:46,760 Speaker 1: so much that we want to we want to keep 302 00:18:46,800 --> 00:18:50,159 Speaker 1: track of this. So they decided to have the that 303 00:18:50,280 --> 00:18:54,080 Speaker 1: the garage would be on the list of historic landmarks. 304 00:18:54,080 --> 00:18:58,359 Speaker 1: So they actually started pursuing landmark status and in the 305 00:18:58,400 --> 00:19:01,560 Speaker 1: Palo al To Historic Resource His board named the garage 306 00:19:02,240 --> 00:19:04,760 Speaker 1: a city landmark. Yeah. We'll get into more of that 307 00:19:04,800 --> 00:19:07,280 Speaker 1: in a little bit, YEA, because I've got eighty eight 308 00:19:07,359 --> 00:19:10,879 Speaker 1: and the next part of that story happens in eighty nine. Yea, 309 00:19:11,119 --> 00:19:14,399 Speaker 1: in eighty seven, California did the same. I have it, 310 00:19:14,560 --> 00:19:18,879 Speaker 1: I have California naming it a California Historical Landmark in nine. Okay, 311 00:19:19,560 --> 00:19:24,800 Speaker 1: my timeline said August. See it's sometimes sometimes you run 312 00:19:24,840 --> 00:19:29,160 Speaker 1: into little differences and along these timelines. But yeah, it's 313 00:19:28,840 --> 00:19:32,800 Speaker 1: it's actually now a national landmark. Yes, originally it was 314 00:19:33,000 --> 00:19:36,560 Speaker 1: Palo Alto, then California now national. Uh. Yeah, this little 315 00:19:36,560 --> 00:19:39,560 Speaker 1: bit shack where HB started and you can see it 316 00:19:39,560 --> 00:19:43,800 Speaker 1: on Google Maps if you'd like. Yeah, we HP launched 317 00:19:43,800 --> 00:19:47,520 Speaker 1: the desk Jet printer series, which was its first mass 318 00:19:47,640 --> 00:19:51,560 Speaker 1: market ink jet. So um, they've started to bring the 319 00:19:51,600 --> 00:19:54,280 Speaker 1: costs of manufactured down so they can bring down the 320 00:19:54,320 --> 00:19:57,919 Speaker 1: cost of the actual units and start selling them to 321 00:19:57,920 --> 00:20:01,480 Speaker 1: to uh to consumers because before it was you know, 322 00:20:01,640 --> 00:20:05,320 Speaker 1: kind of like the early adopters who were getting hold 323 00:20:05,359 --> 00:20:09,600 Speaker 1: of these early think jet printers. But it wasn't until 324 00:20:09,680 --> 00:20:12,040 Speaker 1: we the desk Jet series that started to fall into 325 00:20:12,080 --> 00:20:14,760 Speaker 1: the range of the average consumer because you know, early 326 00:20:14,760 --> 00:20:18,400 Speaker 1: adopters tend to have a lot more money to play 327 00:20:18,440 --> 00:20:22,840 Speaker 1: with because it's expensive to be an early adopter. Um 328 00:20:22,880 --> 00:20:26,600 Speaker 1: and at this point in the company is doing quite well. 329 00:20:26,680 --> 00:20:29,320 Speaker 1: The revenues are now at nine point eight billion and 330 00:20:29,359 --> 00:20:33,480 Speaker 1: they have more than eighty seven thousand employees. That's kind 331 00:20:33,480 --> 00:20:37,800 Speaker 1: of large. Yeah, so you've got the historical landmark thing 332 00:20:37,800 --> 00:20:40,160 Speaker 1: happening either in eight seven or eighty nine, or perhaps both, 333 00:20:40,200 --> 00:20:44,720 Speaker 1: because you know, well I got my information from HP timelines, 334 00:20:44,840 --> 00:20:46,960 Speaker 1: so they have it listed as both. I would I 335 00:20:47,000 --> 00:20:49,080 Speaker 1: would think that eighty nine is is it? Because I 336 00:20:49,119 --> 00:20:53,040 Speaker 1: had it on that one? So interesting? And so they 337 00:20:53,040 --> 00:20:55,840 Speaker 1: did get a plaque in eighty nine that that declared 338 00:20:56,040 --> 00:21:00,720 Speaker 1: the garage the birthplace of Silicon Valley. There is a 339 00:21:00,800 --> 00:21:04,600 Speaker 1: monument there with a sandstone rock in the front yard. Um, 340 00:21:04,640 --> 00:21:07,640 Speaker 1: and uh, just well we can get to that later. 341 00:21:07,680 --> 00:21:09,680 Speaker 1: But they they you can actually go by and see 342 00:21:09,720 --> 00:21:12,680 Speaker 1: the plaque. It is there at the at the place 343 00:21:12,760 --> 00:21:16,840 Speaker 1: you can't go into the garage. I can imagine just 344 00:21:17,160 --> 00:21:19,680 Speaker 1: these people constantly coming out of that house yelling, get 345 00:21:19,720 --> 00:21:22,200 Speaker 1: off my lawn, you nerds. That'll come up later, Okay. 346 00:21:22,240 --> 00:21:27,879 Speaker 1: So in uh, the desk Chet, yeah, which was a 347 00:21:27,960 --> 00:21:31,440 Speaker 1: color printer, so this is the early days for color 348 00:21:31,480 --> 00:21:34,320 Speaker 1: printers for the consumer market. Um. They also created the 349 00:21:34,520 --> 00:21:39,000 Speaker 1: HP l X, which was a palm top PC I 350 00:21:39,040 --> 00:21:42,920 Speaker 1: love how these these terms get bandied about. Yeah, yeah, 351 00:21:43,080 --> 00:21:46,240 Speaker 1: I love that every single product is well, not every 352 00:21:46,240 --> 00:21:49,920 Speaker 1: single most of the products are HP. Couple of numbers, 353 00:21:50,520 --> 00:21:54,000 Speaker 1: a couple of letters. Yeah, still so confusing. Like if 354 00:21:54,040 --> 00:21:55,760 Speaker 1: you if you started rattling them off to me at 355 00:21:55,760 --> 00:21:58,240 Speaker 1: this point, even though we've just talked about them, I'd 356 00:21:58,240 --> 00:22:02,399 Speaker 1: be like, Um, is that a calculator? No, silly, that 357 00:22:02,480 --> 00:22:08,919 Speaker 1: was an awful leader. John Young retires. Now if you 358 00:22:09,000 --> 00:22:11,120 Speaker 1: were listening to our last podcast, you would have heard 359 00:22:11,119 --> 00:22:15,800 Speaker 1: about John Young becoming the president and CEO of HP. Uh. 360 00:22:15,840 --> 00:22:19,000 Speaker 1: So he retires, and a man named Lou Platt becomes 361 00:22:19,040 --> 00:22:24,119 Speaker 1: the new president and CEO. UH, and then in Packard 362 00:22:24,359 --> 00:22:29,080 Speaker 1: finally retires. Hewlett had retired several years earlier, but Packard 363 00:22:29,080 --> 00:22:33,479 Speaker 1: retires ninety three as chairman. So Platt then becomes the 364 00:22:33,560 --> 00:22:36,040 Speaker 1: new chairman. So he's the president, CEO, and chairman of 365 00:22:36,040 --> 00:22:38,920 Speaker 1: the board. Now this is when that becomes sort of 366 00:22:39,400 --> 00:22:42,360 Speaker 1: common for the leader of HP. From that point forward, 367 00:22:42,760 --> 00:22:44,719 Speaker 1: you start to see a lot of the HP leaders 368 00:22:45,320 --> 00:22:49,479 Speaker 1: assume all three of those roles. So, um, now we 369 00:22:49,520 --> 00:22:51,760 Speaker 1: finally have it where both of the founders have stepped 370 00:22:51,800 --> 00:22:57,639 Speaker 1: back from the company UH and then the company introduces 371 00:22:57,760 --> 00:23:02,679 Speaker 1: the Omnibook three hundred Done. Done. It was a portable computer. 372 00:23:02,800 --> 00:23:06,520 Speaker 1: Weighed three pounds, not that heavy really, um and kind 373 00:23:06,520 --> 00:23:10,800 Speaker 1: of a predecessor for the laptops that we'd see later on. 374 00:23:10,880 --> 00:23:13,399 Speaker 1: I mean I had a folding form factor just like 375 00:23:13,440 --> 00:23:16,560 Speaker 1: a laptop dead uh and you know not you know, 376 00:23:16,600 --> 00:23:19,360 Speaker 1: almost like a predecessor to netbooks in a way. Yeah, 377 00:23:19,720 --> 00:23:23,199 Speaker 1: because again it was supposed to be extremely portable. I 378 00:23:23,200 --> 00:23:26,560 Speaker 1: would like to point something out here. Um, at this point, 379 00:23:26,600 --> 00:23:28,920 Speaker 1: I would argue that HP still sees itself as a 380 00:23:29,000 --> 00:23:36,040 Speaker 1: business to business company. They're making products for primarily for businesses. Um. Yeah, 381 00:23:36,080 --> 00:23:38,040 Speaker 1: they do have their eyes on the consumer. They're selling 382 00:23:38,040 --> 00:23:41,560 Speaker 1: products to consumers, but I think they still sort of uh, 383 00:23:41,760 --> 00:23:44,600 Speaker 1: they're making a lot of these products for people who 384 00:23:44,760 --> 00:23:48,840 Speaker 1: are using their stuff in companies. Uh. And that's that's 385 00:23:49,040 --> 00:23:51,560 Speaker 1: a wise move on their part because that's a lucrative 386 00:23:51,600 --> 00:23:54,720 Speaker 1: market for them. Um. But they will they will be 387 00:23:54,720 --> 00:23:56,600 Speaker 1: branching out in the near future. I just wanted to 388 00:23:56,600 --> 00:24:00,600 Speaker 1: point that out. Um. They did begin work on sixty 389 00:24:00,600 --> 00:24:07,080 Speaker 1: four bit microprocessor architecture with Intel. Yeah. Yeah, so they 390 00:24:07,160 --> 00:24:11,159 Speaker 1: partner with Intel to work on this. Uh, this architecture 391 00:24:11,200 --> 00:24:14,399 Speaker 1: design for sixty four bit microprocessors. If you listen to 392 00:24:14,400 --> 00:24:16,879 Speaker 1: our thirty two bit versus sixty four bit podcast and 393 00:24:16,880 --> 00:24:19,880 Speaker 1: you know more about that. If you haven't, will wait, 394 00:24:21,119 --> 00:24:26,080 Speaker 1: welcome back. The HP then produces the world's brightest led 395 00:24:26,880 --> 00:24:30,080 Speaker 1: for no reason. No, that's not that's not true. Well, 396 00:24:30,119 --> 00:24:33,119 Speaker 1: remember we talked about HP Labs UM, and that was 397 00:24:33,160 --> 00:24:37,760 Speaker 1: a division of the company created decades before to come 398 00:24:37,840 --> 00:24:42,240 Speaker 1: up with new and innovative uses of technology. So I 399 00:24:42,240 --> 00:24:43,800 Speaker 1: think that was that had a lot to do it. 400 00:24:43,840 --> 00:24:49,040 Speaker 1: But they found UM applications in a number of things 401 00:24:49,040 --> 00:24:52,919 Speaker 1: like message signs and cars and traffic signals, so that 402 00:24:53,040 --> 00:24:55,040 Speaker 1: that's one of those things. And uh, this is when 403 00:24:55,080 --> 00:24:57,280 Speaker 1: we started seeing the office yet you know, the all 404 00:24:57,359 --> 00:25:02,600 Speaker 1: in one facts copier, printer, the latte machine, except maybe 405 00:25:02,640 --> 00:25:05,520 Speaker 1: not with the latte machine. Um, but that was the 406 00:25:05,840 --> 00:25:08,760 Speaker 1: what hpiece as is the world's first of those mass 407 00:25:08,840 --> 00:25:12,280 Speaker 1: market all in ones, yeah, which you know you see 408 00:25:12,280 --> 00:25:15,520 Speaker 1: a lot of those today. Yeah, very compact ones now too. Yeah, 409 00:25:15,520 --> 00:25:18,119 Speaker 1: but that that was aimed at the home office, right, Yeah. 410 00:25:18,240 --> 00:25:20,360 Speaker 1: The idea being that you know, if if you only 411 00:25:20,400 --> 00:25:23,280 Speaker 1: you only have so much space, and most people don't 412 00:25:23,280 --> 00:25:25,800 Speaker 1: have space to have a printer, a copier, and a 413 00:25:25,880 --> 00:25:28,640 Speaker 1: VEX machine altogether. That would be much easier to conserve 414 00:25:28,720 --> 00:25:31,120 Speaker 1: that space and have a one all in one unit, 415 00:25:31,119 --> 00:25:35,679 Speaker 1: which is what HP did. They created the Pavilion PC. 416 00:25:36,160 --> 00:25:40,280 Speaker 1: And that's really when HP went after the consumer market. Yeah, 417 00:25:40,400 --> 00:25:42,320 Speaker 1: and that's what that that's sort of what I meant 418 00:25:42,359 --> 00:25:44,879 Speaker 1: before they were they weren't really aiming for that market. 419 00:25:44,880 --> 00:25:46,760 Speaker 1: They were they were just sort of hitting it anywhere. 420 00:25:47,320 --> 00:25:49,760 Speaker 1: So now they're going, hey, all you home people, we 421 00:25:49,840 --> 00:25:53,720 Speaker 1: make stuff for you to listen hear home Chicken, Home Chicken. 422 00:25:54,359 --> 00:25:56,879 Speaker 1: You need yourself a computer. And then there was the 423 00:25:56,920 --> 00:26:00,920 Speaker 1: p d A that they released in ninety eight, the Jornada, Yes, 424 00:26:00,960 --> 00:26:03,760 Speaker 1: the Jornada Personal Digital Assistant for those of you who 425 00:26:03,800 --> 00:26:06,800 Speaker 1: don't remember what PDAs are. Look at a smartphone, take 426 00:26:06,880 --> 00:26:10,880 Speaker 1: the phone part out. Um reduced its ability to run 427 00:26:10,920 --> 00:26:15,119 Speaker 1: apps dramatically, and that's a p d A. Also, just 428 00:26:15,240 --> 00:26:17,720 Speaker 1: jumping back really quickly, because there's a couple of things 429 00:26:17,720 --> 00:26:21,000 Speaker 1: we need to talk about. That's when Packard published the 430 00:26:21,200 --> 00:26:25,000 Speaker 1: HP Way, right, and we talked about the HP Way before. Yeah, 431 00:26:25,040 --> 00:26:27,520 Speaker 1: And that was something that was inside the company, was 432 00:26:27,600 --> 00:26:31,359 Speaker 1: company information about how basically a plan, how they wanted 433 00:26:31,359 --> 00:26:33,439 Speaker 1: the business to be run kind of a guideline. And 434 00:26:33,480 --> 00:26:36,280 Speaker 1: then so he publishes a book that really expands upon 435 00:26:36,320 --> 00:26:38,680 Speaker 1: that and also just talks about the experiences of creating 436 00:26:38,680 --> 00:26:42,800 Speaker 1: this company. But in nineties six he passes away. So Packard, 437 00:26:43,040 --> 00:26:46,159 Speaker 1: the one of the co founders of Hewlett Packard, passes 438 00:26:46,200 --> 00:26:51,680 Speaker 1: away in UH. So in n lou Platt retires, and 439 00:26:51,800 --> 00:26:56,800 Speaker 1: here's where we get into some thorny controversy and problems 440 00:26:56,840 --> 00:26:59,919 Speaker 1: with Hewlett Packard. Really uh you know, Packard had just 441 00:27:00,000 --> 00:27:02,920 Speaker 1: passed away. And then three years later ninety nine, lou 442 00:27:02,960 --> 00:27:08,399 Speaker 1: Platt retires and the new president and CEO elected to 443 00:27:08,560 --> 00:27:14,960 Speaker 1: HP is Carly Fiorina. Now is also when again this 444 00:27:15,000 --> 00:27:16,760 Speaker 1: goes back to our very first episode. They used to 445 00:27:16,800 --> 00:27:22,760 Speaker 1: make electronic measuring equipment UM. HP decides to divest itself 446 00:27:23,200 --> 00:27:27,200 Speaker 1: of that and it spun off a company that handled 447 00:27:27,240 --> 00:27:31,640 Speaker 1: it the measurement equipment, chemical analysis and the medical stuff. 448 00:27:31,680 --> 00:27:34,920 Speaker 1: Remember they acquired a medical company a long long time ago, 449 00:27:35,400 --> 00:27:38,919 Speaker 1: and they decided that they would become its own company, 450 00:27:38,920 --> 00:27:42,840 Speaker 1: and now that company is called Agilant Technologies UM. But 451 00:27:43,240 --> 00:27:48,400 Speaker 1: the divestiture UH finished in the year two thousand. Meanwhile, 452 00:27:48,480 --> 00:27:51,119 Speaker 1: to to jump back over to Fiorina for a minute. 453 00:27:52,600 --> 00:27:55,760 Speaker 1: Her tenure at HP is one of those that is 454 00:27:55,960 --> 00:28:00,000 Speaker 1: sort of steeped in I don't know, controversy is probably 455 00:28:00,040 --> 00:28:02,360 Speaker 1: not the right word, but there there's been some pretty 456 00:28:02,440 --> 00:28:06,359 Speaker 1: heavy criticism directed towards Greena and her the way she 457 00:28:06,520 --> 00:28:09,840 Speaker 1: led HP. Now, I want to say, first of all, 458 00:28:10,280 --> 00:28:14,400 Speaker 1: she had an incredible burden placed on her because one 459 00:28:14,440 --> 00:28:18,160 Speaker 1: of the one of the co founders had passed away. Um, 460 00:28:18,240 --> 00:28:21,120 Speaker 1: she was looking at the at a company that was 461 00:28:21,520 --> 00:28:24,880 Speaker 1: very much accustomed to doing things a very particular way, 462 00:28:24,960 --> 00:28:27,919 Speaker 1: and perhaps in her mind she felt that this was 463 00:28:28,359 --> 00:28:31,560 Speaker 1: a sign of complacency and that in order to really 464 00:28:31,560 --> 00:28:34,119 Speaker 1: be a successful company they were going to have to 465 00:28:34,160 --> 00:28:37,520 Speaker 1: try and break out and do new things that were 466 00:28:37,560 --> 00:28:40,080 Speaker 1: that you know, maybe we're outside the comfort zone of 467 00:28:40,160 --> 00:28:43,960 Speaker 1: the company, but you can argue that, you know, some 468 00:28:44,080 --> 00:28:47,040 Speaker 1: of the best leaders in industry had that same sort 469 00:28:47,080 --> 00:28:52,240 Speaker 1: of idea. You know, you can't. I think some of 470 00:28:52,280 --> 00:28:54,640 Speaker 1: the criticism is is well founded, and I think some 471 00:28:54,720 --> 00:29:00,000 Speaker 1: of the criticism might be a little exaggerated. However, there 472 00:28:59,800 --> 00:29:02,400 Speaker 1: are certain results that you cannot argue with, and one 473 00:29:02,440 --> 00:29:05,520 Speaker 1: of those is that during Fiorina's tenure at HP, the 474 00:29:05,560 --> 00:29:10,240 Speaker 1: stock price dropped dramatically. UM. Now, it's high was around 475 00:29:10,640 --> 00:29:14,160 Speaker 1: seventy four dollars before Fiorina took over, but by the 476 00:29:14,200 --> 00:29:16,880 Speaker 1: time she did take over, it was right around UM 477 00:29:17,240 --> 00:29:20,200 Speaker 1: fifty one dollars or so, and by the time she 478 00:29:20,280 --> 00:29:23,040 Speaker 1: left it was around twenty one dollars. Yeah, it was 479 00:29:23,080 --> 00:29:26,080 Speaker 1: a dramatic drop. That's why when I made that joke 480 00:29:26,400 --> 00:29:28,920 Speaker 1: in the previous podcast about if you could travel through time, 481 00:29:28,920 --> 00:29:31,440 Speaker 1: you would want to go back and buy the HP 482 00:29:31,560 --> 00:29:34,160 Speaker 1: stock when it launched at sixteen dollars a share and 483 00:29:34,240 --> 00:29:36,160 Speaker 1: sell it in ninety nine when it was at its 484 00:29:36,200 --> 00:29:42,560 Speaker 1: highest point, just before UM lou Platte decided to retire. UM. 485 00:29:42,680 --> 00:29:45,560 Speaker 1: So we'll talk a little bit more about the decisions 486 00:29:45,600 --> 00:29:50,440 Speaker 1: that Fiorina made. She actually uh ended up on a 487 00:29:50,480 --> 00:29:55,200 Speaker 1: list made by Conde Nasta's portfolio UH that was called 488 00:29:55,200 --> 00:29:59,000 Speaker 1: the twenty worst American CEOs of all time, which is 489 00:29:59,120 --> 00:30:02,240 Speaker 1: that's an ouch right there. Um. She had come from 490 00:30:02,320 --> 00:30:04,560 Speaker 1: A T and T and Lucent Technologies, by the way, 491 00:30:04,600 --> 00:30:06,800 Speaker 1: that's where she was before she came over to HP. 492 00:30:06,880 --> 00:30:09,800 Speaker 1: And that was another big point of contention, was that 493 00:30:10,600 --> 00:30:14,680 Speaker 1: she was the first CEO to come from outside of HP. 494 00:30:15,720 --> 00:30:18,800 Speaker 1: She had not been working there and then grown from within. 495 00:30:19,240 --> 00:30:22,880 Speaker 1: She was brought from outside. She actually ended up prevailing 496 00:30:22,960 --> 00:30:26,360 Speaker 1: over an internal candidate to become the president and CEO 497 00:30:27,000 --> 00:30:30,680 Speaker 1: and um and and this sort of marks the beginning 498 00:30:30,880 --> 00:30:35,880 Speaker 1: of a very uncertain time and hps uh existence which 499 00:30:35,960 --> 00:30:40,120 Speaker 1: extends all the way up to present day. So UM 500 00:30:40,240 --> 00:30:44,840 Speaker 1: so that we'll go more into what happens with Fiorina 501 00:30:44,880 --> 00:30:47,440 Speaker 1: in the next few years. Um and, do you have 502 00:30:47,480 --> 00:30:49,200 Speaker 1: anything for two thousand, Well, I was just going to 503 00:30:49,240 --> 00:30:52,320 Speaker 1: tell im, I was just going to point out that, uh, 504 00:30:52,520 --> 00:30:58,680 Speaker 1: Fiorina took over with the spinoff of Agulant Technologies, um 505 00:30:58,960 --> 00:31:02,280 Speaker 1: HP was getting away from some of the core businesses 506 00:31:02,920 --> 00:31:05,800 Speaker 1: that made it the company that it it is now. 507 00:31:06,440 --> 00:31:08,560 Speaker 1: And that was one of the things that Dave Packard 508 00:31:08,560 --> 00:31:13,160 Speaker 1: had set aside as important to stick with what you 509 00:31:13,240 --> 00:31:17,000 Speaker 1: know and and find ways that the company can make contributions, 510 00:31:17,360 --> 00:31:20,040 Speaker 1: but at the same time reach out and and grow. 511 00:31:20,280 --> 00:31:23,320 Speaker 1: And one on the one hand, you say, well, this 512 00:31:23,400 --> 00:31:25,840 Speaker 1: has now grown so big that it really belongs as 513 00:31:25,880 --> 00:31:28,680 Speaker 1: its own company. It's we obviously let's see a lot 514 00:31:28,680 --> 00:31:32,400 Speaker 1: of growth and computing, personal computing, business computing. Uh, we're 515 00:31:32,400 --> 00:31:34,520 Speaker 1: doing well here. Let's let's stick with it and get 516 00:31:34,600 --> 00:31:36,320 Speaker 1: rid of these guys and let them be their own thing. 517 00:31:36,800 --> 00:31:38,400 Speaker 1: But at the same time, you go, well, at the 518 00:31:38,440 --> 00:31:42,440 Speaker 1: same you know, you've you've got this. It's strong and 519 00:31:42,560 --> 00:31:45,520 Speaker 1: it could survive and be a thriving part of of HP. 520 00:31:45,880 --> 00:31:49,320 Speaker 1: So they kind of the company kind of broke with tradition, 521 00:31:50,160 --> 00:31:53,880 Speaker 1: both in hiring as a CEO who was not brought 522 00:31:53,920 --> 00:31:57,400 Speaker 1: up within HP culture and in spinning off some of 523 00:31:57,400 --> 00:32:00,960 Speaker 1: its core from the founding of the company core businesses. Yeah, 524 00:32:01,080 --> 00:32:04,760 Speaker 1: and things just got a little things get worse from 525 00:32:04,800 --> 00:32:08,640 Speaker 1: there on. Out two one, Hewlett passes away, So now 526 00:32:08,680 --> 00:32:12,960 Speaker 1: both the founders have passed away. Uh. And meanwhile the 527 00:32:13,000 --> 00:32:17,680 Speaker 1: company creates HP Services, which is a consulting branch. It's 528 00:32:17,720 --> 00:32:22,600 Speaker 1: meant to provide support and solutions for mostly enterprises, big 529 00:32:22,640 --> 00:32:24,960 Speaker 1: businesses when they're looking for things like network support and 530 00:32:24,960 --> 00:32:28,680 Speaker 1: that kind of stuff. Um, so it's it's again another 531 00:32:28,720 --> 00:32:32,800 Speaker 1: departure from hpce core. They're not you know, they're mainly 532 00:32:32,840 --> 00:32:36,720 Speaker 1: a products company, not services company. And then that year 533 00:32:36,920 --> 00:32:41,440 Speaker 1: HP stocks fall really sharply. But to be fair, the 534 00:32:41,560 --> 00:32:44,200 Speaker 1: entire market in two thousand one suffered quite a bit, 535 00:32:44,320 --> 00:32:49,560 Speaker 1: especially after September eleven, the terrorist attacks on September eleven. 536 00:32:49,720 --> 00:32:56,480 Speaker 1: Took a had had far reaching implications in multiple avenues including, uh, 537 00:32:56,840 --> 00:33:01,160 Speaker 1: the world of finance, and so the technology g industry 538 00:33:01,240 --> 00:33:04,000 Speaker 1: took a big hit in two thousand one, and of 539 00:33:04,040 --> 00:33:08,920 Speaker 1: course HP had its own uh personal corporate tragedy as 540 00:33:08,960 --> 00:33:13,200 Speaker 1: well with the passing of Bill HEWITTT. Yeah, so it 541 00:33:13,240 --> 00:33:15,120 Speaker 1: was it was a difficult ear for the it was. 542 00:33:15,240 --> 00:33:18,320 Speaker 1: And in two thousand two, HP acquired a company called Indigo, 543 00:33:18,440 --> 00:33:22,560 Speaker 1: which is help it's digital publishing branch, which again you're 544 00:33:22,800 --> 00:33:25,440 Speaker 1: you know, it seemed kind of interesting compared to what 545 00:33:25,680 --> 00:33:28,120 Speaker 1: HP had been doing up to that point. Uh. And 546 00:33:28,240 --> 00:33:30,360 Speaker 1: they also started getting into in a big way. They 547 00:33:30,360 --> 00:33:34,840 Speaker 1: start conducting research and development in the field of nanotechnology UM. 548 00:33:35,000 --> 00:33:41,360 Speaker 1: And then there was a merger that one of the 549 00:33:41,360 --> 00:33:44,760 Speaker 1: most heavily criticized mergers, Like it's right up there with 550 00:33:45,160 --> 00:33:48,640 Speaker 1: with A O. L and Time Warner. As far as 551 00:33:49,040 --> 00:33:53,800 Speaker 1: the criticisms, now, I would argue that Time has been 552 00:33:53,920 --> 00:33:56,560 Speaker 1: kinder to this merger than some of the other ones 553 00:33:56,600 --> 00:33:59,280 Speaker 1: we've heard about it in the past. But the initial 554 00:33:59,440 --> 00:34:03,960 Speaker 1: remarks at the short term implications of this merger, we're 555 00:34:04,120 --> 00:34:07,840 Speaker 1: not good, but I'm dancing around it. But HP merged 556 00:34:07,920 --> 00:34:15,480 Speaker 1: with Compact to become this mega PC company. And UH, 557 00:34:16,280 --> 00:34:19,239 Speaker 1: there were a lot of people, a lot of industry analysts, 558 00:34:19,280 --> 00:34:23,840 Speaker 1: a lot of shareholders. UH, there were people of the 559 00:34:23,840 --> 00:34:28,320 Speaker 1: the children of the founders who objected to this merger, 560 00:34:28,880 --> 00:34:31,040 Speaker 1: said that this was a bad idea, that it was 561 00:34:31,080 --> 00:34:33,600 Speaker 1: going to cost the company too much money, that it 562 00:34:33,719 --> 00:34:36,840 Speaker 1: just didn't make any sense. And UH as a result, 563 00:34:36,920 --> 00:34:42,040 Speaker 1: the stock price you don't dip down again, and Fiorina 564 00:34:42,200 --> 00:34:45,759 Speaker 1: ended up getting even more criticism directed toward her for 565 00:34:45,880 --> 00:34:49,800 Speaker 1: this merger. Now and in two thousand eleven, at least 566 00:34:49,960 --> 00:34:52,799 Speaker 1: the early part of two thousand eleven, the stocks for 567 00:34:52,920 --> 00:34:56,920 Speaker 1: HP had improved quite a bit, back up to pretty 568 00:34:57,000 --> 00:35:01,560 Speaker 1: much the the era before Fiorina took a UH. The 569 00:35:01,640 --> 00:35:03,759 Speaker 1: second half of two thousand eleven is a totally different story. 570 00:35:03,880 --> 00:35:07,440 Speaker 1: We'll get into that. But but the the improvement of 571 00:35:07,480 --> 00:35:10,560 Speaker 1: the stock prices as well as the revenues generated through 572 00:35:10,560 --> 00:35:13,600 Speaker 1: this merger have sort of played out in such a 573 00:35:13,600 --> 00:35:15,759 Speaker 1: way that the murder doesn't look like it was such 574 00:35:15,800 --> 00:35:17,720 Speaker 1: a bad idea. It was just it was a long 575 00:35:18,239 --> 00:35:20,480 Speaker 1: it was a long play. It wasn't a short term 576 00:35:20,560 --> 00:35:23,600 Speaker 1: gain thing. So it may be that some of that 577 00:35:23,640 --> 00:35:28,120 Speaker 1: criticism was not completely warranted. Now, I am not a 578 00:35:28,160 --> 00:35:31,439 Speaker 1: financial genius by any stretch of the imagination, or else 579 00:35:31,520 --> 00:35:35,000 Speaker 1: I would be um listening to podcasts and not doing them. 580 00:35:35,040 --> 00:35:38,839 Speaker 1: But but so I can't really comment on this because 581 00:35:39,040 --> 00:35:41,920 Speaker 1: you know, I honestly I don't have enough insight into it. 582 00:35:42,000 --> 00:35:46,319 Speaker 1: I can only mentioned about the analysts. But moving on 583 00:35:46,400 --> 00:35:51,040 Speaker 1: to two thousand four, By that time, HP was number 584 00:35:51,080 --> 00:35:54,520 Speaker 1: eleven on the Fortune five lists. So clearly the company's 585 00:35:54,560 --> 00:35:57,680 Speaker 1: doing something right, right yep. And that's that's when it 586 00:35:57,960 --> 00:36:02,280 Speaker 1: UH went all in on the consumer market. To um. 587 00:36:02,320 --> 00:36:05,440 Speaker 1: They had a whole bunch of new consumer devices including 588 00:36:05,640 --> 00:36:10,279 Speaker 1: uh uh flat panel TVs, plasma and l C D televisions, 589 00:36:10,560 --> 00:36:13,799 Speaker 1: both of them, and the HP Digital Entertainment Center, and 590 00:36:13,840 --> 00:36:19,080 Speaker 1: they partnered with Apple Apple iPod from HP. I don't 591 00:36:19,080 --> 00:36:21,160 Speaker 1: remember that at all. I remember it, and I remember 592 00:36:21,160 --> 00:36:24,399 Speaker 1: it making my eyes bug out and going really, yeah, 593 00:36:24,440 --> 00:36:28,040 Speaker 1: I have no memory of this, and uh I didn't 594 00:36:28,080 --> 00:36:30,120 Speaker 1: mention something for two thousand, But it's all right because 595 00:36:30,160 --> 00:36:32,359 Speaker 1: I can roll it in here. And two thousand HP 596 00:36:32,480 --> 00:36:37,560 Speaker 1: had finally purchased the house at three sixty seven Addison Avenue, 597 00:36:37,560 --> 00:36:39,439 Speaker 1: and in two thousand four they announced that they would 598 00:36:39,440 --> 00:36:45,040 Speaker 1: be renovating it and rehabilitating the house, garage and the shed, 599 00:36:45,680 --> 00:36:48,440 Speaker 1: um which it has successfully done. It basically as a 600 00:36:48,440 --> 00:36:53,480 Speaker 1: company owned property, which they are basically keeping up and 601 00:36:53,520 --> 00:36:56,680 Speaker 1: they say it looks very much as it did back 602 00:36:56,719 --> 00:37:00,880 Speaker 1: in when Mr Hewlett and Mr Packard started the company, 603 00:37:00,920 --> 00:37:02,799 Speaker 1: which I think is again I think it's kind of 604 00:37:02,840 --> 00:37:07,000 Speaker 1: cool that they're showing that devotion to their history and tradition. 605 00:37:07,120 --> 00:37:09,600 Speaker 1: It was definitely in dire need of rehabilitation because in 606 00:37:09,640 --> 00:37:12,400 Speaker 1: the late seventies it got into this whole punk glam 607 00:37:12,400 --> 00:37:14,320 Speaker 1: thing and it just fell in with the wrong crowd. 608 00:37:15,080 --> 00:37:17,560 Speaker 1: So I'm glad it finally got the help it needed. Uh, 609 00:37:17,560 --> 00:37:21,680 Speaker 1: and UM moving on. In two thousand five, HP acquired 610 00:37:21,719 --> 00:37:24,960 Speaker 1: a company called cy Text Vision, which, Yeah, that was 611 00:37:25,000 --> 00:37:28,840 Speaker 1: a company that made printers that could print in super 612 00:37:28,880 --> 00:37:34,879 Speaker 1: wide formats, so like really wide posters or banners or signs, billboards, billboards. Yeah, 613 00:37:34,880 --> 00:37:37,480 Speaker 1: we're talking about like stuff that you know when you 614 00:37:37,520 --> 00:37:40,440 Speaker 1: look out there and you see something that's a huge poster. Uh, 615 00:37:40,560 --> 00:37:43,440 Speaker 1: that's sort of the business this company's And if you've 616 00:37:43,480 --> 00:37:47,799 Speaker 1: ever been to an industry convention or driven by one, UM, 617 00:37:47,840 --> 00:37:49,759 Speaker 1: that's the sort of stuff we're talking about, Like I 618 00:37:49,800 --> 00:37:51,680 Speaker 1: think of things like C, E S and E three. 619 00:37:51,719 --> 00:37:54,080 Speaker 1: I mean, you just see these banners everywhere, and it's 620 00:37:54,120 --> 00:37:58,120 Speaker 1: companies like cy Text Vision that print those up and UH. 621 00:37:58,320 --> 00:38:01,400 Speaker 1: February two thousand five was when FI Arena was forced 622 00:38:01,480 --> 00:38:05,520 Speaker 1: to resign from Hewlett Packer. The board of directors had 623 00:38:05,600 --> 00:38:09,760 Speaker 1: had enough. They felt that the stock price was really 624 00:38:10,680 --> 00:38:13,359 Speaker 1: just not where they wanted it to be. The shareholders 625 00:38:13,360 --> 00:38:16,640 Speaker 1: were unhappy. The merger with Compact at that point was 626 00:38:16,719 --> 00:38:20,200 Speaker 1: not paying off, but it was again early days for that, 627 00:38:20,800 --> 00:38:24,719 Speaker 1: and so they decided to Um to give her the boot. 628 00:38:25,239 --> 00:38:29,120 Speaker 1: She would later get into politics. She actually ran for 629 00:38:29,200 --> 00:38:33,000 Speaker 1: a Senate seat in California and did not win that, 630 00:38:33,560 --> 00:38:37,760 Speaker 1: but Um still very active in the political arena. Meanwhile, 631 00:38:38,880 --> 00:38:42,600 Speaker 1: UH for the for a short time, Bob Weyman acted 632 00:38:42,640 --> 00:38:45,839 Speaker 1: as the interim CEO, but then they hired on Mark 633 00:38:46,000 --> 00:38:49,719 Speaker 1: Heard to become the president and CEO, and in the 634 00:38:49,719 --> 00:38:52,360 Speaker 1: following year in two six, he also becomes the chairman. 635 00:38:52,440 --> 00:38:54,839 Speaker 1: So again we have a president, CEO, and chairman all 636 00:38:54,880 --> 00:38:58,160 Speaker 1: in one, all those roles held by one person. Two 637 00:38:58,160 --> 00:39:02,120 Speaker 1: thousand and six was a big year. They HP acquired 638 00:39:02,239 --> 00:39:07,680 Speaker 1: Voodoo PC. Yeah, it's voodoo, Yeah, exactly. They produced high 639 00:39:07,840 --> 00:39:11,400 Speaker 1: end gaming rigs, so kind of like alien ware, you know, 640 00:39:11,480 --> 00:39:15,000 Speaker 1: that sort of thing like the super Fast, which was 641 00:39:15,040 --> 00:39:20,319 Speaker 1: purchased by Dell. So trying to really reach out to 642 00:39:20,400 --> 00:39:22,920 Speaker 1: the consumer market to an even greater extent than it 643 00:39:22,960 --> 00:39:27,080 Speaker 1: had already. They also acquired a company called Mercury Interactive Corporation, 644 00:39:27,600 --> 00:39:30,919 Speaker 1: which was a business software company. Uh. And then there 645 00:39:31,000 --> 00:39:33,040 Speaker 1: was a story that broke in newsweek. Do you remember 646 00:39:33,040 --> 00:39:39,080 Speaker 1: this story about the spying, the internal spying at HP. Okay, 647 00:39:39,160 --> 00:39:45,239 Speaker 1: so the story said that that the HP chairwoman, Patricia Dunn, 648 00:39:45,719 --> 00:39:49,040 Speaker 1: this is before heard, has become the chairman, but that 649 00:39:49,080 --> 00:39:53,879 Speaker 1: Patricia Dunn had hired a security team because there were 650 00:39:53,920 --> 00:39:58,319 Speaker 1: stories leaking out from the executive level at HP, and 651 00:39:58,800 --> 00:40:01,560 Speaker 1: they were reaching the media, primarily they were reaching c net. 652 00:40:02,280 --> 00:40:06,000 Speaker 1: And one of those stories was about um Fiorina. The 653 00:40:06,040 --> 00:40:08,560 Speaker 1: board being unhappy with Fiorina and wanting to get rid 654 00:40:08,600 --> 00:40:10,880 Speaker 1: of her. This was before she was forced to resign, 655 00:40:11,440 --> 00:40:14,640 Speaker 1: and HP at the time denied that there were any 656 00:40:14,680 --> 00:40:17,120 Speaker 1: such talks, and then about a week later, Fiorina was 657 00:40:17,160 --> 00:40:22,640 Speaker 1: fired and uh, Meanwhile, Patricia Dunne was very upset that 658 00:40:22,800 --> 00:40:27,120 Speaker 1: such sensitive information was leaking, and so she hired a 659 00:40:27,120 --> 00:40:29,000 Speaker 1: security team to kind of find out what was going on, 660 00:40:29,520 --> 00:40:34,719 Speaker 1: and allegedly the security team consisted of private investigators who 661 00:40:34,719 --> 00:40:39,680 Speaker 1: were spying on HP employees and on journalists. So there 662 00:40:39,760 --> 00:40:44,480 Speaker 1: was a big scandal that broke because of this spying, saying, 663 00:40:44,480 --> 00:40:48,840 Speaker 1: you know, the HP board doesn't trust HP employees and 664 00:40:48,880 --> 00:40:53,560 Speaker 1: that this mistrust is fundamentally against the principles that HP 665 00:40:53,719 --> 00:40:56,440 Speaker 1: was founded upon, and that you know, it just was 666 00:40:57,680 --> 00:41:01,120 Speaker 1: unconscionable and done would actually were sign That's when Mark 667 00:41:01,160 --> 00:41:03,800 Speaker 1: Heard became the chairman UH and the state of California 668 00:41:03,800 --> 00:41:07,360 Speaker 1: actually filed charges against Patricia Dunn, but the case was 669 00:41:07,440 --> 00:41:10,759 Speaker 1: later dismissed so it never went to trial. UH. And 670 00:41:11,160 --> 00:41:15,479 Speaker 1: then two thousand seven, HP introduces the touch Smart PC, 671 00:41:15,680 --> 00:41:17,319 Speaker 1: which was an all in one computer with a touch 672 00:41:17,360 --> 00:41:21,479 Speaker 1: screen interface. Again two thousand seven being a little early 673 00:41:21,560 --> 00:41:23,400 Speaker 1: for that. We're just starting to see these kind of 674 00:41:23,400 --> 00:41:27,560 Speaker 1: touch screen computers start to gain widespread acceptance in well, 675 00:41:27,840 --> 00:41:31,040 Speaker 1: started in the late part of eleven and continuing into twelve, 676 00:41:31,280 --> 00:41:35,080 Speaker 1: especially when we start seeing things like Windows eight. UH, 677 00:41:35,120 --> 00:41:36,960 Speaker 1: the preview, I guess you could say, of what it 678 00:41:37,040 --> 00:41:39,560 Speaker 1: is eight, which really seems to be geared towards that 679 00:41:39,640 --> 00:41:42,239 Speaker 1: kind of interface. Um, whether or not that will end 680 00:41:42,280 --> 00:41:44,319 Speaker 1: up being successful, we can't say because it's too early 681 00:41:44,320 --> 00:41:47,640 Speaker 1: for us yet. But also in two thousand seven, HP 682 00:41:47,760 --> 00:41:51,560 Speaker 1: did something really really interesting with ink jet technology. Yeah. 683 00:41:51,600 --> 00:41:54,920 Speaker 1: Now I think this is funny because they're using inkject technology, 684 00:41:54,960 --> 00:41:57,640 Speaker 1: but they've already spun off their medical unit. But as 685 00:41:57,680 --> 00:42:01,319 Speaker 1: it turns out, they're they're using printers to achieve a 686 00:42:01,360 --> 00:42:05,480 Speaker 1: medical purpose, basically by creating a method of drug delivery 687 00:42:05,719 --> 00:42:08,600 Speaker 1: through a skin patch that can be printed with medicine 688 00:42:08,760 --> 00:42:12,040 Speaker 1: using a printer, so it can release these controlled dosages 689 00:42:12,360 --> 00:42:15,200 Speaker 1: to the skin and there's no need for an injection 690 00:42:15,560 --> 00:42:17,799 Speaker 1: or to take a pill or anything like that. Right, So, 691 00:42:18,040 --> 00:42:20,719 Speaker 1: very creative use of that technology. I thought that was 692 00:42:20,719 --> 00:42:25,160 Speaker 1: pretty interesting. Uh. In two thousand and eight, they introduced 693 00:42:25,200 --> 00:42:29,040 Speaker 1: the HP thirty three Mini Note PC, which is a 694 00:42:29,640 --> 00:42:31,160 Speaker 1: sort of like a kind of like a netbook, a 695 00:42:31,239 --> 00:42:35,360 Speaker 1: very lightweight mobile computing device. They also acquired a company 696 00:42:35,400 --> 00:42:38,719 Speaker 1: called Electronic Data Systems or e d S, which is 697 00:42:38,760 --> 00:42:41,840 Speaker 1: a technology services company. Can I finish? Can I finish 698 00:42:42,880 --> 00:42:47,759 Speaker 1: Ross Perro's company? Oh? Yeah? Uh so, hey, kids, ask 699 00:42:47,800 --> 00:42:52,279 Speaker 1: your parents who Ross Pero was? So Russ Perro was 700 00:42:52,320 --> 00:42:56,560 Speaker 1: Trump before Trump was Trump. And in two thousand nine, 701 00:42:56,560 --> 00:43:01,160 Speaker 1: of course, it acquired a three comm Yeah, which this 702 00:43:01,239 --> 00:43:04,360 Speaker 1: is the one that made you scratch your head. Yeah, 703 00:43:04,719 --> 00:43:07,480 Speaker 1: so three com um that would be an interesting story 704 00:43:07,480 --> 00:43:11,040 Speaker 1: in and of itself. By by two thousand nine, basically 705 00:43:11,080 --> 00:43:16,719 Speaker 1: it was a networking um company, basically network switching technology. Yeah, 706 00:43:16,760 --> 00:43:19,160 Speaker 1: they had been involved in modems. They hadn't been involved 707 00:43:19,200 --> 00:43:22,840 Speaker 1: in all kinds of u uh really kind of innovative 708 00:43:22,880 --> 00:43:27,280 Speaker 1: stuff handheld technology in the nineties, uh, internet enabled stuff. 709 00:43:27,280 --> 00:43:30,920 Speaker 1: And then they started having some problems and uh they 710 00:43:30,920 --> 00:43:34,000 Speaker 1: got into a different Some of their other background businesses 711 00:43:34,040 --> 00:43:35,759 Speaker 1: became the ones that they were successful for, so they 712 00:43:35,960 --> 00:43:39,799 Speaker 1: really faded from the public life. But um HP picked 713 00:43:39,840 --> 00:43:42,120 Speaker 1: him up. They said, you know, we want this technology, 714 00:43:42,120 --> 00:43:44,480 Speaker 1: and so far um as far as I know, it 715 00:43:44,520 --> 00:43:46,799 Speaker 1: hasn't been a bad deal for them. The next one 716 00:43:47,640 --> 00:43:50,320 Speaker 1: was more troublesome. Yeah, we'll get into that in a second. 717 00:43:50,480 --> 00:43:52,520 Speaker 1: But in two thousand nine they also introduced a web 718 00:43:52,560 --> 00:43:55,360 Speaker 1: connected home printer we're just starting to see more of 719 00:43:55,440 --> 00:43:58,080 Speaker 1: today now as well, where you you can create a printer. 720 00:43:58,239 --> 00:44:00,080 Speaker 1: You know, you have a printer at home, and you 721 00:44:00,120 --> 00:44:01,960 Speaker 1: can even if you're on the road, you can print 722 00:44:02,000 --> 00:44:04,239 Speaker 1: stuff to your home printer just by connecting through the 723 00:44:04,320 --> 00:44:09,040 Speaker 1: right website. So that acquisition of Graphic Recording Company back 724 00:44:09,080 --> 00:44:13,600 Speaker 1: in uh, you know, decades before. Yeah, the HP is 725 00:44:13,600 --> 00:44:19,040 Speaker 1: a big name in printers. So on August six, Mark 726 00:44:19,120 --> 00:44:22,640 Speaker 1: Heard resigns. He's actually forced to resign by the board 727 00:44:22,680 --> 00:44:26,200 Speaker 1: of directors. Now, this is a case that is pretty odd. 728 00:44:27,200 --> 00:44:31,040 Speaker 1: Originally there were allegations of sexual harassment brought up against 729 00:44:31,080 --> 00:44:35,800 Speaker 1: Mark Hurd. Uh. The investigation that could that followed seemed 730 00:44:35,920 --> 00:44:39,920 Speaker 1: to say there were no actual implications of sexual harassment. However, 731 00:44:40,560 --> 00:44:44,279 Speaker 1: there were some cases of Mark Heard having uh, some 732 00:44:44,440 --> 00:44:50,920 Speaker 1: expenses improperly build to HP. So it was it was 733 00:44:51,080 --> 00:44:54,040 Speaker 1: you know, it was definitely something that Mark Hurd should 734 00:44:54,080 --> 00:44:57,600 Speaker 1: not have done. If he was improperly billing stuff to HP, 735 00:44:57,719 --> 00:45:00,000 Speaker 1: then that that's the problem. You know, it needs to 736 00:45:00,040 --> 00:45:03,520 Speaker 1: be resolved. But there were people who wondered if the 737 00:45:03,600 --> 00:45:06,400 Speaker 1: board pushing him out of the company was in fact 738 00:45:06,440 --> 00:45:10,920 Speaker 1: a bad decision. Many people suggested that Mark Herd was 739 00:45:10,920 --> 00:45:13,160 Speaker 1: a very good leader. He had made a terrible mistake 740 00:45:13,200 --> 00:45:15,120 Speaker 1: that needed to be addressed, but that he should not 741 00:45:15,239 --> 00:45:18,280 Speaker 1: have been forced out of his position. One of those 742 00:45:18,760 --> 00:45:23,040 Speaker 1: was Larry Ellison, the CEO of Oracle, who who was 743 00:45:23,080 --> 00:45:26,040 Speaker 1: also a personal friend of Park Hurd, who then brought 744 00:45:26,160 --> 00:45:30,560 Speaker 1: Mark Herd over to become co president of Oracle. You know, 745 00:45:30,840 --> 00:45:35,799 Speaker 1: Larry Ellison is always afraid to speak his mind and shy, 746 00:45:35,880 --> 00:45:40,320 Speaker 1: shy man who was not known for being incredibly blunt, 747 00:45:40,920 --> 00:45:44,120 Speaker 1: um not at all. So after Mark hard left CFO, 748 00:45:44,320 --> 00:45:47,520 Speaker 1: Kathy les Jack stepped in as an interim CEO until 749 00:45:47,960 --> 00:45:55,200 Speaker 1: Leo Apotoker becomes the CEO and president. Now Leo Apotoker, 750 00:45:55,280 --> 00:45:58,719 Speaker 1: of course we'll talk about well, we might as well 751 00:45:58,760 --> 00:46:02,800 Speaker 1: just go right into twenty and Shelley. Yeah. Even last year, 752 00:46:03,200 --> 00:46:07,279 Speaker 1: as of the recording of this podcast, another incredibly rough 753 00:46:07,360 --> 00:46:11,919 Speaker 1: year for HP. Back in March, Leo Podka announced that 754 00:46:12,080 --> 00:46:14,200 Speaker 1: there was going to be a big move to cloud 755 00:46:14,239 --> 00:46:19,239 Speaker 1: based services within HP and also said that web os 756 00:46:19,320 --> 00:46:25,600 Speaker 1: the um because oh I mention in HP bought Palm, Yes, 757 00:46:26,160 --> 00:46:29,480 Speaker 1: the former manufacturer of p d A S and the 758 00:46:29,520 --> 00:46:32,839 Speaker 1: Palm Pre and other smartphones and later smartphones and uh 759 00:46:33,160 --> 00:46:36,200 Speaker 1: that company of course we've talked about before, but if 760 00:46:36,200 --> 00:46:39,560 Speaker 1: you haven't heard the podcast, in a nutshell as time 761 00:46:39,600 --> 00:46:43,040 Speaker 1: wore on their operating system for their smartphones fell out 762 00:46:43,040 --> 00:46:47,080 Speaker 1: of favor. It was it was dated. Um. Yes, the 763 00:46:47,080 --> 00:46:50,200 Speaker 1: palm os was dated and it really was better suited 764 00:46:50,200 --> 00:46:54,600 Speaker 1: for PDAs than smartphones. Um, especially once with newer technology 765 00:46:54,600 --> 00:46:58,000 Speaker 1: and other newer devices were showing it up. So they 766 00:46:58,000 --> 00:47:00,759 Speaker 1: introduced this new operating system and new phones that would 767 00:47:00,840 --> 00:47:03,319 Speaker 1: run on it. But by that point it was kind 768 00:47:03,320 --> 00:47:05,439 Speaker 1: of too late and they started to founder. So HP 769 00:47:05,560 --> 00:47:07,840 Speaker 1: picked him up in two thousand ten. Yeah, and we 770 00:47:07,920 --> 00:47:10,640 Speaker 1: all thought, oh, they found somebody will save them. You know, 771 00:47:11,040 --> 00:47:13,000 Speaker 1: we thought, first maybe HP is going to get into 772 00:47:13,040 --> 00:47:15,200 Speaker 1: the smartphone market, but HP said, no, we're not really 773 00:47:15,200 --> 00:47:17,360 Speaker 1: interested in that. We're looking at putting web os on 774 00:47:17,440 --> 00:47:21,040 Speaker 1: tablets and other computers. But then, like the tablets never 775 00:47:21,040 --> 00:47:23,880 Speaker 1: seemed to come to market. The problem well, there were 776 00:47:23,880 --> 00:47:26,239 Speaker 1: many problems, and one of them being that Apple had 777 00:47:26,239 --> 00:47:28,719 Speaker 1: such a strong hold on the tablet market that it 778 00:47:28,800 --> 00:47:31,360 Speaker 1: was you know, you really need to make something special 779 00:47:31,400 --> 00:47:33,799 Speaker 1: if you wanted to go up against Apple. Uh. And 780 00:47:33,840 --> 00:47:37,040 Speaker 1: then in the smartphone market you had Apple and Android 781 00:47:37,239 --> 00:47:40,719 Speaker 1: really getting a lock on that consumer smartphone market. So 782 00:47:40,880 --> 00:47:43,120 Speaker 1: it was a tough place for HP two b in 783 00:47:43,280 --> 00:47:48,440 Speaker 1: even with the resources it had. So in March h 784 00:47:48,840 --> 00:47:52,440 Speaker 1: Apple taker said that the webOS operating system would be 785 00:47:52,440 --> 00:47:55,359 Speaker 1: included on every HP computer going forward and you could 786 00:47:55,360 --> 00:47:59,560 Speaker 1: boot either in Windows or in web Os, which had 787 00:48:00,080 --> 00:48:03,320 Speaker 1: in my head. Yeah, So this was March. Now in April, 788 00:48:03,800 --> 00:48:07,799 Speaker 1: there was a report that leaked. There's that leak problem again. Um, 789 00:48:08,000 --> 00:48:10,480 Speaker 1: it was an earnings report that that showed that the 790 00:48:10,520 --> 00:48:14,480 Speaker 1: earnings HP had in the previous quarter were far below 791 00:48:14,560 --> 00:48:18,960 Speaker 1: what they anticipated and uh, and so HP was actually 792 00:48:18,960 --> 00:48:21,719 Speaker 1: forced to hold its earnings meeting early because of that 793 00:48:21,800 --> 00:48:23,839 Speaker 1: leak report. That was sort of a damage control sort 794 00:48:23,880 --> 00:48:29,520 Speaker 1: of thing. And then shortly thereafter, appar taker takes the 795 00:48:29,560 --> 00:48:33,360 Speaker 1: stage and says that you know, they're gonna stop supporting 796 00:48:33,520 --> 00:48:37,919 Speaker 1: webOS to start stop developing it. Yeah, just gonna set 797 00:48:37,960 --> 00:48:40,040 Speaker 1: that aside. It's they're no longer going to focus on 798 00:48:40,080 --> 00:48:44,600 Speaker 1: developing webOS. So which was troubling because they had come 799 00:48:44,600 --> 00:48:47,880 Speaker 1: out with their own tablet, the touchpad, and the touchpad 800 00:48:48,000 --> 00:48:51,200 Speaker 1: was highly anticipated and all of a sudden, you know, 801 00:48:51,360 --> 00:48:53,719 Speaker 1: it's supposed to release and now they're saying that it's 802 00:48:53,760 --> 00:48:55,879 Speaker 1: not gonna yes, so they get they said they're going 803 00:48:55,880 --> 00:48:59,560 Speaker 1: to back off of web Os, and they reveal that 804 00:48:59,719 --> 00:49:04,360 Speaker 1: the he is considering spinning off its personal computer division 805 00:49:04,960 --> 00:49:08,000 Speaker 1: to make it its own company, so divesting itself of 806 00:49:08,080 --> 00:49:12,279 Speaker 1: personal computers. And again this this made people question what 807 00:49:12,640 --> 00:49:16,319 Speaker 1: is going on over at HP. Now, remember, historically HP 808 00:49:16,440 --> 00:49:18,600 Speaker 1: had very little to do with the consumer market, but 809 00:49:18,640 --> 00:49:21,840 Speaker 1: in the last decade or so, it's really become a 810 00:49:21,880 --> 00:49:25,280 Speaker 1: big player in the consumer space. So to get out 811 00:49:25,280 --> 00:49:28,440 Speaker 1: of that just seemed complete, especially after the merger with Compact, 812 00:49:28,520 --> 00:49:31,960 Speaker 1: right because Compact was all about consumer electronics too. It 813 00:49:32,080 --> 00:49:35,399 Speaker 1: seemed counterintuitive and people were really wondering what was going 814 00:49:35,440 --> 00:49:38,480 Speaker 1: on over at HP, including as it turns out, the 815 00:49:38,520 --> 00:49:41,640 Speaker 1: board of directors, who did not really care for the 816 00:49:41,680 --> 00:49:45,439 Speaker 1: backlash that came out after Appo Taker had said these 817 00:49:45,440 --> 00:49:51,319 Speaker 1: things UM, and so the board pushed Appo Taker out 818 00:49:51,360 --> 00:49:55,480 Speaker 1: of the role, so he left, and then they looked 819 00:49:55,520 --> 00:49:59,360 Speaker 1: to a new person to come in and lead the company, 820 00:49:59,400 --> 00:50:03,320 Speaker 1: which was Meg Whitman, who was formerly the CEO of eBay. 821 00:50:04,000 --> 00:50:06,520 Speaker 1: And that's where we stand today. Meg Whitman is currently 822 00:50:06,560 --> 00:50:10,879 Speaker 1: the president and CEO of of HP. UM. They are not, 823 00:50:11,280 --> 00:50:14,560 Speaker 1: as far as we know, spinning off their personal computer business. 824 00:50:14,600 --> 00:50:18,120 Speaker 1: They they said back in October that they had reconsidered 825 00:50:18,120 --> 00:50:21,120 Speaker 1: this and decided that was a poor decision. Actually, they 826 00:50:21,120 --> 00:50:23,400 Speaker 1: said that the many of the things said on August 827 00:50:23,480 --> 00:50:28,560 Speaker 1: eighteenth were bad decisions. That's what meg women said. Um 828 00:50:28,600 --> 00:50:31,080 Speaker 1: So in October they announced that that's not going away, 829 00:50:31,160 --> 00:50:35,040 Speaker 1: and in December they said the company said that they 830 00:50:35,040 --> 00:50:38,000 Speaker 1: were no longer going to just abandon web os. Rather 831 00:50:38,040 --> 00:50:40,520 Speaker 1: they were going to turn webOS over to the open 832 00:50:40,560 --> 00:50:43,800 Speaker 1: source community as well as continued development of web os. 833 00:50:43,920 --> 00:50:46,480 Speaker 1: It's on their own, so they were also going to 834 00:50:46,480 --> 00:50:48,839 Speaker 1: contribute to web os as development. They weren't just gonna, 835 00:50:49,440 --> 00:50:51,640 Speaker 1: you know, throw it out in the wild and drive 836 00:50:51,680 --> 00:50:54,520 Speaker 1: away really fast. They were supposed to. Supposedly, they're going 837 00:50:54,520 --> 00:50:57,399 Speaker 1: to continue working on it. So they've reversed a lot 838 00:50:57,400 --> 00:50:59,560 Speaker 1: of their decisions. Now, whether or not that will be 839 00:50:59,719 --> 00:51:04,040 Speaker 1: enough to convince people that HP is kind of refound 840 00:51:04,080 --> 00:51:06,640 Speaker 1: its way, it's no longer sort of floundering around. That 841 00:51:06,719 --> 00:51:09,919 Speaker 1: remains to be seen. Yes, because if you look from 842 00:51:09,960 --> 00:51:14,360 Speaker 1: the time essentially when Packard passed away, moving forward, the 843 00:51:14,360 --> 00:51:19,120 Speaker 1: company seems to have really kind of just it's had 844 00:51:19,160 --> 00:51:21,440 Speaker 1: some rough spots, you know. It's it's not that the 845 00:51:21,480 --> 00:51:23,920 Speaker 1: company has completely lost its identity. I don't mean to 846 00:51:23,960 --> 00:51:26,760 Speaker 1: suggest that. I just mean to say that it looks 847 00:51:26,800 --> 00:51:30,839 Speaker 1: like once the founders were no longer an integral part 848 00:51:30,960 --> 00:51:34,320 Speaker 1: of running this company, uh, things got a little shaky. 849 00:51:35,120 --> 00:51:38,320 Speaker 1: It's hard when a company loses its um, its founder, 850 00:51:38,400 --> 00:51:43,239 Speaker 1: partially because the founders um belief system has worked into 851 00:51:43,239 --> 00:51:45,319 Speaker 1: the company to the point where Hewlett Packard I think 852 00:51:45,320 --> 00:51:51,600 Speaker 1: really exhibited uh Dave and Bill's d n A as 853 00:51:51,600 --> 00:51:54,239 Speaker 1: far as what they really thought of as a good 854 00:51:54,239 --> 00:51:56,400 Speaker 1: place to work in, a good place to come up 855 00:51:56,440 --> 00:51:59,120 Speaker 1: with new ideas and um, you know, when you have 856 00:51:59,200 --> 00:52:01,839 Speaker 1: somebody new come in, they have their own concept and 857 00:52:01,960 --> 00:52:04,400 Speaker 1: right and and a lot of people want to uh 858 00:52:04,560 --> 00:52:06,799 Speaker 1: put their own mark on a company and say, well, 859 00:52:06,800 --> 00:52:09,279 Speaker 1: I want this to be I want HP in my 860 00:52:09,400 --> 00:52:11,480 Speaker 1: years to be remembered for what I did with the 861 00:52:11,520 --> 00:52:14,800 Speaker 1: company and not what Mr Hewlett and Mr Packard did 862 00:52:15,880 --> 00:52:18,680 Speaker 1: back when they were in charge. Should accomplished for some 863 00:52:18,760 --> 00:52:22,200 Speaker 1: of those yes, not necessarily the way they want to do, 864 00:52:22,280 --> 00:52:25,000 Speaker 1: But I think that's that's part of it. As I think, um, 865 00:52:25,040 --> 00:52:26,960 Speaker 1: you know, now, I'm I don't mean to read minds, 866 00:52:27,000 --> 00:52:29,600 Speaker 1: but I uh, I think that that's that that figures 867 00:52:29,640 --> 00:52:31,359 Speaker 1: into it. You know, I want to want it to 868 00:52:31,400 --> 00:52:33,960 Speaker 1: be special when I'm there, not just you know, business 869 00:52:33,960 --> 00:52:37,800 Speaker 1: as usual, right. Um, So yeah, it's been an interesting ride, 870 00:52:37,840 --> 00:52:40,839 Speaker 1: and uh it'll be very interesting to see what has 871 00:52:40,840 --> 00:52:43,560 Speaker 1: in store with HP, um and see where they go 872 00:52:43,640 --> 00:52:47,280 Speaker 1: from here. Uh. As we record this, it's the friday 873 00:52:47,320 --> 00:52:51,120 Speaker 1: before I fly off to the Consumer Electronics Show CES 874 00:52:51,280 --> 00:52:54,640 Speaker 1: of Las Vegas, and I am very curious to see 875 00:52:54,680 --> 00:52:57,120 Speaker 1: what HP's presence is going to be like out there, 876 00:52:57,680 --> 00:53:00,120 Speaker 1: and to kind of get a look around and just 877 00:53:00,200 --> 00:53:02,360 Speaker 1: kind of get an idea here what the chatter is 878 00:53:02,400 --> 00:53:04,680 Speaker 1: on the show floor, and see if it's more of 879 00:53:04,719 --> 00:53:08,520 Speaker 1: a an optimistic discussion, um than it has been in 880 00:53:08,600 --> 00:53:12,680 Speaker 1: years past. Uh. You know, one one holds out hope 881 00:53:12,800 --> 00:53:15,000 Speaker 1: because you know, this is a company that has a 882 00:53:15,080 --> 00:53:18,319 Speaker 1: very long history and it's uh, you know, even in 883 00:53:18,360 --> 00:53:21,400 Speaker 1: its rough patches, it's it's been an important part of 884 00:53:21,400 --> 00:53:24,160 Speaker 1: Silicon Valley. Uh. One other thing I was going to 885 00:53:24,239 --> 00:53:28,120 Speaker 1: mention I should have mentioned it during the Fiorina era. Um. 886 00:53:28,160 --> 00:53:30,160 Speaker 1: You know, we had talked about how HP had really 887 00:53:30,160 --> 00:53:33,640 Speaker 1: been about dedicated about taking care of its employees. That 888 00:53:33,760 --> 00:53:37,080 Speaker 1: was one of the major criticisms directed towards Fiorina, and 889 00:53:37,160 --> 00:53:41,160 Speaker 1: that there were massive layoffs during her tenure as the presidency. 890 00:53:41,560 --> 00:53:45,280 Speaker 1: More than thirty thousand people lost their jobs during her 891 00:53:45,440 --> 00:53:50,640 Speaker 1: her time at HP, So you know, that's that's pretty 892 00:53:50,680 --> 00:53:54,400 Speaker 1: stark indicator that the people who have come into HP 893 00:53:54,560 --> 00:53:59,799 Speaker 1: after the founders may not have had the same philosophy, 894 00:54:00,360 --> 00:54:04,279 Speaker 1: right heart, So hopefully that has changed, and we'll just 895 00:54:04,360 --> 00:54:06,680 Speaker 1: keep our eyes on the company and see what happens 896 00:54:06,680 --> 00:54:10,359 Speaker 1: from here on out. Meanwhile, if any of you have 897 00:54:10,440 --> 00:54:13,600 Speaker 1: suggestions for topics that we should talk about on tech Stuff, 898 00:54:13,640 --> 00:54:17,759 Speaker 1: whether that's another company, whether it's innovative person within the 899 00:54:17,760 --> 00:54:21,000 Speaker 1: tech community, or perhaps just some other topic in general, 900 00:54:21,080 --> 00:54:22,839 Speaker 1: let us know. You can drop us a line on 901 00:54:22,880 --> 00:54:27,239 Speaker 1: Facebook or Twitter. Our handle is tech Stuff H. S 902 00:54:27,520 --> 00:54:29,560 Speaker 1: W and Chris and I will talk to you again 903 00:54:30,160 --> 00:54:34,960 Speaker 1: really soon. Be sure to check out our new video podcast, 904 00:54:35,200 --> 00:54:38,040 Speaker 1: Stuff from the Future. Join how Stuff Work staff as 905 00:54:38,080 --> 00:54:41,800 Speaker 1: we explore the most promising and perplexing possibilities of tomorrow. 906 00:54:43,000 --> 00:54:45,719 Speaker 1: The House Stuff Works iPhone app has arrived. Download it 907 00:54:45,760 --> 00:54:53,080 Speaker 1: today on iTunes, brought to you by the reinvented two 908 00:54:53,160 --> 00:54:55,680 Speaker 1: thousand twelve camera. It's ready, are you