Presenting the HP Memory Project

Presenting the HP Memory Project
To the HPREC Audience

Since its origin, ten years ago, this was the first opportunity for me to presente the actual status and future objectives of the Memory Project in front of an audience made-up of people who themselves built the HP story.

The presentation and talk recapped the many ways the HP Memory Project resources could be used as references in education and industry. The speach concluded by drawing the attention of the audience to the fact that the accumulated collection and resources are ready and waiting for any interested party wishing to develope it further and reap the benefits of the work already done.

A web version of the produced slideshow is avalaible here, in the Presentation chapter of the web site.

3 Collectors standing in front of the recently restored Addison Avenue HP's Garage

Visit to the Garage

This Californian trip was the first opportunity for me to meet Glenn Robb and Kenneth Kuhn. We previously met 3 years ago, fighting for the same vintage HP products on Ebay. Our adversity quickly turned to friendship. After having exchanged hundreds of mails related to our common passion during this period, the great moment had arrived, our first live meeting. A visit to Addison avenue and a photo taken in front of HP's birthplace was our first priority.

Over the last several years, HP in an effort to preserve for future generations its most famous piece of real estate, recently completed the restoration of the house and original garage where Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard started their company in January 1939.

A complete report of this wonderful work of memory can be seen on the History Link of the HP Web Site.

Stanford University's Main Quad, as seen from Palm Drive

Stanford University

Everythings Started There...

In the fall of 1930, Dave Packard left his hometown of Pueblo, Colorado, to enroll at Stanford University. There he met another freshman, Bill Hewlett. Dave Packard had decided he wanted to be an electrical engineer, and Bill Hewlett thought he might be interested in medicine or engineering, so Bill and Dave were in many of the same classes during their freshman and sophomore years...

... By their senior year they had become good friends...

John Minck at Bill Hewlett's desk

Bill and Dave's Office

Among the many HP historic VIPs we had the opportunity to meet during this silicon valley stay was John Minck who gave us a grand tour of the HP facilities.

John is sitting here at Bill Hewlett's desk which is essentially unchanged since Bill retired.

John Minck is the author of "INSIDE HP: A narrative history of Hewlett-Packard from 1939-1990".

Glenn Robb and me standing at the entrance

Agilent Historical Center

We were warmly welcomed by Devon Dawson for a visit of the Historical Center in Agilent's headquarters in Santa Clara.

The Agilent History Center began in 1987 as the HP Archives. When Agilent split from HP in 1999, the Archives split as well, with those products and records documenting the measurement roots of HP coming to Agilent. Devon Dawson, archivist and public relations specialist, staffs the facility.

The History Center's public space is a large room lined with glass-enclosed shelves on one wall. A 1930s Smith Corona typewriter sits nearby atop a weathered, 50-year-old lab bench. The typewriter grips a copy of Bill and Dave's first business plan for HP.

This was for me the opportunity to see for the first time a 300A wave analyzer, and an original 524A, the Al Bagley's first electronic counter, the only two vintage showpieces still missing today from my own collection.

The Mountain View Computer History Museum

Mountain View
Computer History Museum

This is a must see for any visitor to the silicon valley.

Their Mission:

"TO HELP PRESERVE AND PRESENT FOR POSTERITY THE ARTIFACTS AND STORIES OF THE INFORMATION AGE."

The VISIBLE STORAGE of the Computer History Museum offers an opportunity to learn about the history of computing over 600 unique artifacts, from rare slide rules and mechanical calculators to the earliest one-of-kind computers, vintage PCs and exotic super-computers.

From the smallest...