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History

Books, sites, and articles for alumni and friends on the history of HP and many predecessor companies. (Updated Jan 20, 2020.)

- Business lessons from HP history – HP people talk frankly about what went right – and what went wrong – as this continuous startup grew rapidly for decades.

- Books on HP

- Books and links for predecessor companies: Compaq   EDS  Tandem

- Overview of the HP Breakup and related Issues: HP Breakup

- Memoirs of HP people – Why Hewlett-Packard was such a special place.

- Collectors of HP Equipment and Memorabilia

- HP History Official Timeline

Sections on this page:

1. Company

2. Founders

3. Products and Reminiscences

4. HP Publications

5. Acquisitions and Divestitures.

Questions or comments to: info@hpalumni.org

(HP stock certificate, 1973)

(HP stock certificate, 1973)

1. Company
The HP Way "We have trust and respect for individuals..."
"The Great Innovators" Business Week: "...the birthplace of a new approach to management"
"Great Garages" Forbes: "...the key to the greatness of Bill Hewlett and David Packard was that they held no attachment to things, only people."
"Founding Fathers" Stanford Magazine: "...their contribution... was as much organizational as technological."
"Origins" watch  order HP's 2005 film – photographs, oral histories, film footage, and interviews with former employees
HP History and Facts HP: Timeline, Virtual Museum
Bill Hewlett on Management "The Human Side Of Management" by Bill Hewlett – on private site of Ed Sharpe
Packard on Management David Packard's "11 Simple Rules... for getting along with others" – 1958
HP Way "The HP Way was a way of life"
HP Way When – and why – HP started capitalizing the "W" in "HP Way" in 1995. (Page 2)
Agilent History Agilent: Timeline
HP CEOs HP: List of all HP CEOs before Whitman [Copy saved by the non-profit Internet Archive on January 31, 2013.]
HP CEOs and Chairmen Wikipedia: Page with links to Wikipedia articles on each HP CEO and Chairman. [Note: Wikipedia articles -- since they can be written, rewritten, or edited by anyone -- may not be accurate or current, often change dramatically over time, may not cover all aspects of the topic consistently, and may not be written from a neutral point of view.]
HP Garage HP: History of the garage and the first years of the company
Acquisitions, Divestitures HPAA's list of dates when HP acquired and divested companies
Employment "HP Increases its leading product: Ex-HP Employees"
   

2. Founders
William R. Hewlett "...ceaseless desire to inspire excellence."
William R. Hewlett "His greatest gift... was not the compass he could build with his hands, but his moral compass."  
Remembering Bill Hewlett "...philanthropy, curiosity, love of nature and music, good humor and stubborn streak."  
Hewlett Oral History Transcript of 1984 IEEE History Center interview – A. Michal McMahon
Bill Hewlett on Creativity "Random Thoughts on Creativity" – Commencement Speech at MIT, 1986
Bill Hewlett Tribute "Remembering Bill Hewlett" by John Minck
David Packard "...where he had taken a job washing dishes."
Farewell to David Packard "Dave was a decider, not a ducker. He knew what he thought, and he made decisions that worked."
David Packard "...wasn't afraid to point out what was wrong and suggest improvements."
"Big Dave's Legacy" The Packards and Monterey County... "Dave said, 'That's fine, but where are the birds?' "
David Packard Tribute "In appreciation of David Packard" by John Minck
Fred Terman Mentor to Hewlett and Packard
Silent Partners "Bill and Dave had two silent partners... their wives."
Lucile Packard "Lucile Packard's ideals and paycheck fueled the HP start-up, then shaped community history."
Bill's and Dave's Offices An online photo tour of Bill's and Dave's preserved offices – including the famous "open doors."
Hewlett-Packard 1938-2002 Statement by David Woodley Packard, May 2002
Hewlett Foundation "...to address the most serious social and environmental problems facing society, where risk capital, responsibly invested, may make a difference over time."
Packard Foundation "...provides grants to nonprofit organizations in the following program areas: Conservation and Science; Population; and Children, Families, and Communities."  
Monterey Bay Aquarium David Packard "helped design and build some of the critical innovations in our exhibits, such as the devices that make waves and water motion in the Sandy Shore Aviary exhibit and the Kelp Forest exhibit... Above all else, David Packard was an engineer and he aimed to build an institution that would withstand the test of time."
Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute "Take risks. Ask big questions. Don't be afraid to make mistakes; if you don't make mistakes, you're not reaching far enough." – David Packard
   

3. Products and Reminiscences
Business lessons from HP history HP people talk frankly about what went right – and what went wrong – as this continuous startup grew rapidly for decades.
Memoirs of HP people Why Hewlett-Packard was such a special place. Developed, edited, and introduced by John Minck. On the late Marc Mislanghe's personal HP Memory Project site, which is now operated by Ken Kuhn.
HP Archive Searchable pdf files: 15,000 pages of catalogs, manuals, periodicals, app notes, more – personal website of Glenn Robb
HP Memory Project History of HP in products from 1939-2000 – personal website by the late Marc Mislanghe, now operated by Ken Kuhn.
HP Computer Museum Photos, documentation, literature, and downloadable software – personal website by the late Jon Johnston, now operated by David Collins
Forums on HP history and products HPAA's directory of independent online forums on vintage HP equipment, publications, and manuals.
200A Audio Oscillator

The first HP product, Bill Hewlett's oscillator – from HP's "virtual museum"  Bill's patent
Barney Oliver Oral history by Barney Oliver, founder of HP Labs – Charles Babbage Institute
HP Early Years Rough draft and source materials – private site of Ed Sharpe
HP Computer History "HP: The Accidentally On-Purpose Computer Company" – Steve Leibson
HP Computer History "HP and Compaq: A Trip Down Memory Lane" – Loyd Case
HP Test Equipment Online museum and technical history of HP instruments – Ken Kuhn
Museum of HP Calculators Displays and describes HP calculators introduced from 1968 to 1986 – private site of David Hicks
HP-01 Wrist Instrument Opens New Dimension in Personal Information – HP Journal
HP-35 A personal history of the breakthrough handheld device – John Minck (pages 71-75)
HP 80 Series Documentation and software for HP-85 family of BASIC microcomputers – Vassilis Prevelakis
HP 9100 How the Model 9100A Was Developed – Barney Oliver
HP 9825 The HP 9825 desktop computer was way before its time – Steve Leibson
HP 9845 The HP 9845 Preservation Project
HP Computer Manuals Service manuals and other documentation for many HP computers – Al Kossow
HP's Early Computers Interview with Barney Oliver – Kip Crosby
HP's Early Computers Interview with Joe Schoendorf – Kip Crosby
HP 1000 "25 Years of Real-Time Computing – the HP 1000" – Todd Poynor, updated by Don Pottenger
HP 3000 The History of the HP 3000 – Bob Green
HP 3000 humor "Lunch, the HP Way" – parody by Stephen Harrison and Noel Magee
HP 3000 "The Rise, Fall and Rise of the 3000" – Christopher Edler
HP 9000 "The HP 9000 Computer" – Frank McConnell
HP 9000 HP 9000 model history in the Wikipedia*
PA-RISC PA-RISC model history in the Wikipedia*
HP-UX HP-UX release history in the Wikipedia*
HP 250/260 HP 250/260 Preservation Project
HP 300 HP 300 (Amigo) note in the Wikipedia*
Plotters and Recorders San Diego Division and F. L. Moseley Co.
The Jet Set Turns 20 HP: History of the ThinkJet, LaserJet, and DeskJet product lines
Inkjet Printers "Printing Enters the Jet Age" – from American Heritage Invention & Technology
Inkjet Printers "Close-up on color printing" – from HP Labs
Inkjet Printers "Hewlett-Packard revolutionized printing" – Albany Democrat Herald
LaserJet HP LaserJet – The Early History. By Jim Hall
Semiconductors at HP History of HP's semiconductor business – from Avago Technologies 

* Note: Wikipedia articles -- since they can be written, rewritten, or edited by anyone -- may not be accurate or current, often change dramatically over time, may not cover all aspects of the topic consistently, and may not be written from a neutral point of view.
   

4. HP Publications

Measure Employee magazine -- 1963-2000. "We'll talk about what's working well in HP and what needs to improve."  –editor Jay Coleman, 1998.
Article titles linked to pdf files HP official website. The search box on the page does not work. Enter this into Google search:
   [ <search terms> site:www.hp.com/hpinfo/abouthp/histnfacts/publications/measure/ ]
  Because of the inherent limitations of pdf scans, not all references will be found.
Searchable pdf files Personal website of Glenn Robb.
HP Journal 1949-1998 "Technical Information from the Laboratories of Hewlett-Packard Company."
HP Journal HP Labs website. The search box on the page does not work. Enter this into Google search:
[ <search terms> site:hpl.hp.com ]
Because of the inherent limitations of pdf scans, not all references will be found.
HP Journal Indexes Searchable pdf files – personal website of Glenn Robb
Catalogs 15,000 pages of catalogs, manuals, periodicals, app notes... Searchable pdf files – personal website of Glenn Robb
Manuals Manuals, Bench Briefs, Application Notes, more. Searchable pdf files – personal website of Glenn Robb
Digital Technical Journal Issues from 1991-1998 in pdf form – HP Labs website
Tandem Systems Review All issues in pdf form – HP Labs website
   

5. Acquisitions and Divestitures

See HPAA's unofficial directory of 163 acquisitions – plus 30 divestitures and spinoffs.
and HPAA's Social and Networking Directory
3Com 3Com acquisitions
3Com 3Com history
Agilent Agilent timeline
Agilent Agilent Wikipedia* article – with references and links
Apollo Apollo Wikipedia* article – with references and links
Apollo University of Michigan Apollo Archive – with many links
Compaq Page Books, articles, networking for Compaq alumni
Convex Convex Wikipedia* article – with references and links
Convex Danny Faught's Convex Archives
DEC Gordon Bell's "CyberMuseum for DEC" – with many references and links
DEC Timelines, archival documents, trivia quiz, cartoon
DEC DEC contributions in architecture, Internet, services, storage, software, semiconductors, networking
DEC DEC Wikipedia* article – with references and links
DEC Connection DEC Connection history pages. Data, photos, links, books about DEC. 
EDS Page Books, articles, networking for EDS alumni
Mercury Interactive Mercury Interactive Wikipedia* article – with references and links
Tandem Page Books, articles, networking for Tandem Computer alumni
VeriFone VeriFone Wikipedia* article – with references and links

* Note: Wikipedia articles change over time, may not cover all aspects of the topic consistently, and may not be written from a neutral point of view.

 

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