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HP Garage on National Register of Historic Places

Posted by Zonk on from the keeping-the-oldies-golden dept.

An anonymous reader writes "According to the San Jose Mercury News, Bill Hewlett's famous garage is now on the National Park Service's National Register of Historic Places. It's not clear what exactly this will do for the structure, since it's already owned by HP and it already very well restored to its original glory. Anyway, for history fans and HP fans alike, this is exciting news, akin to saving the original Edison or Marconi labs. 'At my user group's museum, where David Packard actually worked for a while when it was a military base, our collection features an HP-300A Harmonic Wave Analyzer. That's a generation or two removed from HP's garage years, but it's still fun to appreciate the connections between their first products and the computer revolution.'"

68 comments

  1. Worst Comparison Ever by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Anyway, for history fans and HP fans alike, this is exciting news, akin to saving the original Edison or Marconi labs.
    Uh, you do realize that you just compared HP to Thomas Edison, don't you?

    Thomas Edison invented the light bulb.

    HP made a printer that plagued me in high school.

    Yeah, they're a major player in the market today and have implemented/reused some good ideas. But they're history is nowhere near as important as Edison's lab. I don't care if you are an 'HP Fan' ... I wouldn't cheapen Edison that far. When HP is the sole inventor of something that I use several different instances of in a day, then you can make that comparison.

    What next, are you going to compare Google to Tesla?
    1. Re:Worst Comparison Ever by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Man, if you think HP's legacy is limited to cheap-ass printers and expensive ink, you are very badly mistaken.

    2. Re:Worst Comparison Ever by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Man, if you think HP's legacy is limited to cheap-ass printers and expensive ink, you are very badly mistaken.
      So, uh, go ahead there. What equates them to the inventor Thomas Edison.

      This should be entertaining, lol.
    3. Re:Worst Comparison Ever by Jeff+DeMaagd · · Score: 2, Interesting

      It would help if you got your facts straight first. Edison did not invent the light bulb. He merely made one that lasted long enough to be useful.

    4. Re:Worst Comparison Ever by Jeff+DeMaagd · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Egg on face, it wasn't necessarily life that was the only problem (though it was one), but other factors too, such as cost of manufacture or cost of operation.

    5. Re:Worst Comparison Ever by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Interesting

      try the scientific calculator you inbred pos
      Yes, I am a point of sale. But you still didn't list a reference. HP invented the scientific calculator? Oh, do go on.

      Go ahead and cite your source of information.
    6. Re:Worst Comparison Ever by Jeff+DeMaagd · · Score: 4, Informative

      They got started by making a precision audio oscillator and expanded into other lab test equipment and had had a series of innovative designs in that arena.

      Having the first handheld programmable calculator, and the first symbolic calculator didn't hurt either.

    7. Re:Worst Comparison Ever by farkus888 · · Score: 1

      I use google every day, my entire life would be seriously inconvenienced without its existence. Tesla's ideas have unfortunately been essentially ignored by all of society don't know of anything he's credited for that I use as often as google or the incandescent lightbulb.

      --
      thats right, I rarely use capitals. deal with it. but don't mistake my laziness for stupidity
    8. Re:Worst Comparison Ever by Jeff+DeMaagd · · Score: 1

      Apparently, some think HP made the first personal computer:

      http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/8.12/mustread.h tml?pg=11

    9. Re:Worst Comparison Ever by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Having the first handheld programmable calculator, and the first symbolic calculator didn't hurt either.
      Good god, I use like fifty of those everyday. Not a single lightbulb though. Nope, not a one.

      You've convinced me.

      And they made something smaller too!

      And it wasn't just one man, it was a whole bunch of men. Much better than Edison, I give up, you are correct sir.
    10. Re:Worst Comparison Ever by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      HP invented Al Gore.

    11. Re:Worst Comparison Ever by Holi · · Score: 1

      Ummmm how about AC power transmission.

      --
      Sorry, teleporters just kill you and then make a copy. A perfect, soul-less copy.
    12. Re:Worst Comparison Ever by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So, uh, go ahead there. What equates them to the inventor Thomas Edison. This should be entertaining, lol.

      Rest assured, everything electronic that you own was designed -- or "invented" if you will -- in a lab that was probably packed to the rafters with HP equipment, from calculators to network analyzers. That has been the case since the 1950s.

      Put it this way: let's say that your old man was an engineer with an instrumentation manufacturer that tried to compete with Hewlett-Packard. That would mean that he was really ahead of his time. He would have learned the meaning of the term "pwned" about thirty years before you did.

      So show some respect, lol.

    13. Re:Worst Comparison Ever by farkus888 · · Score: 1

      I thought his method got shot down in favor of some one elses because of his complete lack of PR ability, like the rest of his inventions. I might be totally wrong because I am no Tesla expert. know just enough to respect him and make myself sound like an idiot in front of anyone who really knows.

      --
      thats right, I rarely use capitals. deal with it. but don't mistake my laziness for stupidity
    14. Re:Worst Comparison Ever by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Apparently, some think HP made the first personal computer:

      http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/8.12/mustread.h tml?pg=11
      That article says they were the first to coin the term, not make. I quote from your link:

      But a search on JSTOR's general science archive turned up what Shapiro says is the earliest documented use of personal computer, in the October 4, 1968, issue of Science. The issue contains a Hewlett-Packard ad for its new HP 9100A. "The new Hewlett-Packard 9100A personal computer," the ad proclaims, is "ready, willing, and able ... to relieve you of waiting to get on the big computer."
      It goes on to say it costed $5k in 1968 money. Tell me you could afford that on a personal budget. Look up Wikipedia, dude, IBM is credited with the first personal computer.

      Being the first to commercialize it (and a bad job at that) doesn't make you the inventor of said device. Grow up and get off your HP fanboy cloud.
    15. Re:Worst Comparison Ever by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Hey you, stop having a conversation with yourself. It's not healthy. Oh ... wait. Dammit.

    16. Re:Worst Comparison Ever by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Look up Wikipedia, dude, IBM is credited with the first personal computer.

      Weirdest.
      Troll.
      Ever.

    17. Re:Worst Comparison Ever by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      look at wikipedia you cocksucking furry

      "While all the developments leading to pocket calculators had been going on Hewlett Packard (HP) had been quietly developing its own pocket calculator. Launched in early 1972 it was unlike the other basic four-function pocket calculators then available in that it was the first pocket calculator with scientific functions that could replace a slide rule. The $395 HP-35, along with all later HP engineering calculators, used reverse Polish notation (RPN), also called postfix notation. A calculation like "8 plus 5" is, using RPN, performed by pressing "8", "Enter", "5", and "+"; instead of the algebraic infix notation: "8", "+", "5", "=")."

    18. Re:Worst Comparison Ever by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      White man always oppressin black man.

    19. Re:Worst Comparison Ever by farkus888 · · Score: 1

      my ribs hurt now, thank you.

      --
      thats right, I rarely use capitals. deal with it. but don't mistake my laziness for stupidity
    20. Re:Worst Comparison Ever by fucksl4shd0t · · Score: 1

      According to wikipedia, Tesla and Edison fought for years over AC/DC. In the end, Edison admitted his mistake in supporting DC power. He's quoted as saying something like "It isn't exactly pretty, it isn't exactly small, but I'm here to tell you AC has got it all." To which Tesla predictably responded with "Old folks are always telling me 'Boy, why don't you grow up and be a man!' ".

      --
      Like what I said? You might like my music
    21. Re:Worst Comparison Ever by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

      "Thomas Edison invented the light bulb."

      Umm.... no. That was Joseph Swan. Try http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Swan

      I am amazed at:

      a) what Americans consider is history. I live in Dollis Park, Finchley, in the road where Flower built Enigma, the first computer. There is no mark, indication or any other memorial. It's just not old enough.

      b) what Americans think they invented. For some reason the Americans think they are good at science and technology - they actually seem to be very bad at blue-sky thinking. What they ARE good at is technical development of someone else's idea, marketing it and making money. Microsoft, for example, is a classic American company.

      However, Americans continually lie to themselves about this; and , indeed, most other aspects of their history. They even make money out of this - here is an example: http://www.amazon.com/Lies-My-Teacher-Told-Everyth ing/dp/0684818868

      Mind you, if I had the kind of history the Americans have, I wouldn't be so keen to publicise it!

    22. Re:Worst Comparison Ever by hdparm · · Score: 1

      Here we go...

    23. Re:Worst Comparison Ever by owlnation · · Score: 1
      No wonder you post as an A.C.

      If you wish to prove a point then using Wikipedia isn't a good place to start. If you broadened your search you might find some tangible facts. There were many people involved in the development of the light bulb. Many could be credited, Swann being one of them. But you could just as easily credit Humphrey Davy - or about 15 others.

      In fact, if you consider the light bulb we have today, then the inventor was William Coolidge based on Edison's work.

      With most inventions it is rare that one individual is truly "the inventor" - especially true since the middle of the 19th century. In reality one man's ideas build on the work of an other, and teams of engineers test and refine those.

      For some reason the Americans think they are good at science and technology - they actually seem to be very bad at blue-sky thinking.
      I am not American. However, I believe this statement to be biased, racist, and patently nonsense. Is walking on the moon blue sky enough for you? Want a few thousand more examples?

      Mind you, if I had the kind of history the Americans have, I wouldn't be so keen to publicise it!
      You are British. And yet you seem to know so little of British history.
    24. Re:Worst Comparison Ever by Ullteppe · · Score: 2, Informative
      To play devil's advocate:

      - You obviously don't know much about HP. They started out making precision measurement equipment, not PCs and printers. This measurement equipment played a very important role in the development of electronics, and so behind the scenes contributed a lot to the state of electronics as it is today. The printers and PCs came much later. HP was also instrumental (heh) in the development of early calculators.

      - Regardless of how much revernment you reserve for the light bulb, this is a technology that is on the verge of becoming extinct, just like the cathode ray tube. The CRT has already progressed quite far, but solid-state lighting technologies will do exactly the same to the light bulb in the next 10-20 years. There is already talk of banning incandecent bulbs (Australia, California) due to the low efficiency. In not too long, Edison's invention will join the steam engine as inventions that did mean a lot in the past, but are completely irelevant to current technology.

    25. Re:Worst Comparison Ever by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Much better than Edison

      Sarcasm? Thomas Edison hired a bunch of people to do his perspiration for him. Most of his inventions, weren't.

    26. Re:Worst Comparison Ever by Nero+Nimbus · · Score: 1

      What next, are you going to compare Google to Tesla?

      With the way all the industry rags seem to be hyping Google lately, it's probably only a matter of time before they accuse Google of building a death ray that's powered by fiber optic lines.

    27. Re:Worst Comparison Ever by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Actually the Enigma is not the first computer ... the z3 is.

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Z3

    28. Re:Worst Comparison Ever by blitz487 · · Score: 1

      What Thomas Edison did was invent a working, useful lightbulb, not a laboratory curiosity. Edison solved all the technical problems with it. That means he gets the credit.

    29. Re:Worst Comparison Ever by WilliamSChips · · Score: 1

      Edison didn't invent the lightbulb. He did invent the predecessor to the MPAA though.

      --
      Please, for the good of Humanity, vote Obama.
    30. Re:Worst Comparison Ever by WilliamSChips · · Score: 1

      James Loewen's book is very good, too bad you just advertized it in a horrible post that has nothing to do with the book. I'm going to guess you haven't read it and just put it in because it criticizes American culture.

      --
      Please, for the good of Humanity, vote Obama.
    31. Re:Worst Comparison Ever by that+this+is+not+und · · Score: 1

      It pisses a number of us off that the 'H-P' brand name stayed with the shitty Carly-infested computer hardware and printers. H-P has a long heritage as an excellent test equipment maker. I have plenty of HP gear in my lab. Switching to the 'Agilent' name was a terrible thing.

      H-P's first product was an audio oscillator. I used to have one of the early ones, octal tubes in a big ugly metal box. One of their first sales of their oscillator was to the Walt Disney Company to use in making the movie Fantasia (someone back me up on this, I am not completely certain it was for that film)

      I have a later-generation HP-200 oscillator in my lab, BTW.

    32. Re:Worst Comparison Ever by that+this+is+not+und · · Score: 1

      It's entirely possible that one of those old H-P minicomputers, like the one I lusted after in High School in the mid 70's, was the first computer personally owned by somebody. More likely a PDP of some sort was the first 'personal' computer though.

    33. Re:Worst Comparison Ever by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Swan's was the first house in the world lit by electricity - I guess that was done by "working, useful lightbulbs"...

      If you're going to accuse the OP of not knowing his history, the least you could do was learn your own. The whole point about Swan was that he solved the technical problems to make a long-lasting light bulb - he spent over 10 years on it.

      Seems to me the OP had a point. Swan was definitely the inventor of the lightbulb that Edison claimed to have invented, and the moon shots were a German technical triumph paid for by American money. He did say that we were good at developing ideas - hey, that's where the money is!

    34. Re:Worst Comparison Ever by Ullteppe · · Score: 1

      I completely agree. The right thing to do (once they decided they wanted to merge with Compaq and split off test equipment) would have been to call what is today Agilent for HP, and kept the Compaq name with the computer stuff. If I remember correctly, HP didn't get into the general-purpose computer business before in the late 70s, when they bought Apollo.

    35. Re:Worst Comparison Ever by elrous0 · · Score: 1

      The European obsession with dismissing every single American invention by pointing to some lame (and often historically dubious) European predecessor is hilarious. It bespeaks an inferiority complex of epic proportions. Mention any major invention and a dozen Europeans will immediately chime in with "We did it first!" It's worse than listening to a black nationalist spout off how every major invention was actually the work of a black man that was stolen by the evil white man.

      --
      SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
  2. hello world by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    lalal

  3. What will happen to the HP garages of today? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I wonder if one day the garage where Jobs and Wozniak built the Apple I be treated in the same reverent manner. From what I've heard, no one even knows where it is anymore.

    And what about Microsoft's Albuquerque office where they developed software for the Altair? Or the grad lab where Google started?

    1. Re:What will happen to the HP garages of today? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      "From what I've heard, no one even knows where it is anymore."

      How is that even possible?

      Jobs: "I just can't remember where it is."
      Woz: "Hey, look at these two dollar bills! You can buy them by the sheet."

    2. Re:What will happen to the HP garages of today? by flyingsquid · · Score: 2, Funny
      I wonder if one day the garage where Jobs and Wozniak built the Apple I be treated in the same reverent manner. From what I've heard, no one even knows where it is anymore.

      That old thing? Jobs had it bulldozed and replaced with a hip, stylish building made of white lucite and brushed aluminum.

  4. Too Big That Register! by chromozone · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Now you can see whay the Register of Historic Places has been criticised for easy access with the NRHP criteria criticised as "so broad as to be almost useless when evaluating specific properties".

  5. Oh Yeah? by Tablizer · · Score: 1

    Well, my garage is Federal Superfund Hazardous Waste and Dumping Site!

    --
    Table-ized A.I.
    1. Re:Oh Yeah? by that+this+is+not+und · · Score: 1

      Mine may soon be, too, if I don't do something with that huge pile of Dell Optiplexes in it.

      The hammer will come down. They'll declare owning more than a certain amount of lead and mercury illegal. I'll be shot dead, clinging to my VAX and refusing to cooperate with the 'authorities.'

  6. HP-11c by pipingguy · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I just want to know who owns the patent/trademark/copyright for the HP-11 series of calculators.

    There are thousands of engineering types worldwide that want to see this model come back. And, no, it doesn't need blinking lights, multi-line graphical displays or weird keypad layout. Just give us back the old horizontal format RPN machine that is beloved by engineers worldwide.

    For those unfamiliar, RPN is sort of like Linux vs. Windows - confusing at first but really powerful once the concept is grasped. Plus it has the added bonus of confusing the "where's the any key?" types who cannot find the "=" button.

    1. Re:HP-11c by HW_Hack · · Score: 1

      Sorry but my HP-15C runs circles around your 11C -- great calculator - 23yrs old still works like a charm ... and no "=" button - priceless

      --
      Its not the years, its the mileage .....
    2. Re:HP-11c by heinousjay · · Score: 1

      Yes, being unusable by those unfamiliar is definitely a desirable property. Shall we have a nice argument about why Linux isn't catching on amongst the general populace again?

      --
      Slashdot - where whining about luck is the new way to make the world you want.
    3. Re:HP-11c by Agripa · · Score: 1

      I have occasionally gained experience in this:

      "Can I use your calculator for a minute?"

      "Um, no thanks."

    4. Re:HP-11c by 644bd346996 · · Score: 1

      When dealing with a complex set of operations (in this case, relatively advanced math) having a user interface that cannot be operated by a layman usually means that the UI is appropriately complex and optimized for what the pros will use it for. HP's RPN calculators are in the same position as emacs and vi: the developers refuse to compromise the usability for pros in order to make it a little easier for somebody who can't be bothered to read a few pages of the manual. This is not a bad thing. It is simply a matter of knowing your market, and ignoring the needs of those not in your target market.

    5. Re:HP-11c by heinousjay · · Score: 1

      Oh, I get that. All I mean to say is that this is a symptom of what some Slashdot people consider to be a larger problem - the lack of adoption of "geek-approved" tools outside of the geek market. You don't need to defend it. I am merely pointing it out.

      --
      Slashdot - where whining about luck is the new way to make the world you want.
    6. Re:HP-11c by that+this+is+not+und · · Score: 1

      Most 'geeks' these days would be hopelessly lost trying to use even an old non-digital oscilloscope, let alone any complicated piece of equipment. I'll keep mine, thankyou. The Tek 465M is a hell of a scope, even today. My Tek 7834 mainframe is a marvel of engineering.

      I sold my HP-15C on ebay awhile back. I've started using a new HP-50g (heresy! burn the apostate! I know. Sigh) I haven't sold my HP-11C yet, though.

  7. Meh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    At my user group's museum, where David Packard actually worked for a while when it was a military base, our collection features an HP-300A Harmonic Wave Analyzer.

    Call me when you have an 8566B.

  8. Now its the "Outsourcing Shrine" by Tablizer · · Score: 1

    I know from insiders that HP is offshoring left and right.

    --
    Table-ized A.I.
    1. Re:Now its the "Outsourcing Shrine" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No, it's only offshoring when it's people who aren't white. The rest of the time, it's nearshoring.

      (This is actual terminology which HP used for awhile!)

    2. Re:Now its the "Outsourcing Shrine" by Tablizer · · Score: 1

      They offshore to Russia also.

      --
      Table-ized A.I.
  9. I was going to make the following smartass remark: by Mix+Master+Nixon · · Score: 1

    "HP has fans?"

    But then I thought about my mom and dad's old Laserjet 4L. That damn printer is an unkillable beast, that's real, real economical with the toner and the output remains flawless. That thing came from the Windows 3.1 box we had, a 486/66. I can be a fan of something that was reasonably priced and built to last.

    And of course, the calculators are the stuff of legend in certain circles.

    --
    Oppressing an entire population is never cheap.
    --Jeckler (/. Beta IS GARBAGE!)
  10. Ink by olrik666 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Admission fee? Nothing.
    Ink to sign the guess book? 4 US $
    Forgetting the whole thing? Priceless!

    Olrik

  11. Re:I was going to make the following smartass rema by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    And of course, the calculators are the stuff of legend in certain circles.
    With a bunch of Polish going in reverse.
  12. RPN Link for the Young by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    RPN = Reverse Polish Notation

  13. nuts by kishore.avv · · Score: 0, Troll

    The nuts of news for nerds that don't matter.

  14. Just HP? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    HP's garage, okay. Why not put these on the list?

    - Steve's garage (Apple)
    - Microsoft's hotel room in Albuquerque, NM
    - ...

  15. historic preservation by tverbeek · · Score: 1

    It's not clear what exactly this will do for the structure, since it's already owned by HP and it already very well restored to its original glory.
    What is will do is to protect the garage from HP. Even if the current management considers an historic landmark, there's no guarantee that future administrations will. Suppose in 2073 the company gets purchased by some Albanian-based conglomerate for its perpetual patent portfolio, lays off the remaining 538 U.S. employees, and tries to sell the property to a high-rise low-income housing developer. Being on the National Register would make it harder for them to do that.
    --
    http://alternatives.rzero.com/
    1. Re:historic preservation by elrous0 · · Score: 1

      No, this is a common misconception. The register doesn't prohibit private companies from doing whatever they damn well please with the property, it only says the government can't tear it down and tax dollars can't be used in any way to tear it down. HP could bulldoze it tomorrow if they wanted to (though they might miss out on a small tax break if they're renovating it and using it as part of their business), or sell it to another private company who could also tear it down.

      --
      SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
  16. Re:Worst Mod Ever by 644bd346996 · · Score: 1

    "Interesting"?!?

    Yes, HP did in fact invent the scientific calculator. The HP-35 was the first pocket calculator with transcendental functions, and it was introduced in 1972, only a few years after desktop calculators moved beyond four functions. As it happens, Bill Hewlett was the person who told the HP engineers to develop a pocket sized calculator, even though marketing studies indicated a complete lack of demand for such a thing. You could have found this out easily by searching the web instead of trying to be pompous.

  17. Tesla by CranberryKing · · Score: 1

    "don't know of anything he's credited for that I use as often as google or the incandescent lightbulb"

    Okay I can't resist. You are correct. You don't know of anything you use as often &c. How about?..

    Wireless remote control anything.

    Why you are such a compulsive consumer. It's a lot more than advertising and subliminal television.

    Most of the UFO's that are witnessed.

    All the great weather we have been having! ie: Katrina, &c.

    H.A.A.R.P.

    Free Energy! (Sorry. I forgot that's in a parallel timeline)

    Anything else you have observed that seemed odd or out of place, because it was. Tesla had basically deconstructed the universe (think Reich not Freud) as we would recognize it. Everyone was so pleased by this that they burnt down his lab (twice) and basically kept him in a unspoken house arrest at the New Yorker until his death.

    The New Life Expo at the New Yorker Hotel! (Oh you know you've been).

    I started drinking coffee again today. Arrrggghh!!

  18. Re:I was going to make the following smartass rema by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I can be a fan of something that was reasonably priced and built to last.


    Canon, the Japanese optical company (known for their photocopiers and other optical devices), actually was the manufacturer and designer of those HP LaserJet toner engines.
  19. I don't think of HP anymore as being HP by IIDX · · Score: 1

    Today:
    HP = computers and printers
    Agilent = Test and measurement
    Original HP = Agilent

    1. Re:I don't think of HP anymore as being HP by ohmpossum · · Score: 1

      True! They gave the "HP" name to the wrong half of the company. It should be re-named the Agilent Garage. Also, did anyone forget Steve Wozniak designed the Apple I when he worked at HP then when HP wasn't interested in it he left to start Apple? Gordon A HP/Agilent Employee 1996-2000

      --
      Just set me up a basic sig... 10 PRINT "Gordon Aplin" : GOTO 10