As soon as Hewlett and Packard began working away in their garage, they decided to create a set of rules to live by. Rule number one was “Believe you can change the world.”
Hewlett and Packard now had their company, they had a lab of sorts to work from, and they had the inspiration to achieve big things. What they did not have was a product. And so, Hewlett went back to look at his graduate thesis from Stanford. It focused on practical applications for electrical engineering technology of negative feedback, and it would be the inspiration for HP’s first product.
Together, Hewlett and Packard created an audio oscillator. It was in fact the first practical, low-cost method of generating high-quality audio frequencies that were needed in a wide range of industries, including defense and medicine. Hoping to impress the idea that the company had been around for awhile, they named their product 200A. “We really didn't know if this oscillator was any good,” said Hewlett. “We simply put one together that worked pretty well, sent a letter out to universities and others, got three or four orders, and tried it again.”
One of those first orders was from Walt Disney Studios, who wanted eight oscillators for their upcoming movie, “Fantasia.” From there, the two patented their product and began working on the next one. Because of the success of 200A, each subsequent and improved version would take on the suffixes ‘B’ through ‘E’.
In 1940, the two were finally able to move from their garage to a rented office building in Palo Alto, California. They expanded their line of products to include signal generators, voltmeters, oscilloscopes, counters, and more. While Hewlett provided many of the company’s early technical innovations, Packard easily took on the role of administrator. Soon, they had moved on to producing calculators, computers and printers.
Over the next few decades, with Hewlett and Packard still at the helm, the company continued to innovate and expand. A partnership with Sony and Yokogawa Electric in Japan, as well as a small spin-off company called Dymec, did not prove too successful and both were eventually brought back into HP. But a number of the company’s products would be revolutionary, including the HP 800 and HP 250 series of computers, which were nearly a decade ahead of the PC. In fact, Wired magazine called the HP 9100A the world’s first PC. HP was also responsible for the world’s first handheld scientific electronic calculator.
From 1947 to 1964, Packard served as the company’s president. After that, he became chairman of the board for various years until 1993. Three years after he left HP behind for good, Packard passed away. By the time of his death, his stake in the company was more than $1 billion. Meanwhile, Hewlett served as the company’s president from 1964 to 1977, as well as CEO from 1968 until 1978. He then served as vice chairman of the board until 1987.
Today, HP continues to reign as the world’s leading IT superpower. With a reputation for innovative and reliable products, it now earns revenues in excess of $104 billion.
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