In 1974, Richard Nelson founded the HP-65 User's Club and began
to publish its journal called "65 Notes".  The club later evolved
into the world-wide club called PPC, and the PPC Journal was sent
almost monthly to its thousands of members.

Since I just obtained the Xerox "Text Bridge 98" scanner software,
and since Jake Schwartz rekindled my interest in the old issues
of the Notes and Journal, I've been having fun scanning some of
the articles.  I'll post a few that will be of interest to the
comp.sys.hp48 readership from time to time.

The following 1975 article explains why it's HP, not PH (good
thing, too, since HP-UX would otherwise be unacceptable in
polite society).

Enjoy this glimpse into The Way Things Were...

-Joe-

-------------------------------------------------------
PH or HP?
by Richard Nelson

"65 Notes", V2 N1 P3 (January 1975)

In January 1939, two Stanford Electrical Engineering
graduates flipped a coin to see if their partnership
would be called Packard-Hewlett or Hewlett-Packard.
David Packard lost on that flip, and Bill Hewlett had
his name first. The occasion was the receipt of the
first big order from Walt Disney Studios for nine au-
dio oscillators called the Model 200A. The early ex-
perimental workshop was literally a 'garage' operation.
In 1947 the firm incorporated and annual sales reached
$1.5 million. New products were added to the expanding
product line of signal generators, microwave instruments,
amplifiers, etc., and by the '50's the company was de-
veloping instruments at the rate of 20 new ones per
year.

The strong leadership exerted by Bill Hewlett and David
Packard is what has made Hewlett-Packard the unique
company it is today. Another key factor has been peo-
ple - the employees. Over 20,000 people work for Bill
and Dave, who hold 51% of the company stock. The com-
pany operates on policies that strongly reflect the
philosophy of the two men. The open and free exchange
of information among engineers and designers is encour-
aged by not allowing offices and cubicles. Even today,
employees feel that they are part of a family. When
times are good, the family shares the prosperity through
profit sharing checks, liberal fringe benefits, etc.
When the economy is down, Hewlett-Packard does not lay
off its employees (who know the H-P philosophy, and
will work a 4-day week if asked to).

In March 1968 Hewlett-Packard introduced the HP-9100A
table-top programmable calculator. At that time Bill
Hewlett wondered if the next calculator developed could
not be a tenth the size and cost of the 9100A. Later
the goal was formalized to be a series of ten machines
to be hand-held, battery operated, and capable of being
carried in his shirt pocket - which was measured on the
spot. Thus, the HP-35, -80, -45, -81, -46, -65, -70
and -55 were born, along with machines yet to be an-
nounced. This brainstorming effort was being carried
out in earnest by the newly-formed Advanced Products
Division by the fall of 1970. The technological ac-
complishment was in getting the HP-35 to market, from
concept to announcement, in less than 18 months.

Operating by the Philosophy of providing technically
advanced products of high quality, based on excellent
executive direction, Hewlett-Packard continues to be
the leader in the electronics industry. Traditionally,
H-P has not sold its products to the general public.

The Advanced Products Division, with its pocket cal-
culator, was the first market of this type that the
company entered. When H-P did enter the calculator
market, it did not compete with existing manufacturers;
it created a completely new market - the scientific
calculator market.

References:

1. The HP-35: A Tale of Tearmwork with Vendors, by
Gerald M. Walker, Electronics, February 1, 1973.

2. Hewlett-Packard Company Annual Report, 1973.

3. A New Electronic Calculator with Computer-Like
Capabilities, by Richard E. Monnier.