Hewlett-Packard (HP) is a Technology Corporation located in California that was founded in 1935 by Will Hewlett and Dave Packard in a garage in Palo Alto. They formed the corporation based on an arrangement with a professor at Stanford College. In 1947, they incorporated the business. In 1957, the corporation went public.

The founders derived the name. The interesting fact is how exactly the name was decided upon. Will and Dave could not agree on whether the name should be Hewlett-Packard or Packard-Hewlett. They finally agreed to flip a coin to name their company. So simply the flipping of a coin produced the name of the largest technology company in the world.

HP originally focused their efforts on creating a wide range of electronic products for industrial and agricultural use. They eventually focused on high quality electronic test equipment. This focus was continued well in to the 1990s.

HP made a name for them by making products that was the top-of-the line quality equipment with features that were more accurate, sensitive, and precise than those of their competitors. This technology breakthrough created a name within many industries as a brand to trust and use.

One of most popular creations of HP is the precision audio oscillator, the Model HP200A. HP was innovative in producing a small light bulb as a temperature dependent resistor in a vital portion of the circuit. The new method of their product allowed HP to sell the component for a cheaper price then other competitors. To this day, this is one of longest selling basic electronic designs ever created.

One of their products is called the Model 200B oscillator. The Walt Disney Company purchased The Model 200B and installed in theatres for the surround sound systems used in their production of the movie Fantasia.

With the creation of their products, a formula was designed to name the products. By introducing, the naming product started the currently used pattern of the numeric alpha names. An example of this process is a first test product would be called 100A, the proceeding products, as updated and upgraded would then be named 100B, using letters up to E for names. This process of naming product lines is also used with supplies, accessories, software, and components.

In the early 1960’s, HP began producing a range of semiconductors used mainly for internal use in instruments and calculators. HP joined forces with Sony in Japan to develop several high quality products. This venture was not profitable since the costs were too high. The joint venture did lead to a partnership with Yokogawa Electric as a result. In 1999, HP bought the shares of the partnership to become the full owner of the partnership. HP began to experiment with the concept of specialized digital equipment such as the microcomputer. This design was used for over 20 years and managed to survive several attempts to replace the design. With this experiment was created the basis for the Intel x86 processor which is still the design used today.

In the 1970’s came the creations of the business computer server. The HP 3000 server was only retired recently and replace with newer technology. The HP 2640 series of smart and intelligent terminals was the founding creation for the ASCII terminals and the currently used screen labeled function keys used on gas pumps and bank ATMs. Although at the time this process was thought to be a lost cause, it projected HP past IBM as the world’s largest technology vendor in sales terms. The HP name has gained recognition for the quality of their products and services, which surpass standards of their competitors in the majority of every market.

Hewlett-Packard, also known as HP, specializes in developing and manufacturing computers, storage, and networking hardware, software, and services. The major parts of their product line include personal computers, devices, and printers, imaging products such as cameras, storage devices, and medical electronic equipment, to name a few examples. With modest beginnings, the company is now the largest technology company in the world.

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