Experience is a school where a man learns what a big fool he has been.

Life is one long process of getting tired.

Professionalism

- What do you do for your living?

- Just nothing.

- You are a professional!

 

Family

 

A wife came to the police department. «I’m worried», she said, «my husband disappeared and I can’t find him». The policeman gave her a pen and a sheet of paper and asked her to put down everything about her hubby. She finished and gave him the description. The policeman read it aloud:

«My husband is a short man, bold, small eyes and shortsighted. He wears thick glasses. He bets all his money at races. He snores like a hell and he squints». The policeman finished to read and asked, «Is it all?» Looking down the woman answered,
«I’ve changed my mind, sir; on second thought, just skip the thing and don’t bother looking for him».

 

Cafe

 

Waiter: Tea or coffee, sir?

Customer: Coffee without cream.

Waiter: You’ll have to drink it without milk, sir, since we are out of cream today.

 

Confusion

 

At a party when one of the women was singing one of the guests turns to his neighbour.

- Gee, what a terrible voice! Do you know who is she?

- Yes, she is my wife.

- I’m sorry, sir. She has a wonderful voice. That’s that awfully bad music that spoils everything. Do you know who wrote it?

- I did.

Sincerity

 

Wife: Do you remember the Smiths that we met in San Francisco and invited them to come and stay with us for a couple of weeks?

Husband: Yeah.

Wife: These idiots are actually coming!

 

Unity

Husband: No dinner?! I’m going to a restaurant!

Wife: Be so kind as to wait a minute.

Husband: Will it be ready then?

Wife: Of course not, but I’ll be ready to go with you.

 

Hospitality

- I do hope my visit doesn’t bother your family.

- Oh, no. However depressed they are when you come, they’re always happy when you go.

 

Trade

- How much is this computer?

- $ 1000, sir.

- In the next door store it costs $ 750!

- Why don’t you buy it there?

- They just don’t have any left.

- Believe me, sir, when I don’t have any left, I’ll sell it for $ 100.

 

Mutual understanding

Tom: My wife absolutely does not understand me; does yours?

Sam: I don’t think so; I’ve never heard mention your name.

Phone call

 

There was a long line at the public phone. The man who was making a phone call held the receiver, but his lips were not moving. One of the impatient persons asked loudly, «Is he speaking to anybody?!» «Yes», was the answer, «to his wife».

 

Advice is like castor oil, easy enough to give but dreadfully uneasy to take.

Alimony is a system by which, when two people make a mistake, one of them continuous to pay for it.

For every human problem, there is a neat, simple solution; and it is always wrong.

What’s worth doing is worth doing for money.

Three can keep a secret if two are dead.

Sex is hereditary because if your parents never had it, chances you are will not either.

It works better if you plug it in!

UNIT 5

 

1. Information for study

 

I. Pioneers

John V. Atanasoff was an early pioneer of automatic computing; he formulated the idea of using the binary number system to simplify the construction of an electronic calculator. In 1939, being Iowa State physics professor, he was looking for someone to help him design and build a computing machine. His colleague recommended him a graduating electrical engineering student, Clifford Berry.

«Berry is a brilliant student who has a tremendous grasp of mechanical construction, and is well-grounded in electronics», the electrical engineering professor said of the young man who planned to begin a graduate school that fall. After a few meetings with the new graduate student, Atanasoff came to a conclusion that «he had vision and inventive skills».

In the fall of 1939 Atanasoff and Berry began building the prototype of the first computing machine by using and vacuum tubes, binary numbers, capacitors in a rotating drum for memory elements, and logic system for computing. A working model by the end of the year demonstrated the validity of their concepts and won them a grant of $850 to build a full-scale computer.

Berry and Atanasoff worked together in their laboratory over the next two years. The result was the first electronic digital computer.

 

II. Supercomputer

The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing has the following definition:

A broad term for one of the fastest computers currently available. Such computers are typically used for number crunching including scientific simulations, (animated) graphics, analyses of geological data, physics, chemistry, electronic design, nuclear energy research and meteorology.

The speed of most computers measured by how many millions of instructions per second (MIPS) they could execute. Since supercomputers have always been number-crunchers, their speed is measured in floating point operations per second (FLOPS), in units of megaflops (MFLOPS), gigaflops (GFLOPS), and teraflops (TFLOPS) which refer to millions, billions, and trillions of FLOPS, respectively.

Much of the early history of the supercomputer is the history of the father of the supercomputer, Seymour Cray (1925-1996), and the various companies he founded; in particular, Cray Research, which was the US leader in building the fastest supercomputers for many years. Cray’s mission throughout his life was to build the fastest computer in the world; a goal he first realized in developing the first fully transistorized supercomputer, the CDC 1604, in 1958 Control Data Corporation, a company he found in 1957. He went on to design the CDC 6600, which was forty times faster than its predecessor, followed by the CDC 7600 system. These machines would give Control Data the clout to push the mighty IBM out of the scientific field for a time.

Cray left Control Data in 1972 to found Cray Research, then CEO, who had put a new computer on hold. Always a private man, Cray was never interested in company management. He relinquished control of the company after five years and worked out a deal that allowed him to do research and development at a lab away from company headquarters.

After designing the 100 megaflops CRAY-1 computer in 1976 and the 1-2 gigaflops CRAY-2 computer system in 1985, both of which were the fastest supercomputers in the world he again parted way with his company after top management elected not to go ahead with his new project, the Cray-3.

Founding Cray Computer Corporation in 1989, he again built what would be the fastest supercomputer in the world at around 4-5 gigaflops, the Cray 3, which is based on superfast 1 GHz gallium arsenide processor in comparison with conventional silicon processors, which were, and still are, topping out at 400-500 MHz. He followed it with the Cray 4, also based on gallium arsenide, which is twice as fast.

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Various events, including the end of the Cold War, which shrank the size of the supercomputing industry's market; the advent of competition from Japanese companies such as Fujitsu Ltd., Hitachi Ltd., and NEC Corp.; and the rise in popularity of distributed computing based on large numbers of smaller microcomputers working together in a limited way all served to shrink the U.S. supercomputer industry, causing Cray Computer to file for bankruptcy in 1995. Only a few Cray 3, and even fewer Cray 4, systems had been sold. Undaunted, Cray began work on a new computer and started a new company, SRC Computer Labs, to build it. Tragically, he died on October 5th, 1996, at the age of 71, as a result of injuries sustained in an automobile accident.

For many years, Seymour Cray and his companies dominated supercomputing. Eventually, other companies began finally to compete directly. Thinking Machines Corporation, for example, is another company that was famous in the field of supercomputing.

On July 28, 1995, two of Tokyo University researchers broke the 1 teraflops barrier with their 1,692-processor Grape-4, special purpose supercomputer costing less than 2 million US dollars. The Grape-4 and its processors are specialized for performing astrophysical simulations. It was the fastest computer in the world at that time, reaching the peak speed of 1.08 teraflops.

According to a November 11, 1996 announcement by Cray Research, a 2,048-processor CRAY T3E-900 broke the world record for general purpose supercomputer with an incredible 1.8 teraflops peak performance. This system, according to Cray Research is the first supercomputer able to sustain greater than 1 teraflops performance over long periods of time.

According to a December 16, 1966 announcement made by Intel Corporation their «ultra» computer, developed in a partnership with the US Department of Energy, breaks the 1 teraflop barrier. Hence, it is clear that the current state of supercomputing art is teraflop level performance.

There are three primary limits to performance at the supercomputer level: individual processor speed, the overhead involved in making large numbers of processors work together on a single task, and the input / output speed between processors and memory. Input / output speed between the data storage medium and memory is also a problem, but no more than in any kind of computer. Besides that supercomputer has extremely high RAM capacity.

The speed of individual processors is increasing all the time. Its cost in research and development is also increasing, and the reality is that the parameters of silicon based processors are close to their limits. Seymour Cray showed that gallium arsenide technology could help, but it is very difficult to work with. Cray Computer was forced to acquire their own foundry and do this work themselves.

The solution the industry has been turning to is to add larger numbers of processors to their systems, enhancing the speed through parallel processing. However it brings the problem of writing programs that can utilize multiple processors (hundreds and thousands) at once in an efficient manner. Supercomputers were designed and built to work on extremely large jobs that could be handled by no other type of computer systems (the more processors are in a machine the more jobs it can perform).

A press release by Intel indicated that the completed «ultra» computer, also known as ASCI Option Red would incorporate over 9000 Pentium Pro processors and reach speeds of 1.8 teraflops. It costs $55 million. There is a program to develop three supercomputers that will reach speeds of 10, 30 and 100 teraflops.

When Seymour Cray was once asked about the next qualitative step in supercomputing he said, «I think it will be biological computing – using DNA and proteins as the computing elements just as Nature does … I don’t think I will live to see that day …».

III. Meta PAD

IBM is developing a device that is slightly larger than a typical handheld computer but has the power of a standard laptop. It has 128 MB of RAM, an 800 MHz processor, a 10 GB hard drive and runs Windows XP. It weighs nine ounces (255.15 g).

The device also has a 4-inch LCD (Liquid Crystals Display) and the company is considering to add wireless capabilities.

The company said that it built the device as part of its research into the development of future mobile devices and that it has no plans to sell the device in the immediate future.

«This device is a radical experiment in form factor and is furthering our understanding of how humans can better interact with their information», said lead engineer of the project Ken Ocheltree. «The ‘Meta Pad’ project is part of our overall strategy in the pervasive space building the technology inside computing devices, and building and managing the infrastructure that will simplify
the unthinkable task of connecting billions of devices to billions of things», he added.

The company said it took items such as the power supply, display and I / O (Input-Output) connectors out of the core of the device, making them available as accessories to be used as needed. That enables the device to be used on a mobile basis or as a desktop or laptop computer. Hence, the individual users decide how they want to use their portable device. For example, they could:

 

- Attach it to a small touch screen and carry it like a handheld personal digital assistant, but with all the power and functionality of a desktop.

- Place it into a cradle, which is attached to a keyboard and display at home, work or in a hotel.

- Place it into a laptop-like shell.

- Place it into a connector in an airplane seat that is linked to a touch screen display.

- Attach it to a wearable harness with a small head-mounted display for use in certain work environments that require hands-free computing.

 

IBM has also incorporated its advanced speech technologies software to further improve the interface to the Meta PAD.

Another potential application of Meta PAD is in the super dense server space, offering an alternate way to build servers. By plugging many of these small devices into a rack system, you can get a high-performance in a very small form factor, making it easier and more affordable for individuals to have their own personal server.

 

 

2. Exercises

1. Read and translate the texts.

2. Check up your understanding. Give full answers:

1. What are the main trends of computer development?

2. Who were the first pioneers in computer business? What did they do?

3. Why do we need a supercomputer? Is the game worth the candle?

4. What are the three primary limits to performance at the supercomputer level?

5. Can you tell the difference between the latest model of a PС and supercomputer?

6. Why do we need to increase the speed of CPU?

7. Meta PAD, what does it mean?

8. If you were offered Laptop or Meta PAD, what would be your choice? Why?

9. Here is a sequence of different kinds of computers:

10. Meta PAD, Laptop, Desktop, Mainframe, Supercomputer.

11. Can you characterize each item?

12. Why is Meta PAD considered as a future mobile device?

13. Why is the speed of supercomputers incredibly high?

3. Retell the texts briefly using the following expressions and terms:

 

Formulate the idea, look for someone to help, have tremendous grasp of, be well-grounded, come to conclusion, have vision and inventive skills, win a grant, demonstrate the validity of the concepts.

Supercomputer, MIPS, FLOPS, be leader in, found a company, be forty times faster, private man, relinquish control of the company, work out a deal, CRAY-1, CRAY-2, CRAY-3, dominate supercomputing, be based on, shrink the supercomputer industry, file for bankruptcy, break the world record, break the world
barrier, the parameters are close to their limits, bring the problem of, parallel processing, perform jobs.

Meta PAD, develop a device, handheld computer, have the power of, wireless capabilities, the immediate future, overall strategy, be used on a mobile basis, touch screen, speech technologies, an alternate way, get high performance in a small form-factor, personal server.

 

4. What’s missing? If you are in doubt refer to the text.

Take it into account that in each item the first letter of the missed word is used.

1. The idea of the binary number system was used to s…. the construction of an electronic calculator.

2. The p…. of the first computing machine was built in 1939.

3. They scientists worked in their laboratory o…. two years.

4. You can find this definition in the F… O….– L…. Dictionary.

5. The speed of computers is measured by the number of i…. per second.

6. The history of the s…. is tightly connected with Seymour Cray and the various companies he f…. .

7. To build the fastest computer in the world was the g…. of his life.

8. It was the fastest computer at that time, reaching the p…. speed of more than 1 teraflop.

9. There are p…. limits to performance at the supercomputer level.

10. The next q…. step in supercomputing will be biological computing.

11. IBM developed the device that was s…. lager than a handheld computer.

12. This device is a r…. experiment in form factor.

13. It is f…. our understanding of how people can i…. with their information.

14. The individual users decide how they want to use their p…. device.

5. Rearrange the words and get the right sentences:

1. the young / school / planned / to / man / begin / a graduate /.

2. term / for / supercomputer / the fastest / computers / is / a broad /.

3. shrank / the / events / supercomputer / various / market /.

4. in / as / interested / company / Cray / management/never /.

5. the / computer / n / it / the / fastest / world / was /.

6. increasing / processors / is/the speed / of / all / the time /.

7. the device / plans / in / the company / has / to sell / no / the immediate future /.

8. large / jobs / were / supercomputers / and / built / to / work / designed / on / very /.

6. Supply the prepositions if one is missing:

1. This person is well-grounded …. electronics.

2. The speed of computers is measured …. the number of instructions per second.

3. His goal was realized …. building the first supercomputer.

4. Cray was never interested …. company management.

5. The Cray 3 is based …. superfast processor.

6. He began to work …. a new computer and started a new company.

7. Thinking Machines Corporation was famous …. the field of supercomputing.

8. Cray Research broke the world record …. general purpose supercomputer.

9. According …. announcement made …. Intel Corporation their supercomputer broke the 1 teraflop barrier.

10. The solution the industry has been turning …. is enhancing the speed through parallel processing.

11. Supercomputers were built to work …. extremely large jobs that could not be handled …. other types of computer.

12. The company said that they took several items …. ….
the core …. the device.

13. Place the device …. a cradle which is attached ….
a keyboard.

14. Attach the device …. a wearable harness with a small head-mounted display and you get hands-free computing.

7. There are two words in each item. You must explain how
is «a» like «b» and how «a» differs from «b»:

1. (a) supercomputer, (b) PC;

2. (a) prototype, (b) type;

3. (a) grant, (b) investment;

4. (a) laptop, (b) Meta Pad;

5. (a) Cray-1, (b) Cray-3.

8. Give the opposites of the following words:

 

1. reach; 2. include; 3. push; 4. break; 5. use; 6. simplify;
7. new; 8. various; 9. lead; 10. increase; 11. leave; 12. much.

 

9. Give the synonyms of the following words:

1. look for; 2. say; 3. partner; 4. rotate; 5. demonstrate; 6. can; 7. execute; 8. way; 9. announce; 10. increase.

 

10. What verbs precede these words?

 

1. idea; 2. computing machine; 3. laboratory; 4. result;
5. history; 6. company; 7. goal; 8. way; 9. announcement; 10. problem.

 

11. Supply the articles where necessary and explain your choice:

1. After a few meetings with …. graduate student …. electrical engineering professor came to …. conclusion that he was …. talented person.

2. …. early history of …. supercomputers is …. history of …. father of …. supercomputer.

3. His main goal was to build …. fastest computer in …. world.

4. He was always …. private man, and was never interested in …. company management.

5. This company is famous in …. field of supercomputing.

6. …. speed of individual processors is increasing all …. time.

7. …. solution brought …. problem of writing programs that could utilize multiple processors at once in …. efficient manner.

8. IBM developed …. device that is a bit larger than …. typical handheld computer but has …. power of …. standard laptop.

9. …. idea of using …. binary number system to simplify …. construction of …. electronic calculator was progressive.

10. …. result of their work was …. first digital computer.

12. Translate into English:

1. Осенью 1939 года ученые начали строить первый компьютер, а через два года они его закончили.

2. Этот прекрасный студент обладает основательными знаниями в электронике.

3. Работающая модель показала жизнеспособность их концепции.

4. Значительная часть истории суперкомпьютеров связана с именем С. Крея.

5. Cуперкомпьютерами называют самые быстродействующие компьютеры в мире.

6. Быстродействие (скорость) этих компьютеров невероятно велика и составляет триллионы операций в секунду.

7. В состав суперкомпьютеров входят тысячи процессоров, которые работают параллельно.

8. Многие годы компании С. Крея доминировали в области суперкомпьютеров.

9. Быстродействие современных процессоров непрерывно растет и по параметрам приближается к своему пределу.

10. Новый качественный шаг в суперкомпьютерной технике будет связан с переходом к другим принципам, например, биологическим.

13. Are you up to giving a right explanation?

Look for a proper statement in this book or put your own idea in an oral frame and use it.

 

Something useful

 

To be or not to be …

It is well known when and how the verb to be is used e.g. as an auxiliary (I am doing smth) or as a link verb (He is a student). Nevertheless it’s worth while to mention several particularities, which might have slipped students attention.

Be + infinitive

This construction can be used in the following ways:

1. To convey orders.

«You are to do this exercise, Sam» means that the speaker is conveying to Sam somebody’s instruction, but «Do this exercise, Sam» means that speaker is ordering. This construction is useful way to express orders in indirect speech especially if the verb in the main clause is in the present simple tense:

Direct speech – He says, «Stay here till 1 p.m.»

Indirect speech (possible version) – He says that I’m to stay here till 1 p.m.

2. To convey plans:

He is to join our club next week.

The President is to make a speech tomorrow morning.

This construction is often used in newspapers. In headline it would look like:

President to make speech tomorrow morning.

Here the, a, is are omitted to save space.

Sometimes when in past (was, were + infinitive) this expression can have a shade of destiny:

He separated with his girlfriend hardly suspecting that she was to get in a horrible accident.

Be about + infinitive

This expression is widely used when somebody says about the nearest, immediate future:

I am about to do this work = I am just going to do this work.

I was just about to through myself on the grass when I saw a snake.

In the last example just makes the future more immediate.

Be on the point of + gerund has the same meaning:

I’m on the point of leaving this district.

Compare with present continuous when it is used for planned future (not necessarily immediate) actions: I am going to the theater today.

It’s possible to use continuous form of be with the following adjectives:

 

annoying; bad; cautious; clever; difficult; economical; extravagant; foolish; formal; funny; generous; good; helpful; irritating; mean; mysterious; noisy; optimistic; pessimistic; polite; quiet; rash; selfish; stupid; unhelpful; unselfish; wise.

Some of them (bad / good, foolish / wise, noisy / quiet) are used with the continuous form of be to express that the person is showing this quality only at this time, not always. For example Sam is being wise means that Sam is acting wise now. On the other hand Sam is wise means that he acts always wise.

With some of these adjectives (difficult, funny, polite, stupid etc) continuous form might be used to show that the person is acting in certain way deliberately, e.g.: Sam is being stupid may mean that he is not trying to understand; Sam is being difficult means that he is raising unnecessary objections; Sam is being funny means that he is joking and do not believe him; Sam is being polite means that he is pretending to be polite and his kind words are false.

 

 

3. Vocabulary training

1. Identification of words

Match the words in the left-hand column with their equivalents in the right-hand column, e.g. 3-5:

1. advent	1. ability to do something well
2. conventional	2. ability to see; foresight
3. crunch	3. above the level
4. found	4. acceptability
5. foundry	5. an arrangement of straps etc attaching something to the body
6. goal	6. ancestor
7. grasp	7. chief office
8. harness	8. coming, arrival
9. headquarter	9. crush noisily with the teeth
10. incredible	10. done by habit or custom
11. interact	11. establish
12. overhead	12. have an effect upon each other
13. predecessor	13. impossible to believe
14. shrink	14. make easy to do or understand
15. simplify	15. make or become smaller
16. skill	16. not much
17. slight	17. object
18. tremendous	18. understand
19. validity	19. very great or strong
20. vision	20. workshop

2. Useful expressions

Try to understand, give an English explanation, if possible, and translate the following expressions, using the given meanings of the words. Then invent sentences using these expressions.

1. Be well-grounded in; ground – give basic training in.

2. Have tremendous grasp in; tremendous – (colloq.) excellent, grasp – understand.

3. Be private man; private – not open to the public, secluded.

4. Part way; part – separate, divide.

5. File for bankruptcy; file – start action in law towards smth.

6. Break barrier; the context will help you to understand.

7. In particular; particular – relating only to one person or thing.

8. Such computers are used for number crunching; crunch – consult the previous exercise.

9. His mission throughout his life; mission – task assigned to a person, throughout – from start to finish.

10. Use on the mobile basis; not fixed, changing quickly, portable, not relying on fixed cables etc; basis – foundation.

3. Reading comprehension

Read the text, try to understand the topic, look for the logical sequence of the items and put them in the proper order. The first item is in the right position.

How to begin memory upgrade

1. Turn the computer off. Disconnect all of the cables and other connections into the computer, including the telephone line connection for the modem, the printer connection, the monitor connection, and everything else.

2. Each connection should only connect one way, so there is no need to remember how the connection was oriented before it was disconnected. But chances are you’ve got a nice little collection of connections into your computer, so you don’t want to be looking at a confused pile of disconnected wires when you’re installing the memory.

3. It’s not uncommon for a computer to draw a little bit of electrical current while it is plugged in, even when it has been powered off, so that’s why it is important to unplug the power connector, too.

4. Set the computer in a nice comfortable work space and remove the computer case cover.

5. Also unplug the power connector from PC. It’s important that nothing external to the computer be connected before you start the upgrade so that nothing outside of the computer can provide any kind of electrical current to the computer while you are working on it.

6. If you are not used to disconnecting everything then you will want to at least carefully note where each connection was attached. In this case a short strip of masking tape is used to scribble a little note for each connection and then it must be wrapped around the cord before it is disconnected.

3. Computer terms in use

Match the terms in the left-hand column with their definitions in the right-hand column.

1. free-hand computing	1. wireless control
2. head-mounted display	2. a display screen on which the user can make selections by touching the screen
3. touch-screen	3. a display that is attached to a hat or helmet etc
4. parallel processing	4. characteristics and possibilities
5. portable device (computer)	5. computing without using a keyboard
6. power and functionality	6. device (computer) that is able to be lifted and carried
7. wireless capabilities	7. a computer that fits in one’s hand
8. handheld computer	8. processing data through the use of many CPUs; each of them may be used for processing one part of a program, which provides much more faster processing

 

 

4. A bit of reading practice

 

The IBM PC

In July of 1980, IBM (International Business Machines) representatives met for the first time with Microsoft’s Bill Gates to talk about writing an operating system for IBM’s new hush-hush «personal» computer. IBM had been observing the growing personal computer market for some time. They had already made one dismal attempt to crack the market with their IBM 5100. At one point, IBM considered buying the fledgling game company Atari to commandeer Atari’s early line of personal computers. However, IBM decided to stick with making their own personal computer line and developed a brand new operating system to go with.
The secret plans were referred to as «Project Chess». The code name for the new computer was «Acorn». On August 12, 1981, IBM released their new computer, re-named the IBM PC.
The «PC» stood for «personal computer» making IBM responsible for popularizing the term «PC».

The first IBM PC ran on at 4.77 MHz Intel 8088 microprocessor. The PC came equipped with 16 kilobytes of memory, expandable to 256 k. The PC came with one or two floppy disc drives and an optional color monitor. The price tag started at $1,565, which would be nearly $4000 today. What really made the IBM PC different from the previous IBM computers was that it was the first one built from off the shelf parts (called open architecture) and marketed by outside distributors. The Intel chip was chosen because IBM had already obtained the rights to manufacture
the Intel chips.

Less than four months after IBM introduced the PC, Time Magazine named the computer «man of the year».

 

From HP to Agilent Technology & HP

Following graduation from Stanford University in 1934, electrical engineers Dave Packard and Bill Hewlett went on a two-week camping and fishing trip in the Colorado mountains. On this trip, they discovered strong similarities in their attitudes toward many things and became close friends. After graduation, Bill continued graduate studies at Stanford and MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) while Dave took a job with General Electric in New York state. Within a few years, and with the encouragement of one of Stanford professors, the two decided to start a business «and make a run for it».

In 1938 Dave Packard moved back to California, Palo Alto. Bill Hewlett rented the cottage behind the Dave’s house and they began part-time work in the garage with $538 in working capital. Their first product was an electronic instrument used to test sound equipment.

On the 1st of January, 1939 they formed partnership. Coin toss decided company name – HP (Hewlett-Packard).

In the 40s test and measurement products of HP won widespread acceptance among engineers and scientists. The start of World War II turned a trickle of US government orders for electronic instruments into a stream and then a flood. New products were added and HP built its first corporate headquarters, manufacturing plants and research-and-development facilities. Production moved from garage to rented building in Palo Alto. The company gave its first bonus to employees,
a $5 Christmas bonus. This later became a production bonus and – later still – company-wide profit-sharing plan. Net Revenue: $34,000; employees: 3; products: 8.

As a result – in 1942 – construction of the first company-owned building, a 10,000-square foot of office / laboratory / factory premise. Bill and Dave designed it as an open system – without interior walls – the space could be flexible.

In the 50s Bill and Dave, with the help of their management team, developed the company’s corporate objectives – the basis of its special management philosophy – and the company embarked upon a path toward globalization.

1957-1959. First public stock offering. Net Revenue:
$30 million; employees: 1,778; products: 373. Following the signing of the Treaty of Rome, the company established its presence outside of California with European Marketing Organization in Geneva (Switzerland) and first manufacturing plant in Boeblingen (Germany).

In 60s test and measurement field continued its steady growth. Company branched out into related fields such as medical electronics and analytical instrumentation and began to be noticed as a progressive, well-managed company and a great place to work.

These years the following events happened:

· HP’s first listing on Fortune magazine’s list of the top 500
US companies.

· First joint venture was formed with Yokogawa Electric Works in Tokyo (Japan).

· Company celebrated its 25 anniversary. Dave Packard elected chairman; Bill Hewlett elected president.

· The company’s first computer was designed.

· Net Revenue: $165 million; employees: 9000.

In the 80’s the massive impact of computer technology on all product lines resulted not only in products with higher performance at lower cost, but also in radical changes in processes and the organization as a whole.

The stunning development of HP is illustrated by the data given below:

 

Year	Net revenue $	Employees
	34,000
	5,5 million
	165 million	9,000
	365 million	16,000
	3 billion	57,000
	6,5 billion	85,000
	13,2 billion	91,500
	42,9 billion	121,900

 

These data are in sharp contrast to the $538 in working capital that founders Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard began with in 1938.

David Packard died on March 26, 1996; Bill Hewlett died on January 12, 2001.

Initial public stock offering raised on Nov.18, 1999 up to
$2,1 billion and broke records at the largest IPO ( Initial Public Offering) in Silicon Valley history. In this year HP announced strategic realignment to create an independent measurement company composed of test and measurement components, chemical analysis and medical businesses (the name of it is Agilent Technologies), and a computing and imaging company that includes all of HP’s computing, printing and imaging businesses (named HP).