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It's a bit depressing too, considering what the HP brand used to be. They used to be synonymous with the some of the most cutting-edge, best engineered test equ

by gh02t 9y ago

It's a bit depressing too, considering what the HP brand used to be. They used to be synonymous with the some of the most cutting-edge, best engineered test equipment and other electronics gear you could buy. Gear from that era like the legendary HP3458 multimeter still commands very high prices on the used market ($5000 or more if calibrated). Really that part of HP still exists at that level of quality, but they spun it off as Agilent and later Keysight. Hard to believe they squandered the original brand so completely, though.

vanderZwan 9y ago
I remember attending a talk at my physics student union about 15 years ago, by an alumni who worked at HP. IIRC, he was applying his former astronomy knowledge of dust-particles to make physics simulations for figuring out how toner particles actually behave. It was a lot more interesting than you might think. It is actually amazing that printers (inkjet, laserjet or the various 3D ones) work as well as they do; there is a ton of really advanced technology under the hood there working at micro- if not nano-scales.
digi_owl 9y ago
Funny thing is that said HP still exist. What people are complaining about is the bottom of the barrel consumer products hawked out of very storefront the world over. I have seen similar sentiments aimed towards Acer, yet i have seen Acer business market laptops survive for ages. Basically companies like HP and Acer have multiple product ranges with different QA protocols and different margins. Yet people keep buying the cheapest consumer offerings and expect something mil-spec.
- ballenf 9y ago
  There are companies that refuse to dilute their brand or sully their image: - BMW, Lexus - Tiffany's - Rolex Tech companies just think that they are immune to the market forces that keep other high end brands from skimming off the lower rungs (or at least doing it with their marquee brand). The examples are just the first ones from different markets that came to mind.
  - Cyph0n 9y ago
    I don't think any of those companies -- all luxury, high-cost/high-profit, consumer brands -- can be compared to a multinational, high volume, consumer- and business-facing IT company. Perhaps there are better examples?
    - overcast 9y ago
      Apple.
  - skate22 9y ago
    I feel like many tech companies have to support a much broader audience with more varient use cases than the companies you listed. Luxury watches sold by rollex only have to do a few things very well, and look nice. Some major tech companies are constantly under pressure to not only maintain quality of existing features, but to develop new features to stay competitive (all of this on updated hardware). Im not defending any 'bad' products that major tech companies put out, but i dont think the companies you listed are very comparable.
    - mathgeek 9y ago
      > I feel like many tech companies have to support a much broader audience with more varient use cases than the companies you listed. Perhaps the examples of BMW and Lexus, which were provided by the previous poster, would be a better comparison than Rolex for you? Car companies like those two, which focus their (multiple) brands for different levels of the market rather than diversifying the levels of the market covered by their brand, are a great example of keeping people thinking that one brand is "only for X type of buyer" while maintaining a presence across all corners of the market.
  - mschuster91 9y ago
    > BMW Oh, BMW certainly has had its fair share of lemons and... unconventional cars, as well as involvement in shady dealings. The difference to other carmakers (e.g. VW!) is that their overall quality both in build and in service is extremely high and that, while BMW was involved in shady stuff, they didn't get remotely as low as VW did with gassing apes with diesel fumes...
- TeMPOraL 9y ago
  > Basically companies like HP and Acer have multiple product ranges with different QA protocols and different margins. Yet people keep buying the cheapest consumer offerings and expect something mil-spec. Yes. It still surprises me that most people I know - personally or otherwise - didn't figure it out yet: the lower bound on price for a consumer good is "just barely functional enough so that you can't sue the vendor for false advertising". And it's not that people expect milspec hardware. They just expect it to work decently, for a while. But those expectations are still too high.
deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
milansuk 9y ago
"The H.P. Touch Computer (1983)" video[1] is nice proof how HP was great. Interesting part is around 2:30 when they don't pitch new touch screen technology(in 1983), but the way how they applied it. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-THdG5gVTw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-THdG5gVTw
linsomniac 9y ago
Reminds me of Apollo. I was working at HP when they bought Apollo, a workstation vendor. Sun was #1, HP was #2, and Apollo was #3. After HP bought Apollo, Sun was #1 and HP was #2. That's how big a lead Sun had. 5 years later I was in the grocery store and by the checkout register there was a stack of boxes on sale: Apollo Inkjet Printers. So that's what they did with that brand name.
Keyframe 9y ago
That HP still exists. It's called Agilent and Keysight now.
- gh02t 9y ago
  Yes, as I said, that part of the business is now Keysight for the electronic test equipment and Agilent, which focuses on life sciences equipment.

by gh02t 9y ago

vanderZwan 9y ago

I remember attending a talk at my physics student union about 15 years ago, by an alumni who worked at HP. IIRC, he was applying his former astronomy knowledge of dust-particles to make physics simulations for figuring out how toner particles actually behave. It was a lot more interesting than you might think. It is actually amazing that printers (inkjet, laserjet or the various 3D ones) work as well as they do; there is a ton of really advanced technology under the hood there working at micro- if not nano-scales.

digi_owl 9y ago

Funny thing is that said HP still exist. What people are complaining about is the bottom of the barrel consumer products hawked out of very storefront the world over. I have seen similar sentiments aimed towards Acer, yet i have seen Acer business market laptops survive for ages. Basically companies like HP and Acer have multiple product ranges with different QA protocols and different margins. Yet people keep buying the cheapest consumer offerings and expect something mil-spec.

ballenf 9y ago
There are companies that refuse to dilute their brand or sully their image: - BMW, Lexus - Tiffany's - Rolex Tech companies just think that they are immune to the market forces that keep other high end brands from skimming off the lower rungs (or at least doing it with their marquee brand). The examples are just the first ones from different markets that came to mind.
- Cyph0n 9y ago
  I don't think any of those companies -- all luxury, high-cost/high-profit, consumer brands -- can be compared to a multinational, high volume, consumer- and business-facing IT company. Perhaps there are better examples?
  - overcast 9y ago
    Apple.
- skate22 9y ago
  I feel like many tech companies have to support a much broader audience with more varient use cases than the companies you listed. Luxury watches sold by rollex only have to do a few things very well, and look nice. Some major tech companies are constantly under pressure to not only maintain quality of existing features, but to develop new features to stay competitive (all of this on updated hardware). Im not defending any 'bad' products that major tech companies put out, but i dont think the companies you listed are very comparable.
  - mathgeek 9y ago
    > I feel like many tech companies have to support a much broader audience with more varient use cases than the companies you listed. Perhaps the examples of BMW and Lexus, which were provided by the previous poster, would be a better comparison than Rolex for you? Car companies like those two, which focus their (multiple) brands for different levels of the market rather than diversifying the levels of the market covered by their brand, are a great example of keeping people thinking that one brand is "only for X type of buyer" while maintaining a presence across all corners of the market.
- mschuster91 9y ago
  > BMW Oh, BMW certainly has had its fair share of lemons and... unconventional cars, as well as involvement in shady dealings. The difference to other carmakers (e.g. VW!) is that their overall quality both in build and in service is extremely high and that, while BMW was involved in shady stuff, they didn't get remotely as low as VW did with gassing apes with diesel fumes...
TeMPOraL 9y ago
> Basically companies like HP and Acer have multiple product ranges with different QA protocols and different margins. Yet people keep buying the cheapest consumer offerings and expect something mil-spec. Yes. It still surprises me that most people I know - personally or otherwise - didn't figure it out yet: the lower bound on price for a consumer good is "just barely functional enough so that you can't sue the vendor for false advertising". And it's not that people expect milspec hardware. They just expect it to work decently, for a while. But those expectations are still too high.

deleted 9y ago

[deleted]

milansuk 9y ago

"The H.P. Touch Computer (1983)" video[1] is nice proof how HP was great. Interesting part is around 2:30 when they don't pitch new touch screen technology(in 1983), but the way how they applied it. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-THdG5gVTw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-THdG5gVTw

linsomniac 9y ago

Reminds me of Apollo. I was working at HP when they bought Apollo, a workstation vendor. Sun was #1, HP was #2, and Apollo was #3. After HP bought Apollo, Sun was #1 and HP was #2. That's how big a lead Sun had. 5 years later I was in the grocery store and by the checkout register there was a stack of boxes on sale: Apollo Inkjet Printers. So that's what they did with that brand name.

Keyframe 9y ago

That HP still exists. It's called Agilent and Keysight now.

gh02t 9y ago
Yes, as I said, that part of the business is now Keysight for the electronic test equipment and Agilent, which focuses on life sciences equipment.