5 ms·

The Birth Of Silicon Valley (timeline)

59 points by mirceagoia 15y ago

azarias 15y ago
I have always wondered when the cycle became self-fulfilling. From the timeline, it seems the turning point might have been late 50s and early 60s when you had the venture capital firms start to take hold with interest in small tech companies.
- mirceagoia 15y ago
  As far as I read it looks like 1971 is the turning point, with the creation of the first Intel microprocessor.
lukejduncan 15y ago
When I first moved here my favorite introduction to the valleys history was Steve Blanks The Secret History of Silicon Valley. It's well worth the hour http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTC_RxWN_xo http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTC_RxWN_xo
- rogerbinns 15y ago
  Seconded. Also interesting is a small book "Geek Silicon Valley" by Ashlee Vance which lists various places of interest and their role in Silicon Valley history. It even includes places like notable restaurants. http://www.amazon.com/Geek-Silicon-Valley-Sunnyvale-Francisco/dp/0762742399 http://www.amazon.com/Geek-Silicon-Valley-Sunnyvale-Francisc...
- beachgeek 15y ago
  My understanding from talking with a lot of the older folks at Stanford etc is that a LOT of what we see now is due to William Shockley. Inventor of the transistor, Nobel prize winner, native of Palo Alto and complete nutcase.
skmurphy 15y ago
They anchored the start of Silicon Valley with Hewlett Packard. I think that Federal Telegraph 1909 founding is a much better starting point, See Timothy J. Sturgeon’s "How Silicon Valley Came to Be" where he notes: The fact that the San Francisco Bay Area’s electronics industry began close to the turn of the Twentieth Century should lay to rest the notion that industrialization and urbanization on the scale of Silicon Valley can be quickly induced in other areas. Silicon Valley is nearly 100 years old. It grew out of a historically and geographically specific context that cannot be recreated. The lesson for planners and economic developers is to focus on long-term, not short-term developmental trajectories. Silicon Valley was the fastest growing region in the United States during the late 1970s and early 1980s; but that growth came out of a place, not a technology. Silicon Valley’s development is intimately entwined with the long history of industrialization and innovation in the larger San Francisco Bay Area. See http://web.mit.edu/ipc/publications/pdf/00-014.pdf http://web.mit.edu/ipc/publications/pdf/00-014.pdf
- Stratoscope 15y ago
  Thanks for that insight about the long term nature of Silicon Valley's development. And thanks for the tip about Federal Telegraph. I must confess I hadn't heard of them before - that's a fascinating bit of history, and I will read more about them. I was curious to know where they were located and found the answer on this great page of photos, so I thought I'd share it: http://www.scaruffi.com/politics/svtour.html http://www.scaruffi.com/politics/svtour.html
  - skmurphy 15y ago
    There is actually a CA Historical marker for the site from http://ohp.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=21522 http://ohp.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=21522 NO. 836 PIONEER ELECTRONICS RESEARCH LABORATORY – This is the original site of the laboratory and factory of Federal Telegraph Company, founded in 1909 by Cyril F. Elwell. Here, Dr. Lee de Forest, inventor of the three-element radio vacuum tube, devised the first vacuum tube amplifier and oscillator in 1911-13. Worldwide developments based on this research led to modern radio communication, television, and the electronics age. Location: In sidewalk, SE corner of Channing Ave and Emerson St, Palo Alto I blogged about this in http://www.skmurphy.com/blog/2008/11/05/steve-blank-on-secret-history-of-silicon-valley-at-chm-nov-20/ http://www.skmurphy.com/blog/2008/11/05/steve-blank-on-secre... because Blank also anchored the start with HP.
wisty 15y ago
From Varian Associates, the Varians were originally Irish, Ginzton was originally Ukrainian. Shockley was British. Of the Traitorous Eight, Grinich was Croatian, Hoerni was Swiss, and Kleiner (yes, that Kleiner) was Austrian. Good thing they got visas.
- _delirium 15y ago
  Agree with the general sentiment, but the Varians were American-born (upstate New York), so no visas needed. Their parents were indeed Irish immigrants, though.
- rglovejoy 15y ago
  Shockley was born in London, but his parents were U.S. citizens and he grew up in Palo Alto.
cdibona 15y ago
They should include Ampex, a company founded 1944 to reverse engineer German recording technology.
- Stratoscope 15y ago
  Ampex was also the home of an LSD-fueled research lab in the late 50s: https://duckduckgo.com/?q=ampex+lsd https://duckduckgo.com/?q=ampex+lsd
signalsignal 15y ago
How is Silicon Valley difference from the startup scene in, say, Austin or Boston?

59 points by mirceagoia 15y ago

I have always wondered when the cycle became self-fulfilling. From the timeline, it seems the turning point might have been late 50s and early 60s when you had the venture capital firms start to take hold with interest in small tech companies.

mirceagoia 15y ago
As far as I read it looks like 1971 is the turning point, with the creation of the first Intel microprocessor.

lukejduncan 15y ago

When I first moved here my favorite introduction to the valleys history was Steve Blanks The Secret History of Silicon Valley. It's well worth the hour http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTC_RxWN_xo http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTC_RxWN_xo

rogerbinns 15y ago
Seconded. Also interesting is a small book "Geek Silicon Valley" by Ashlee Vance which lists various places of interest and their role in Silicon Valley history. It even includes places like notable restaurants. http://www.amazon.com/Geek-Silicon-Valley-Sunnyvale-Francisco/dp/0762742399 http://www.amazon.com/Geek-Silicon-Valley-Sunnyvale-Francisc...
beachgeek 15y ago
My understanding from talking with a lot of the older folks at Stanford etc is that a LOT of what we see now is due to William Shockley. Inventor of the transistor, Nobel prize winner, native of Palo Alto and complete nutcase.

skmurphy 15y ago

They anchored the start of Silicon Valley with Hewlett Packard. I think that Federal Telegraph 1909 founding is a much better starting point, See Timothy J. Sturgeon’s "How Silicon Valley Came to Be" where he notes: The fact that the San Francisco Bay Area’s electronics industry began close to the turn of the Twentieth Century should lay to rest the notion that industrialization and urbanization on the scale of Silicon Valley can be quickly induced in other areas. Silicon Valley is nearly 100 years old. It grew out of a historically and geographically specific context that cannot be recreated. The lesson for planners and economic developers is to focus on long-term, not short-term developmental trajectories. Silicon Valley was the fastest growing region in the United States during the late 1970s and early 1980s; but that growth came out of a place, not a technology. Silicon Valley’s development is intimately entwined with the long history of industrialization and innovation in the larger San Francisco Bay Area. See http://web.mit.edu/ipc/publications/pdf/00-014.pdf http://web.mit.edu/ipc/publications/pdf/00-014.pdf

Stratoscope 15y ago
Thanks for that insight about the long term nature of Silicon Valley's development. And thanks for the tip about Federal Telegraph. I must confess I hadn't heard of them before - that's a fascinating bit of history, and I will read more about them. I was curious to know where they were located and found the answer on this great page of photos, so I thought I'd share it: http://www.scaruffi.com/politics/svtour.html http://www.scaruffi.com/politics/svtour.html
- skmurphy 15y ago
  There is actually a CA Historical marker for the site from http://ohp.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=21522 http://ohp.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=21522 NO. 836 PIONEER ELECTRONICS RESEARCH LABORATORY – This is the original site of the laboratory and factory of Federal Telegraph Company, founded in 1909 by Cyril F. Elwell. Here, Dr. Lee de Forest, inventor of the three-element radio vacuum tube, devised the first vacuum tube amplifier and oscillator in 1911-13. Worldwide developments based on this research led to modern radio communication, television, and the electronics age. Location: In sidewalk, SE corner of Channing Ave and Emerson St, Palo Alto I blogged about this in http://www.skmurphy.com/blog/2008/11/05/steve-blank-on-secret-history-of-silicon-valley-at-chm-nov-20/ http://www.skmurphy.com/blog/2008/11/05/steve-blank-on-secre... because Blank also anchored the start with HP.

wisty 15y ago

From Varian Associates, the Varians were originally Irish, Ginzton was originally Ukrainian. Shockley was British. Of the Traitorous Eight, Grinich was Croatian, Hoerni was Swiss, and Kleiner (yes, that Kleiner) was Austrian. Good thing they got visas.

_delirium 15y ago
Agree with the general sentiment, but the Varians were American-born (upstate New York), so no visas needed. Their parents were indeed Irish immigrants, though.
rglovejoy 15y ago
Shockley was born in London, but his parents were U.S. citizens and he grew up in Palo Alto.

cdibona 15y ago

They should include Ampex, a company founded 1944 to reverse engineer German recording technology.

Stratoscope 15y ago
Ampex was also the home of an LSD-fueled research lab in the late 50s: https://duckduckgo.com/?q=ampex+lsd https://duckduckgo.com/?q=ampex+lsd

signalsignal 15y ago

How is Silicon Valley difference from the startup scene in, say, Austin or Boston?