

The Birth Of Silicon Valley (timeline) - mirceagoia
http://www.npr.org/2012/03/26/149404846/the-birth-of-silicon-valley

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skmurphy
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>

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Stratoscope
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>

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skmurphy
There is actually a CA Historical marker for the site from
<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-secre...](http://www.skmurphy.com/blog/2008/11/05/steve-blank-on-secret-
history-of-silicon-valley-at-chm-nov-20/) because Blank also anchored the
start with HP.

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wisty
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
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.

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lukejduncan
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>

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rogerbinns
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-
Francisc...](http://www.amazon.com/Geek-Silicon-Valley-Sunnyvale-
Francisco/dp/0762742399)

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

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Stratoscope
Ampex was also the home of an LSD-fueled research lab in the late 50s:

<https://duckduckgo.com/?q=ampex+lsd>

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

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

