Technology's 12 biggest holy shrines
Ever wondered where were the foundation stones of today's technology giants laid? What were the places where the seeds of some of the biggest technology innovations first germinated?
No they were not plush offices, but small garages, apartments or hostel rooms where these companies were set up. These buildings today mirror the journey of a dream.
Network World recently carried a list of 12 holy sites of IT which it termed Tech Meccas because of their significance in the technology world today. Some of these are birth places of today's IT giants while others are centres which exemplify technology prowess that world has attained over the years. Here's over to the technology's holy shrines.
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1. 367 Addison Ave, Palo Alto, California
The tree-lined residential street near Stanford University leads to a 12x18-foot garage where in 1939 college friends Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard laid the foundation of today's largest personal computer manufacturer, Hewlett-Packard.
The garage served as research lab, development workshop and manufacturing facility for the company's early products including Model 200A audio oscillator. In 1940, HP moved into larger quarters on Page Mill Road.
The garage was dedicated as the Birthplace of Silicon Valley in 1989, and the property was acquired by HP in 2000. The company paid $1.7 million for the 3.6x5.4 metre garage which William Hewlett had originally rented for $45 per month.
In 2007, the property was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
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2. 2066 Crist Dr, Los Altos, California
Apple Computer Inc was born in the company's CEO Steve Jobs' parents spare bedroom. The room was basically a garage attached to his home at 2066 Crist Dr, Los Altos, California.
It was here that Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, along with Ronald G Wayne joined together to build Apple Computer in 1976. The day was incidentally Fool's day.
The garage room served as Apple's first manufacturing base, with the first 50 Apple 1s built here. The consignment was sold to Paul Jay Terrell's Byte Shop for $500 each.
Talking about his initial days at Apple, Jobs reportedly said in an interview "It was just the two of us, Woz and me. We were the manufacturing department, the shipping department and everything."
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