Quantcast
Channel: HP – KALW
Viewing all articles
Browse latest Browse all 4

Remembering Silicon Valley tech pioneer Julius Blank

0
0

Silicon Valley is the tech capital of the country, the birthplace of tech giants like HP, Apple, and Google – but its history is still a short one. The name “Silicon Valley” was first published in 1971 – it’s a reference to the use of silicon by various semiconductor and computer companies based in the area at the time. In fact, the first silicon microchip was created at Fairchild Semiconductor International in San Jose. And one of the engineers who made that first chip was Julius Blank.

JULIUS BLANK: Quite often I was allowed to work unsupervised … nobody knew what to do anyway, they couldn’t tell me because no one knew anymore, so I was left to my own devices. Well, you grow up pretty quick if you have that much responsibility, especially if you want to do it right.

Blank died last week at age 86. Shortly before he passed away, KALW’s Lauren Meltzer had the chance to talk with him about the special group of engineers he worked with who are considered the founders of Silicon Valley. Here’s an excerpt from that interview.

*     *     *

LAUREN MELTZER: Do you think that in terms of the work ethic that your group had, that it's the same now with Silicon Valley and the entrepreneurial environment?

JULIUS BLANK: I don’t know what it is now. It's quite different. I hear these stories of what's happened. Other companies – Google and all these other companies where they have these free lunches and all the perks – and gee, we never had anything like that! We used to buy lunch on our own nickel. The fact that you have to give things like that, I guess that's nice.

People talk about innovation, which is one of my pet peeves. There’s little innovation going on these days. There are little improvements on what's been around, but nothing fundamentally newer that strikes you. Okay, so Apple comes out with an iPod or an iPad but it's the same stuff that's been around; nothing different. It’s just shaped a little differently, maybe they use better materials, but the one's and zero's are going the same way. You're going to have more of them and faster, maybe, until some satellite dies and you’re out of business anyway.

MELTZER: What are you most proud of when you think back on those years?

BLANK: Gee, I don't even think I can answer that. I was very lucky to be part of a group like this – that doesn't happen often. Maybe once in a lifetime. It's hard to explain, but there used to be an excitement in a room where everyone is working on four or five different things at once. You start conversations back and forth with different people, pick a month at different times, and no one loses a step. And all of a sudden someone come out of it with some weird thing he wanted done, and we'd find a way to do it.

One thing I appreciate, quite often, was that I was allowed to work unsupervised. No one knew what to do anyway – they couldn't tell me because nobody knew. So I was left to my own devises. You grow up pretty quick if you have those responsibilities, especially if you do it right.

MELTZER: Do you think the success of the group was the combination of everyone, or do you think there were characteristics in all of you that made you work so well together?

BLANK: You know, something like this has to be a group effort to work. There's not person alive – now, maybe there will be later – that has enough experience and knowledge to make this happen. You need a team working at it, with different discipline and experience levels and different temperaments. It can't be done with one or two people.

MELTZER: So if you had any advice to give to this generation of wannabe entrepreneurs and inventors, what would your advice be?

BLANK: I'll tell you, I wouldn't want to give any advice like that, because that's a personal matter. It depends what your goals are. If you want to make a lot of money, that's one thing. If you just wanna do something striking and unique, that's another technique.

MELTZER: What about those who are trying to do the "striking and unique"?

BLANK: Learn as much as you can about as many things as you can handle. Especially the fundamentals. Mama Nature – don't screw around with Mama Nature. Understand she's a tough lady, but don't think you're going to get away with anything.

How has Julius Blank impacted your life? You can find out here.


Viewing all articles
Browse latest Browse all 4

Latest Images

Trending Articles





Latest Images