Leibson's Law

Today, the IEEE recognized the HP 35, world’s first pocket scientific calculator, as a milestone. The event took place at HP Labs in Palo Alto, where Hewlett’s and Packard’s offices are maintained in their original conditions as shrines to the founders. It was a great event with the original design team present receiving awards for their participation. I’ve interviewed two of the team members, Dave Cochran and Tom Osborne, and posted the video interviews here and here.

Tom Osborne and Dave Cochran

The 2008 IEEE president, Lew Terman, presented the award. That’s a fascinating piece of history because Terman’s father, Fred Terman, was the Stanford professor who put Hewlett and Packard together and pushed them to start HP.

HP 35 Prototypes and Variants

The speeches were interesting; to me at least, because the HP 35 is a shining example of what can go right when a company ignores spreadsheet management. There was no proven market for the HP 35 or for any pocket scientific calculator because the HP 35 would be the first. Bill Hewlett wanted one as soon as he saw the HP 9100 desktop calculator, which was introduced in 1968. Hewlett wanted a version of the HP 9100 that would fit in his shirt pocket. At that time, HP was famous for next-bench marketing. If the engineer at the next bench wanted whatever product you thought up, it would probably sell to HP’s captive market: scientists and engineers worldwide. Hewlett didn’t even need next-bench marketing. His own “bench” was as far as he needed to go.

Even so, Dave Packard (operating from the Pentagon where he was serving as Deputy Secretary of Defense in the Nixon administration) directed HP to contract with SRI to perform a market research study to see if there was a market large enough to justify the million-dollar development cost. As Dave Cochran said today, “Back then, a million dollars was really a million dollars.” SRI’s report said that a four-banger calculator had to cost less than $100 but that there was no way to determine how much a pocket scientific calculator should cost. Even with that uncertainty, Hewlett said “I want one.” When your name’s on the corporate logo, you only need those three words—no matter what the spreadsheet analysis says.

The initial production run was set at 100,000 units. No one knew if that would be enough or if the calculators would just pile up in inventory. Within a few months, it was clear that the HP 35 would be a best seller. EDN’s favorite analog guru Jim Williams remembers waiting in line in the rain in Brookline, Massachusetts with four crumpled (and wet) hundred-dollar bills in his hand hoping to get one of the first HP 35s. He was also wondering how he’d get home because he’d sold his car to get the money to buy the HP 35. Williams wasn’t alone. People like Williams lined up to get an HP 35. Some people sent in an extra $100 trying to jump the waiting list. Having an HP 35 at a party was better than knowing how to play the piano. The little wonder drew crowds. Geeky ones anyway.

The HP 35 was a sellout, a smashing success for HP. It was HP’s first consumer product. It was the first product in the world to combine ICs and LED displays. It ended the reign of slide rules, which had been in use for more than 100 years. It caused people to sell their cars just to get one. It changed the landscape. Now that’s a legacy.

HP 35 Design Team and 2008 IEEE President Lew Terman

IEEE Milestone Award