Once upon a time, long, long ago there was a great, great company in a still-great land. HP, or rather Hewlett Packard, produced some of the finest lab equipment anywhere, ever. After all, who else would drop-test their 'scopes to 5 Gs, and then detail results in their specs. Not the Japanese then, and Taiwan was still, just an island.
The quality of their products was so good, one felt like saluting them. They inspired us lesser beings to try to reach their heights in our own meager endeavors. Back then, their RPNs(calculators) were the greatest badge of techiedom - I still cherish mine and hope to pass it on to my son. Once upon a time long, long ago . . .
But along with their awe-inspiring hardware Drs. Hewlett and Packard also built something they were not even aware of - brand equity. And this was deemed to be of far greater worth than mere awesome quality. And then 'market forces' took over.
I set my fully functional, and perfectly useful, 30+ years-old HP-11C next to my (just over) 1 year-old, and dying, HP-TX1016AU and feel the same as when standing in front of the Parthenon or the Pyramids - a strange mixture of awe, inspiration and regret. I salute what has been achieved, I am humbled by it. I am thrilled and am grateful for having been a witness. I am deeply saddened that it has come to pass, that like all human endeavor, so far, this too has reached - and passed its apogee.
I dream of what could have been - perhaps will come to be - but in lands far, far away from the erstwhile offices, labs and workshops of Drs. Hewlett and Packard.