The “20 Questions with John East” series continues
Most people in the IC business understand very well that TTL products dominated our industry for 30 years or so. They’ll also probably know that TI was the king of TTL. But, if you ask those people what TTL is, most won’t have any idea. If you’re one of those people, rest easy. … Read More
The “20 Questions with John East” series continues
You wouldn’t think that layoffs would be a subject that I’d want to talk about in my stories of “Silicon Valley the Way I saw it.” The subject is just plain distasteful!! — Still — layoffs were a major part of the valley’s culture back in the day. To give a true picture… Read More
The “20 Questions with John East” series continues
From time to time I present the History of Silicon Valley as I saw it to various audiences. I always enjoy doing that. I’ve learned that the part that audiences like the most is the Apple / Steve Jobs story. That’s not hard to understand. Steve Jobs was truly fascinating! The story… Read More
The “20 Questions with John East” series continues
Noyce and the rest of the traitorous eight left Shockley without a clue as to what they would do next. They believed in semiconductors and knew that they were the very best semiconductor guys in the world. Their hope was to find a company who would hire them en masse. After some false… Read More
The “20 Questions with John East” series continues
How did it happen? How did Fairchild transform over a decade into the “off with their heads” culture? To understand that, you need to know a little about the William Shockley story. William Shockley was born in London in 1910. He moved to Silicon Valley when he was 3. Of course,… Read More
In 1967 I was a grad student at Cal Berkeley. In December of that year my wife to be and I got engaged to be married. I was supposed to get my master’s degree in December of ’68, but once we worked out all the details we realized that I’d have to go to school over the summer of ’68 and get the degree in September. We were broke and couldn’t … Read More
