Back to the garage
Innovation in the old style
IN SILICON VALLEY the coolest home for a technology start-up is neither a glittering glass tower nor an eco-friendly campus, but a humble garage. It all started in 1938, when Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard chose a detached garage at 367 Addison Avenue in Palo Alto to house their fledgling electronics business. The restored structure is now considered to be the official birthplace of Silicon Valley.
Steve Jobs followed suit in the 1970s, building the first Apple computer in his parents’ Los Altos garage, a dozen miles away. As software followed hardware, Adobe and Google reinforced the garage myth: that young companies long on talent and short on money could change the world while surrounded by car parts and oil cans.
This article appeared in the United States section of the print edition under the headline "Back to the garage"
From the July 7th 2012 edition
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