Silicon Valley Veteran Phil Roybal Tech devices are probably at the center of your daily experience. But this wasn’t even possible until the 1970’s, and what made it possible was the new technology of transistors and integrated circuits. But the transformation is also due to passionate young tech enthusiasts who spent hours in garages and basements dreaming of a day when people could own their own personal computers. The phenomenon known as “Silicon Valley” (a term used to describe an area in California associated with tech companies) grew from this time. Phil Roybal was there in its early days and was part of this tech revolution that has gone on to sweep the world. Here are some of his memories of the rise of Silicon Valley, what it was like working within this industry with some of the great names in tech, and his thoughts for young people their careers today. What was your education and how did you start your career in tech? I have a BSEE/CS from UC Berkeley, but my tech experience began much earlier. I got interested in electronics around 10, experimenting in my family’s basement. My uncle was an engineer on the space program. Then, at 16, I got a job at a local TV shop, repairing and setting up color TV ’s (which were a novelty back then) for installation. During college summer breaks I worked at Whittaker Corp. as a technician, building digital radar systems for air traffic control. They offered me a job after college, but I accepted one from HP instead. What was technology like back then? I started my career before floppy discs, email, the Internet, and cordless phones. I saved software on punched paper tape when I installed computers for my HP customers. When I started at Apple we stored programs on audio cassettes, and one of my first tasks was to help market our new floppy disk drive, which stored about 140KB per side. For comparison, my iPhone holds 512GB and sells for about 70% of that first drive’s cost in constant dollars. What was Silicon Valley like in its very beginning? Before Shockley Semiconductor arrived in 1956, this was The Valley of Heart’s Delight - an agricultural area. From Shockley’s work came the chip houses and the fortunes they generated - Intel, AMD, National Semiconductor (where I worked for four years), and more. They minted millionaires who willingly financed the next generation of companies. Start-up consultant Mike Markkula, who retired young from Intel and became an angel investor, invested $91,000 in two scruffy Phil was employee number 35 at Apple Computer.
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