Birthplaces of Technology

Visiting the birthplaces of technological innovation
Nov 11th, 2007 by geekycoder

On July this year, Businessweek publish an interesting articles, Birthplaces of Technology that reveals the famous place where technological innovation that we now take for granted happens. Innovation start from collective groups of dedicated and motivated individuals that met together to brainstorm and refine their innovative systems. The article highlight the major original places of innovation where innovators get started with their invention that change the world.


Home of Xerox Corp.
Xerox Palo Alto Research Center (PARC)
3180 Porter Drive
Palo Alto, Calif.

Then: Xerox Corp.'s PARC nurtured a wellspring of innovation in the early 1970s. Founding manager Bob Taylor led a distinguished team of computer scientists such as Alan Kay and Butler Lampson in developing the first laser printer in 1971, Ethernet in 1973, and, in 1973, the Alto computer workstation—the first personal computer with a graphical user-interface. In 1975, PARC moved to a new location.


Home of the IBM PC
IBM Boca Raton
Yamato Road and T Rex Avenue
Boca Raton, Fla.

Then: In 1970, IBM completed construction on a massive, 620,000-square-foot corporate campus that would house research labs, a manufacturing building, and a distribution center. It's the site where IBM executive Don Estridge led a skunkworks project to develop the original IBM PC, released in 1981. In 1987, IBM moved most of its personal computer operation to Research Triangle Park, N.C., but maintained the Boca Raton facility until 1996.

Now: T-REX Management Consortium moved into the complex in the late 1990s, and sold it to the Blackstone Group in 2004 for $193 million. Don Estridge High Tech Middle School opened adjacent to the property in 2004. Estridge was killed in a plane crash in 1985.


Home of IBM
Canal Square Building
1054 31st St., N.W.
Washington, D.C.

Then: Herman Hollerith achieved worldwide recognition when his punch-card tabulating machines were used to streamline the 1890 U.S. Census. His Georgetown plant housed these and other predecessors to modern information processing. In 1911, his Tabulating Machine Co. merged with two rivals to form the Computing Tabulating Recording Corp. In 1924, it was renamed International Business Machines.

Now: IBM recognized the site's importance in 1984. The building now houses offices, art galleries, and a restaurant.

Home of Google
Google Garage
232 Santa Margarita Ave.
Menlo Park, Calif.

Then: By 1998, Stanford graduate students Larry Page and Sergey Brin had concocted an elaborate data center in Page's dorm room and registered the domain name Google.com. That year they received $1 million in backing—enough to incorporate Google and move the operation into the garage of Intel employee Susan Wojcicki, who charged $1,700 a month. Due to rapid growth the following year, they moved twice—first to a small office in Palo Alto, then to their current “Googleplex” in Mountain View.

Now: Through her close dealings with Page and Brin, Wojcicki became Google's vice-president of product management. She introduced Brin to her sister Anne, who recently became his wife. In October, 2006, Google purchased the Menlo Park home for an undisclosed sum, saying it plans to “preserve the property as a part of our living legacy.”