The Silicon Valley Historical Association (also known as the Santa Clara Valley Historical Association) is an organization that has interviewed notable figures in
Silicon Valley
Silicon Valley is a region in Northern California that serves as a global center for high technology and innovation. Located in the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area, it corresponds roughly to the geographical areas San Mateo County ...
since 1991 and produces documentaries, publishes books, and keeps filmed history of notable figures in the
technological industry.
Overview
The Silicon Valley Historical Association was formed in 1991 and is located in
Menlo Park, California. It publishes books, produces documentaries and records filmed histories of notable tech industry figures who have contributed to the development of the tech industry. The association's mission is to record the motivations, successes, failures, mentors, and experiences of the individuals who have directly contributed to the
Information Age
The Information Age (also known as the Computer Age, Digital Age, Silicon Age, or New Media Age) is a historical period that began in the mid-20th century. It is characterized by a rapid shift from traditional industries, as established during ...
,
Computer Age
The Information Age (also known as the Computer Age, Digital Age, Silicon Age, or New Media Age) is a historical period that began in the mid-20th century. It is characterized by a rapid shift from traditional industries, as established during ...
, and
Digital Age
The Information Age (also known as the Computer Age, Digital Age, Silicon Age, or New Media Age) is a historical period that began in the mid-20th century. It is characterized by a rapid shift from traditional industries, as established during t ...
. The association draws parallels between the information revolution that took place during the
Renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...
and the current development of technology in Silicon Valley.
Tech industry figures such as
Hewlett-Packard
The Hewlett-Packard Company, commonly shortened to Hewlett-Packard ( ) or HP, was an American multinational information technology company headquartered in Palo Alto, California. HP developed and provided a wide variety of hardware components ...
founders
David Packard and
Bill Hewlett,
Intel
Intel Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California. It is the world's largest semiconductor chip manufacturer by revenue, and is one of the developers of the x86 seri ...
founders
Gordon E. Moore
Gordon Earle Moore (born January 3, 1929) is an American businessman, engineer, and the co-founder and chairman emeritus of Intel Corporation. He is also the original proponent of Moore's law.
As of March 2021, Moore's net worth is report ...
and
Andy Grove
Andrew Stephen Grove (born András István Gróf; 2 September 193621 March 2016) was a Hungarian-American businessman and engineer who served as the third CEO of Intel Corporation. He escaped from Communist-controlled Hungary at the age of 20 ...
,
Apple
An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple fruit tree, trees are agriculture, cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, wh ...
founder
Steve Jobs
Steven Paul Jobs (February 24, 1955 – October 5, 2011) was an American entrepreneur, industrial designer, media proprietor, and investor. He was the co-founder, chairman, and CEO of Apple; the chairman and majority shareholder of Pixar; a ...
,
Oracle Corporation
Oracle Corporation is an American multinational computer technology corporation headquartered in Austin, Texas. In 2020, Oracle was the third-largest software company in the world by revenue and market capitalization. The company sells da ...
founder
Larry Ellison,
Atari
Atari () is a brand name that has been owned by several entities since its inception in 1972. It is currently owned by French publisher Atari SA through a subsidiary named Atari Interactive. The original Atari, Inc. (1972–1992), Atari, Inc., ...
and
Chuck E. Cheese
Chuck E. Cheese (formerly known as Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza Time Theatre, Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza and simply Chuck E. Cheese's) is an American family entertainment center and pizza restaurant chain founded in 1977 by Atari's co-founder Nolan Bu ...
founder
Nolan Bushnell,
venture capitalist Arthur Rock,
disk drive
Disk storage (also sometimes called drive storage) is a general category of storage mechanisms where data is recorded by various electronic, magnetic, optical, or mechanical changes to a surface layer of one or more rotating disks. A disk drive is ...
inventor
Reynold B. Johnson
Reynold B. Johnson (July 16, 1906September 15, 1998) was an American inventor and computer pioneer. A long-time employee of IBM, Johnson is said to be the "father" of the hard disk drive. Other inventions include automatic test scoring equipment ...
,
Sun Microsystems
Sun Microsystems, Inc. (Sun for short) was an American technology company that sold computers, computer components, software, and information technology services and created the Java programming language, the Solaris operating system, ZFS, the ...
founder
Vinod Khosla
Vinod Khosla (born 28 January 1955) is an Indian-American businessman and venture capitalist. He is a co-founder of Sun Microsystems and the founder of Khosla Ventures. Khosla made his wealth from early venture capital investments in areas such ...
and many others have been interviewed by the association.
A 1994 interview of the late Apple founder Steve Jobs was "discovered" by the international news media in 2013. Part of the video was included in a YouTube clip which generated interest by numerous Apple-focused blogs, including The Loop,
Mac Rumors,
Apple Insider
The Apple community is a group of people interested in Apple Inc. and its products, who report information in various media. Generally this has evolved into a proliferation of websites, but latterly has also expanded into podcasts (both audio and ...
as an interview that had never been seen before.
It was released through the Silicon Valley Historical Association as ''Steve Jobs 1994 Uncut Interview.''
Portions of the interview were used in the 2013 documentary, ''Steve Jobs: Visionary Entrepreneur'', also produced by the association.
Documentaries
In addition to ''Steve Jobs 1994 Uncut Interview'' and ''Steve Jobs: Visionary Entrepreneur'', The Silicon Valley Historical Association has also produced:
*Silicon Valley: 100 Year Renaissance, narrated by Walter Cronkite'' Broadcast on
PBS
The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...
and internationally, produced 1998.
*''Silicon Valley, a five-part series, narrated by Leonard Nimoy'' produced 2012.
Short films
*''Jerry Garcia's Last Interview'' produced 2012.
Publications
*''The Making of Silicon Valley: A 100 Year Renaissance'' Authors: Ward Winslow and John McLaughlin. 1996.
*''VARIAN: 50 Years of Innovative Excellence: A History of Varian Associates, Inc. from 1948 to 1998'' Author: Ward Winslow. 1998.
*''Technology, Entrepreneurs and Silicon Valley'' Authors: Carol Whiteley and John McLaughlin. 2002.
*''The Casino’s Most Valuable Chip'' Author: Sal Sheri. 2004.
*''Silicon Valley: 110 Year Renaissance'' Authors: John McLaughlin, Leigh Weimers, and Ward Winslow. 2008.
References
External links
Official website*Clip fro
''Steve Jobs 1994 Uncut Interview''on YouTube
{{authority control
Organizations established in 1991
Historical societies of the United States
American historians
Silicon Valley
Organizations based in the San Francisco Bay Area
1991 establishments in California