HP Firsts

HP has always been an innovator and calculators have been part of that legacy. Here are some of the highlights of HP’s breakthroughs since it’s founding in 1938.

1938 - Bill Hewlett’s study of negative feedback results in HP’s first product - the resistance-capacitance audio oscillator (HP 200A), an electronic instrument used to test sound equipment. The Walt Disney Co. bought eight models for use in theaters that showed Fantasia.

1943 - HP enters the microwave field with signal generators developed for the Naval Research Laboratory and a radar-jamming device. At the end of the war, HP makes the critical decision to continue in the microwave field; this area quickly becomes an important and growing share of the company’s business, with HP the acknowledged leader in signal generators.

1951- HP invents the high-speed frequency counter (HP 524A) and greatly reduces the time required (from about 10 minutes to one or two seconds) to measure high frequencies.

1956 - HP produces its first oscilloscopes: models 130A/150A. Oscilloscopes, which show the variations in a fluctuating electrical quantity as wave forms that are visible on a screen, will form a significant part of HP’s test and measurement products.

1963 - The 5100A frequency synthesizer, one of the most complex instruments developed by the company to date, is introduced. It can do the work of a whole battery of instruments and does it with greater accuracy.

1964 - The highly accurate HP 5060A cesium-beam atomic clocks gain worldwide recognition as the "flying clocks" when they are flown from Palo Alto to Switzerland to compare time as maintained by the U.S. Naval Observatory in Washington, D.C. to time at the Swiss Observatory in Neuchatel.

1966 - HP’s first computer, the HP 2116A, is introduced. It is developed as a versatile instrument controller for HP’s growing family of programmable test and measurement products. In an early version of "plug and play", it interfaces with a wide number of standard laboratory instruments, allowing customers to computerize their instrument systems. The 2116A is the largest single mechanical package HP has built to date, and it marks HP’s first use of integrated circuits.

1968 - HP introduces the world’s first desktop scientific calculator, the HP 9100A. The programmable calculator stores programs on magnetic cards and lets scientists perform complex calculations without the need to access much larger computers.

1971 - HP produces a laser interferometer capable of measuring to millionths of an inch. Ideal for machine tool accuracy, it positions HP as a world leader in the market.

1972 -- HP creates the first scientific pocket calculator, the HP-35. Its speed and accuracy made slide rules obsolete overnight. It introduces HP’s Reverse Polish Notation (RPN), a more efficient method of entering complex formulas into a calculator.

1972 - The HP-35, HP-65 and HP-41 are the first calculators in space for the historic linkup mission of the U.S. Apollo and Soviet Soyuz spacecrafts.

1972 - HP expands into business computing with its first general-purpose computer, the HP 3000, which introduces the era of distributed data processing.

1973 - HP introduces the first electronic calculator to print Japanese characters. The model 9810 desktop calculator is marketed in Japan by Yokogawa-Hewlett-Packard.

1974 - The world’s first programmable pocket calculator, the HP-65, is introduced at $795. Its programmability will later lead some to call it the world’s first handheld computer.

1977 - HP introduces the HP-01 wrist instrument, a combination digital wristwatch, calculator and personal calendar.

1980 - HP introduces its first personal computer, the HP-85. A steady stream of PCs follow.
HP introduces the first laser printer that is fast and inexpensive enough for use outside a central computer room.

1981 - HP releases the HP 12c financial calculator, which has become an icon of the business world. It was so accurate that the U.S. government authorized its use for financial transactions, the first handheld calculator to meet those stringent standards.

1982 - The electronic mail system developed by HP Limited in the United Kingdom is the first major wide-area commercial network of its kind based on minicomputers.

1984 - Thermal inkjet technology developed at HP is introduced in a high-quality, low-price personal printer, the HP ThinkJet.

HP also introduces the HP LaserJet printer-the company’s most successful single product.

1986 - HP is the first major computer company to introduce a precision architecture based on reduced instruction set computing (RISC). The HP Precision Architecture family of computer systems marks the first commercial application of RISC architecture.

1988 - HP’s DeskJet printer, the company’s first mass-market inkjet printer, makes its debut. The DeskJet offers plain-paper printing and industry-standard print resolution.

1991 - HP makes advances in lightweight portable computing with the introduction of the HP 95LX palmtop PC, HP’s first palmtop personal computer.

HP introduces the color DeskJet 500C, which creates a revolution in color printing.

1993 - HP introduces the 3-pound HP OmniBook 300, a "superportable" personal computer with enough battery power to last during a flight across the United States.

1994 - HP produces the world’s brightest LED (light-emitting diode). Combining bright output, reliability and low power consumption,

2001 - In May, HP introduces systems and services based on the new Itanium processor jointly developed by HP and Intel. Developed as an extremely parallel high-performance architecture, Itanium is the platform for next-generation 64-bit computing.

2002 - In November, HP opens the next chapter in mobile computing with the introduction of the Compaq Tablet PC TC1000, a versatile, full-function mobile PC that adapts to the way users work.

2003 - Included in the rollout are the world’s first eight-ink consumer photo printer, the HP Photosmart 7960, and the HP DVD Movie Writer dc3000 - the first of its kind in the industry - which can turn VHS tapes into long-lasting DVDs and preserve precious video memories for future generations.