Musings on a wounded giant

Long way from the garage
Shanghai, China
May 2012
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You don't hear all that much about HP these days. The company also known as Hewlett-Packard is one of Silicon Valley's true innovators, the one that first institutionalized the kind of engineering-driven culture that made technology an everyday part of ordinary people's lives. Yet in recent years, as the market has shifted from traditional PCs to mobile devices, HP has stumbled.

In fairness, the company is hardly alone. Many of its generational equivalents have similarly failed to adapt to the new world order, and have also had to wrestle with tumbling market share, red ink and one tortuous corporate reorg after another. But HP isn't just any company. And my own history with them - lots of coverage as an analyst, and lots of memorable moments along the way - makes me just a little sadder whenever I see a troubling headline.

Because in the end it isn't just a company or a logo. It's people. And this is a company filled with truly good people. And their impact lingers long after the logo itself fades from view.