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Andy Grove has died

newsroom.intel.com

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Re: Andy Grove has died

#41

Post by ChuckMcM »

I'm sorry to hear of his passing. My first job in the Bay Area was working for Intel in Santa Clara, and I worked in the same building that Andy did at the time (Santa Clara 4). It amazed me that he had a cubical (well it had slightly higher walls but was still just a cube.) I have two very influential memories of my time at Intel, the first was when I went to a design update meeting on the 80386 and Andy locked the door to the room at the time the meeting started, a couple of people who should have attended in person were stuck waiting in the hall. The second was that when we had one of our "business update meetings" (which really was a layoff was happening to the people who weren't in the meeting so we called them "BUMmer" meetings sometimes). Andy said that because Intel was losing money the slowest of all semiconductor companies we were by definition the best semiconductor company in the world.

Both of those experiences left me deeply impressed with how focused he was on the path forward. What ever was happening around you didn't matter, it was "Put one foot in front of the other and make progress against the goal now." kind of focus.

Re: Andy Grove has died

#42

Post by lynxbat »

Uhhrrr wrote: post #4

From Wikipedia, >Grove's office was an 8-ft by 9-ft cubicle like the other employees, as he disliked separate "mahogany-paneled corner offices." He states, "I've been living in cubicles since 1978 — and it hasn't hurt a whole lot." Preferring this egalitarian atmosphere, he thereby made his work area accessible to anyone who walked by. There were no reserved parking spaces, and Grove parked wherever there was a space…

You still can find big execs that control billions of dollars sitting in cubes next to engineers, planners, and admins at Intel. One of my favorite things about working here is how they don't even seem to know it is different. (Intel employee)

Re: Andy Grove has died

#45

Post by JeremyMorgan »

lynxbat wrote: post #42
Uhhrrr wrote: post #4

From Wikipedia, >Grove's office was an 8-ft by 9-ft cubicle like the other employees, as he disliked separate "mahogany-paneled corner offices." He states, "I've been living in cubicles since 1978 — and it hasn't hurt a whole lot." Preferring this egalitarian atmosphere, he thereby made his work area accessible to anyone who walked by. There were no reserved parking spaces, and Grove parked wherever there was a space…

You still can find big execs that control billions of dollars sitting in cubes next to engineers, planners, and admins at Intel. One of my favorite things about working here is how they don't even seem to know it is different. (Intel employee)

Can confirm, once worked next to one of those high ranking execs. He wasn't there often (mostly traveling) but his cube was the same size as mine, a lowly engineer.

Re: Andy Grove has died

#46

Post by nodesocket »

PBS did a great documentary "Silicon Valley"[1] (not to be confused with the show), which I highly recommend.

It tells the amazing story of how Robert Noyce, Arthur Rock, Gordon Moore, and Andrew Grove were absolute pioneers and insanely gifted. A huge loss.

Here is the first 15 minutes of the documentary on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LcOoQP7nhl4

Re: Andy Grove has died

#47

Post by Scuds »

gogopuppygogo wrote: post #32
jmspring wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It seems like early Intel and HP higher ups were more in tune with egalitarianism as well not being aloof or unapproachable. The Moore foundation has been an amazing charity. Here in Santa Cruz, Andy Grove built a house out on one of the streets near the beach between Santa Cruz and Capitola. He worked with neighbors (according to local press) to not be out of place in the design, etc. Contrast that with Zuckerberg a…

Gates also is known for having built a home that stood out. It's not about the era its about the person.

Yeah, but since he's trying to give all his money away, it's kind of a boondoggle of the mid 90's. https://goo.gl/maps/jxsqBmwVBPD2

Re: Andy Grove has died

#49

Post by [deleted] »

nodesocket wrote: post #46

PBS did a great documentary "Silicon Valley"[1] (not to be confused with the show), which I highly recommend. It tells the amazing story of how Robert Noyce, Arthur Rock, Gordon Moore, and Andrew Grove were absolute pioneers and insanely gifted. A huge loss. Here is the first 15 minutes of the documentary on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LcOoQP7nhl4

[deleted]

Re: Andy Grove has died

#50

Post by jmspring »

gogopuppygogo wrote: post #32
jmspring wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It seems like early Intel and HP higher ups were more in tune with egalitarianism as well not being aloof or unapproachable. The Moore foundation has been an amazing charity. Here in Santa Cruz, Andy Grove built a house out on one of the streets near the beach between Santa Cruz and Capitola. He worked with neighbors (according to local press) to not be out of place in the design, etc. Contrast that with Zuckerberg a…

Gates also is known for having built a home that stood out. It's not about the era its about the person.

There was much fan fare over all the technology Bill Gates put into his house. It was interesting to read, especially in the context of home automation these days.

I worked with people who helped Jim Clark with some of his home automation in the early/mid 2000s.

My point in general was I think the Silicon Valley elders of old, Grove, Moore, Packards (I know multiple individuals who benefitted from the Packard Children's fund w/ pre-mes. (sp?), etc. were much more community and outward focused than that which we see today.

There are people here and there, but a lot of what gets glamorized or talked about tend to be more selfishly oriented individuals.

Gates, early on, stated his kids weren't getting a huge part of his fortune, I consider his works on par (via the Gates Foundation) as those of the Packards. That said, the Packards have been very local vs. Gates more international (maybe it's need, size of endowment, etc).

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