HP garage to be national monument

THE FABLED GARAGE in Palo Alto, California that spawned Hewlett-Packard is to be a US national landmark.

The garage and accompanying house will be listed on the National Register of Historic Places, preserving the location some see as symbolic of American technology entrepreneurialism, Silicon Valley and the American Dream. However, Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard only lived there for a couple of years between 1938 and 1940.

Former HP chief Carly Fiorina sanctioned buying back the house and the old place has been restored to a facsimile of what to would have looked like back then. However, the street name remains Addison Avenue rather than HP Way.

News of the house comes as HP threatens to have another golden age. Earlier this week, the firm said sales were up 13 per cent year on year on the back of strong PC and x86 server sales.

What next? Bill Gates' pizza box? Michael Capellas' comb? The pub where Mike Magee drank his first beer? The INQUIRER asks its readers to mail in with other objects and locations worthy of preservation in our virtual museum. µ