The HP-35
The story of Bill Hewlett’s iconic computer in a pocket:
In perhaps the most famous design brief in electronics history Bill Hewlett challenged his engineers to shrink the 9100A into something he could fit in his pocket. Eventually Dave Cochran, the original HP-35 product manager, determined that it would be feasible using newly-developed integrated circuits and LEDs. A market research study, however, warned that the device would be too expensive and there was simply no market. That didn’t matter to Hewlett. He decided he wanted one and said ‘We’re going to go ahead anyway.’
And a revolutionary leap in technology was born. It would be hard to imagine what the scientific and electronics world would look like today had Hewlett listened to market research…