26) The First Articles on Silicon Valley
The first articles from the “Electronic News” using the name “Silicon Valley”
(Click to enlarge)
On the west coast of the United States, the southern coast
of the San Francisco Bay (or the “bay area”) lies the region of the birthplace
of the world’s semiconductor industry, where many major companies in this
industry gather. This place is none other than Silicon Valley. The “valley”
in the name refers to the Santa Clara Valley, with its rolling hills.
It began to be called this as early as the early 1970s when the full-scale
production of IC began, but the individual who gave birth to this name remains
unclear. From what I can think of, it may be the reporter of the weekly industry
paper, “Electronic News” Don C. Hoefler, who wrote a series of articles with
this name for the first time. The picture above is of three series articles
from the January 11, 1971 issue, with the title of "Silicon Valley USA",
about the behind-the-scenes of "people, money, trials" in this industry
drawn in the style of Sengoku history. The first issue with a second and third
page spread, familiar faces such as Moore, Hoerni, Noyce, and Shockley appeared
in large-sized photographs.
I obtained this series from Mr. Ikuro Yasui of the Kanematsu Electronics Division
(later to be the managing director) and used a lot of its writing in my first
book "The IC Industry War" (Diamond Company).
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