背景资料回目录
History & Future
by Gregory Gromov
| Silicon Valley is the only place on Earth not trying to figure out how to become Silicon Valley. ~Robert Metcalfe |
The term Silicon Valley was used occasionally mostly byeasterners who would mention making a trip to Silicon Valley, until 1971 when it was popularized in a series of articles, ``Silicon Valley USA,'' written by Don Hoefler for Electronic News. Quite likely it was the first time the term was used in print (Don C. Hoefler, publisher of Microelectronics News, telephone interview, 9 January 1985) ...
Hoefler was choosing a name for an article about the semiconductor industry that he was writing for Electronic News. Ralph Vaerst, then president of Ion Equipment, suggested Silicon Valley. Hoefler named his article, ``Silicon Valley USA;'' it was a series that ran for 3 weeks, beginning 11 January 1971."
~ Carolyn Tajnai, 1995
In 1971, in a series of articles that Hoefler wrote for ELECTRONIC NEWS, a weekly tabloid, he first used the phrase "SiliconValley" to describe the congeries of electronics firms mushroomingin Santa Clara county. "He pioneered the coverage of Silicon Valley as a distinct community," - said Michael S. Malone,author of a book chronicling the industry called THE BIG SCORE."When we think of Silicon Valley as a collection of charactersand eccentrics, he's the one who put that whole idea in our minds,"- said Malone.
Hoefler began his career in electronics journalism as a publicist for Fairchild Semiconductor in Mountain View. He subsequently worked as a reporter for Fairchild Publications, owner of ELECTRONIC NEWS, and then held editorial positions with RCA Corp. and with McGrawHill.
Don C. Hoefler died in South San Francisco on April 15, 1986 at the ageof 63. He was publishing a weekly newsletter called MICROELECTRONICS NEWS at the time of his death, following a recent cerebrovascular accident
Datamation ,1986, May 15, by Cahners Publishing Company
(read more about Don C. Hoefler).
Why 1971 ?
On November 15, 1971 Intel created the world's first microprocessor: the Intel 4004.
What does Silicon Valley mean geographically?
Silicon Valley is an area that "located on the San Francisco, California, peninsula, radiates outward from Stanford University. It is contained by the San Francisco Bay on the east, the Santa Cruz Mountains on the west, and the Coast Range to the southeast. At the turn of the century, when fruit orchards predominated, the area was known as the Valley of Heart's Delight" - as Carolyn E. Tajnai, former Director (1988 - 1997) of Stanford Computer Forum begins one of her online-manuscripts that described Silicon Valley history.
According to the "Silicon Valley Joint Venture Index 2000 the Silicon Valley's cities were located around the South side of San Francisco Bay:
10 years later the above viewpoint of Silicon Valley Joint Venture was changed:
The geographical boundaries of Silicon Valley vary. The region's core has been defined as Santa Clara County plus adjacent parts of San Mateo, Alameda and Santa Cruz Counties. In order to reflect the geographic expansion of the region's driving industries and employment, the 2011 Index includes all of San Mateo County. Silicon Valley is defined as the following cities: Santa Clara County (all) Campbell, Cupertino, Gilroy, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Los Gatos, Milpitas, Monte Sereno, Morgan Hill, Mountain View, Palo Alto, San Jose, Santa Clara, Saratoga, Sunnyvale Alameda County Fremont, Newark, Union City San Mateo County (all) Atherton, Belmont, Brisbane, Broadmoor, Burlingame, Colma, Daly City, East Palo Alto, Foster City, Half Moon Bay, Hillsborough, Menlo Park, Millbrae, Pacifica, Portola Valley, Redwood City, San Bruno, San Carlos, San Mateo, South San Francisco, Woodside Santa Cruz County Scotts Valley Santa Clara San Jose Newark Fremont Union City. The Silicon Valley Joint Venture Index 2011
According to the Silicon Valley Joint Venture Index 2011, Silicon Valley Population: 3 millions; Jobs: 1.3 millions.
Census data for 2010 show median household income was ... $83,944 for the San Jose region, the epicenter of Silicon Valley (WSJ, Oct. 19, 2011 ), compared with the nationwide median of $50,046. (San Jose Mercury News, Oct. 19, 2011)
