I nearly went to IBM. Fortunately I didn't. Their program for plant visits was the best of any of the companies I interviewed with: at the end of the day, they asked me to estimate all my expenses, and then they handed me an envelope of cash.

Another legacy company book HN'ers would really like for a Christmas gift is "Bill & Dave"

https://www.amazon.com/Bill-Dave-Hewlett-Packard-Greatest/dp...

the author is an unabashed fanboy, and the history ends with Mark Hurd before he imploded. Still, it's a great history of a (formerly) great company.

Slight change of company name for anyone interested:

I'm currently finishing this book by an unabashed fan boy:

https://www.amazon.com/Bill-Dave-Hewlett-Packard-Greatest/dp...?

about how HP went from the coolest company in the world (50's and 60's) to dorky old mediocre place that Fiorina/Hurd/Apotheker/Whitman just finished the destruction that was already underway.

Like a lot of Valley folks, I blamed Carly, but some other long time HP'ers said it was already in process of destroying itself. And while people like to hold up IBM as the canonical bad example for Microsoft and then Google, HP could equally well play that role.

I think. Still pondering this one.

For those who want to relive the HP Way or learn about it for the first time, I highly recommend:

"Bill & Dave: How Hewlett and Packard Built the World's Greatest Company" by Michael S. Malone

https://www.amazon.com/Bill-Dave-Hewlett-Packard-Greatest/dp...

You need to read a book called Bill & Dave ( http://www.amazon.com/Bill-Dave-Hewlett-Packard-Greatest/dp/... ). Seriously.

Everything good about Silicon Valley is owed to that company, and to its founders. It's impossible to place Fiorina's actions in any sort of context until one understands that.