FROM THE EDITOR " This is the most useless fluff I've How do you like it? ever read," one HP employee in "Continue the back-page photo fea­ Vancouver, Washington, recently ture; it's very nice," said an employee wrote to MEASURE. in Mountain View, California. Coun­ On the san1e day, an employee in tered a Corvallis, Oregon, employee, Atlanta, Georgia, said, "Thank you for "The Parting Shot photos are worth­ MEASURE! It's a quality publication!" less. Many of the (photos) wouldn't The Atlanta writer went on to list three make the cut at a state fair photo or four story ideas that he or she believed competition." would make MEASURE even better. "Take a fresh look!" an employee I like that. in China commented. Said one person The Vancouver employee offered in Boise, Idaho, "Keep doing what no ideas on how to improve the maga­ you're doing; I enjoy the mix." On the cover: Kerstin zine. The reaction reminded me of a Being the editor ofMEASURE is Krumwiede gets some comment a fonner boss used to make like driving a car in which there are work done while waiting for a train at Amsterdam's when I turned in a story: "I don't know three passengers. One says, "Tum left Sioterdijk Station. Kerstin is what I want," she would say, "but this here." Another says, "No, tum right." one of the well-educated, isn't it." The third says, "Don't listen to them; young, international employ­ ees at HP's European Cus­ So what's an editor to do when go straight." tomer Support Center (see one person's "quality publication" is But in this case, there are about the photo feature beginning another person's "fluff"? 100,000 passengers with approxi­ on page 14). Cover photo by Bill Melton. One way we've tried to make mately 100,000 ideas on what direc­ MEASURE a magazine for all HP tion we should head. Some even ask, employees is to solicit and include "Why do we have a car anyway?" your suggestions and creativity. For the time being, MEASURE's For exan1ple, we frequently include plans are to continue this journey an On My Mind section where employ­ together. We'll talk about what's ees can comment on practically any working well in HP and what needs topic they choose. We've printed every­ to improve. The magazine will be thing from criticism of HP's commit­ complimentary and controversial. ment to customer satisfaction to one We'll focus on employees and cus­ employee's firsthand experience of tomers. And we'll try to make it as losing his job. visually and editorially interesting as "On My Mind is an excellent colwnn," possible. And we'll keep asking you one Palo Alto, California, employee for your ideas. wrote the other day. That's a typical I hope you enjoy the ride. comment, and we intend to continue -Jay Coleman that section. Another example of employee involvement in MEASURE is the Parting Shot photo on the back page. Other than the special exception in this issue, Parting Shot is an opportu­ nity for employees to submit a photo they've taken. 2 MEASURE www.HPARCHIVE.com THE INSIDE STORIES FEATURES DEPARTMENTS 4 A peek into the future 18 People MIT's Nicholas Negroponte and HP Labs' Joel An HP employee turns his life Birnbaum discuss the future of telecommunica­ around after quadruple heart tions at Telecom '95. bypass surgery. 7 The case of the 24-hour scientist 20 On my mind Renowned criminologist Dr. Henry Lee uses Diversity isn't about fitting in, says HP analytical equipment to solve Connecticut's Spokane (Washington) Division most cunning crimes. G.M. Jim Rundle. It's about valuing our differences. 10 A new idea takes flight Page 12 The experts said he was full of hot air, but the 22 Web-wise father of ticketless airline travel developed a Dr. Cyberspace returns with more solution that continues to soar. tips on how to use the World Wide Web effectively. 12 A whole new world HP co-founder Dave Packard returns to China 24 Your turn for the first time in 12 years and finds a land of MEASURE readers share their amazing change. views on matters of importance. 14 Heeding the call 26 Letter from Lew Platt MEASURE takes a photographic look at HP's HP's chairman, president and CEO European Customer Support Center in Amster­ explains the apparent contradiction dam, Netherlands. between good financial perforn1ance Page 18 and the falling stock price. 28 ExtraMEASURE News from around the HP world. MEASURE Editor: MEASURE is published in mid-January, March, May, July, September and November for employees and associates Jay Coleman, ABC' of Hewlett-Packard Company. It is produced by Corporate Communications, Employee Communications section, Mary Anne Easley, manager. Address correspondence to MEASURE, Hewlett-Packard Company, 3000 Hanover Street, Associate editors: 20BR, Palo Alto, California 94304-1185, U.S.A. The telephone number is (415) 857-4144; the fax number is (415) 857-7299; Cornelia Bayley, Betty Gerard, and the Internet address is [email protected] Mary Anne Easley Art director: ·Copyright 1996 by Hewlett-Packard Company. Material may be reprinted with permission. Annette Yatovitz 'Accredited Business Communicator by the International Association of Business Communicators (IABCI. Graphic designer: Hewlett-Packard Company is a global manufacturer of computing, communications and measurement products and Thomas J. Brown services recognized for excellence in quality and support. HP has 102,300 employees worldwide and had revenue of $31.5 billion in its 1995 fiscal year. Photo research: Carol Parcels UNIX is a registered trademark in the United States and other countries, licensed exclusively through X/Open ," Editorial assistant/circulation: Company Limited. Tena Lessor X/Open is a trademark of X/Open Company Limited in the U.K. and other countries. * MEASURE magazine is printed on recycled paper with vegetable-based ink. January-February 1996 3 www.HPARCHIVE.com ELECOM '95 A peek into the future Forget the 9-to-5 workday. GENEVA, Switzerland-(Editor's note-Everyfour years, But get ready for easier­ the industry giants gather herefor the world's largest com­ to-use computers. put'ing and telecommunications exhibition. Telecom '95 Nicholas Negroponte was held October 3-11, 1995, and HP was there. and Joel Birnbaum HP unveiled a futuristic pavilion, demonstrated its latest discuss the direction of technology and talked with thousands ofcustomers and telecommunications. potential customers (see page 6). One ofthe highlights of HP's presence 'was a series ofpresentations to key cus­ tomers about the future oftelecommunications. The ses­ sions featured Nicholas Negroponte, head ofthe Media Lab at the Massachu­ setts Institute ofTechnology, and Joel Birnbaum, HP senior vice president-R&D and director ofHP Labs. Here are afew excerpts:) Nicholas Negroponte We were all brought up as kids thinking of an authority, namely the parents. Then we go to schools, work for com- MIT's Nicholas Negroponte (left) chats with panies or governments where Joel Birnbaum, head of HP Labs, prior to everything has an authority. one of their presentations at Telecom '95. The Internet does not, how- ever. It is growing rapidly and will not have an authority. It is a totally different form of decentralized organization. I have come to the conclusion that social impact is inter­ esting because it is huge. And maybe that's what caught my attention. In the extreme case, it is the total demise of the nation-state. At the nonpersonallevel, that is going to happen very quickly. Governments playa smaller and smaller role. Ifyou don't like the banking system in France, for example, 4 MEASURE • www.HPARCHIVE.com you can move your computer into Switzerland. On a more personal level, it will make your life much more asyn­ chronous. You won't find your life being driven by a 9-to-5 work sched­ ule with particular days called week­ ends. It is going to be a much more arrhythmic existence for everybody. This already happens for people who are on-line, and 20 percent of all Americans spend one day (a week) working at home. And working from home is just a different sort of arrhythmia. There will be an increasing form of asynchronous living and working that will be driven by this, which will have an enormous impact on the personal HP's distinctive booth featured a translucent 50-foot-high glass cube. Nearly 200,000 people side of lifestyle. Banking laws are attended Telecom '95, and about one-fourth of them visited the HP booth. going to crumble, and intellectual property laws are going to crumble, People who design the motors care a way. And the mental models that and all sorts of other things are great deal. And, of course, the motors drive a pervasive technology are not going to crumble and be rebuilt on are not all the same. yet in place because people who use another basis. I think that five years from now computers still, for the most part, you won't know how many comput­ have to be craftspeople in charge of Joel Birnbaum ers you have, either. You may have a their tools. For about a decade now, we've been dozen or you may have a hundred. And Ifyou can imagine that technology talking about "pervasive information you won't think of them as computers; will allow us to shrink things by a systems." To us, pervasive means you'll think of them as appliances. factor of 10 or maybe 100 in physical something that is TV sets were volume, it means that things that are more noticeable very complicated unconsciously portable and that you by its absence when they were can carry in your pocket-like a than its presence.