RSS Feeds
Hardware
Silicon Valley's Birthplace of the Semiconductor: Now a Fruit and Vegetable Stand
Posted by John Mahoney at 12:00 AM on September 13, 2008
We all owe a lot to this place. The birth of the world's first silicon chip happened here, and now, it's a nice place to pick up some fresh produce. Bits has a great history of the site--now known as the Fiesta Super Market at 391 San Antonio Road in Mountain View (home also to the big G). It used to be the world's first semiconductor lab, established by the American physicist William Shockley and where the founders of Fairchild and Intel got their chops. But now? Just a couple of marks on the sidewalk indicate its past, among all the fine fruits and veggies.
Silicon Valley historical tourists (they exist) used to find a sign with information detailing the site's history, which seems to have gotten chucked in the remodeling:
"I have no idea what happened to it," said Pablo Martinez, the owner of Fiesta Super Market, talking about the Shockley sign.
And here is what the "three to five people" per month see when they visit the nearby home of Fairchild Semiconductor:
Interesting to see how a tech culture so caught up in the future deals with its historical past. Much more good reading over at Bits. [Bits Blog]
Comments (AU Comments · US Comments)
There are currently no AU comments for this post.
Donk In A Box
Posted 12:38 AM 13/9/08
Seriously, I don't know why you'd get your tomatoes there when the Milk Pail is right down the road and has fresh croissants and Mexico-bottled Coca-Cola to boot.
It is hard to drive by Fiesta and not think whatever is the technology equivalent of "St. Noyce pray for us."
Donk In A Box
loki007
Posted 12:22 AM 13/9/08
Are those overclocked tomatoes? No? Then they don't do the location justice then : )
Anyone else find it funny that it's historical location 1000, a binary 4-bit number?
loki007
strider_mt2k
Posted 12:18 AM 13/9/08
Ahh tomato bin...
A loaf of bread, a pepper grinder, some mayo and thee...
strider_mt2k
Curves
Posted 12:13 AM 13/9/08
@Curves: Stop drooling for the BLT; its messing up your spelling.
Curves
Curves
Posted 12:08 AM 13/9/08
Good lookking veggies. Makes me want a BLT.
Curves
NightElfMohawk
Posted 12:06 AM 13/9/08
Did I mention they sell boots too?
[www.flickr.com]
NightElfMohawk
NightElfMohawk
Posted 12:04 AM 13/9/08
Dude, is it just called Fiesta but is a fruit and veg stand, or is it a for-real giant Fiesta Super Market? Because I love me some Fiesta. Crazy people, awesome food stuffs...
Probably not the same thang as what we have in Texas. I could only dream.
[www.fiestamart.com]
NightElfMohawk
ddtx2
Posted 1:11 AM 13/9/08
Could be worse, could be a booby bar.
ddtx2
tivoupgrade
Posted 1:07 AM 13/9/08
@Paul Damnit. That was the first thing I thought of, too.
tivoupgrade
Paul
Posted 12:51 AM 13/9/08
Is that California registered landmark number 1000 or 8?
Paul
hoffmanbike
Posted 1:22 AM 13/9/08
@ddtx2: how would that be worse? (.)(.)
hoffmanbike
FinalValgas
Posted 2:07 AM 13/9/08
very tasty looking fruits and vegs
FinalValgas
Brookespeed
Posted 3:00 AM 13/9/08
@tivoupgrade: I'm just feeling pretty good for having gotten the joke in under a minute and only having to look back at the picture 2 or 3 times.
Brookespeed
indiegeek
Posted 4:12 AM 13/9/08
Heh. I work next door to this place.
They have possibly the biggest marshmallows I've ever seen in my life.
indiegeek