Comment by jrmg

Comment by jrmg 2 days ago

4 replies

The ‘birthplace’ of the 555 is in downtown Sunnyvale - an easy trip if you’re in the Valley*. It’s in an alley between Murphy Ave. and the parking lot off S. Frances. There’s a realtor’s office opposite the side entrance to Fashion Wok. That’s the place.

It was invented by Hans Camenzind**, who was doing contract work for Signetics in an office he rented there. What a great location for your office, even back then!

There really should be a plaque or something.

* Go there then have dinner at Dishdash, across the street.

** RIP - he died in 2012, but his web site is still up: http://www.designinganalogchips.com/

asdefghyk 2 days ago

Interesting links on Hans

https://web.archive.org/web/20260125061851/http://www.design...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans_Camenzind

( Please note , I posted the archive.org link to the Hans Camenzind site, because when I tried to access the site URl , my BitDefender virus thing popped up a warning about a certificate problem. I Have NO idea if this is a real problem (Im clueless) or not but just to be careful I use the archive.org link )

burnt-resistor a day ago

Cool. I lived on E Evelyn for a few years in the 00's and dined many a night at Gumba's. And Hobee's and Denny's of course. I miss the days of raiding Radio Shack in the nearby mall perennially under construction for piles of :CueCats.

Another eatery of Valley folklore is Buck's of Woodside. Neat place on its own.

  • jrmg a day ago

    Gumbas is still there! Hobee’s near 101 too. Still my favorite diner.

    The mall (and ‘downtown’ Denny’s) has finally, after literal decades of construction driven by multiple bankruptcies of the firms doing it, been replaced by walkable mixed use stores, apartments, and a cinema.