Bio
Scott McNealy
Scott McNealy is co-founder and former chairman & CEO of Sun Microsystems.
Ed Zander
Edward J. Zander was CEO and Chairman of the Board of Motorola from January 2004 until January 2008, remaining as chairman until May 2008. His work in the technology sector included management positions at Data General and Apollo Computer before joining Sun Microsystems in 1987 where he was later promoted to Chief Operating Officer and President in 1998 and 1999, respectively.
He left Sun in 2002 to become managing director at Silver Lake Partners, a technology investment fund. He also serves on the board of directors for Jason Foundation for Education, on the science advisory board of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (where he received a degree in electrical engineering), the advisory board for IOCOM Communications, and the advisory board of the Boston University School of Management (where he received his Master of Business Administration and later an honorary Ph.D.).
He was also a member of the board of directors at Seagate Technologies from 2002 to 2004, and at Time Warner Inc. from January to May 2007.
Encyclopædia Britannica Articles
- computer
Programmable machine that can store, retrieve, and process data. Today's computers have at least one CPU that performs most calculations and includes a main memory, a control unit, and an arithmetic logic unit. Increasingly, personal computers contain specialized graphic processors, with dedicated memory, for handling the computations needed to display complex graphics, such as for three-dimensional simulations and games. Auxiliary data storage is usually provided by an internal hard disk and may be supplemented by other media such as floppy disks or CD-ROMs. Peripheral equipment includes input devices (e.g., keyboard, mouse) and output devices (e.g., monitor, printer), as well as the circuitry and cabling that connect all the components. Generations of computers are characterized by their technology. First-generation digital computers, developed mostly in the U.S. after World War II, used vacuum tubes and were enormous. The second generation, introduced c. 1960, used transistors and were the first successful commercial computers. Third-generation computers (late 1960s and 1970s) were characterized by miniaturization of components and use of integrated circuits. The microprocessor chip, introduced in 1974, defines fourth-generation computers.
- computer on britannica.com
- Silicon Valley
Industrial region, west-central California. Roughly bounded by San Francisco Bay on the north, the Santa Cruz Mountains on the west, and the Diablo Range on the east, it takes its (unofficial) name from the extensive use of silicon in the region's electronics industries. The U.S. government invested heavily in the region's industry following World War II. A second economic surge occurred with the proliferation of personal computers in the 1980s, and a third surge followed the growth of the Internet in the 1990s.
- Silicon Valley on britannica.com
© 2010 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
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