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 Home Our WorkElectronics IndustryHigh-Tech History
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HIGH-TECH HISTORY
Chronicling the Evolution of the High-tech Industry
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Though the industry looked "clean," it actually left a legacy of pollution in the Silicon Valley, causing most of the area's 29 EPA Superfund sites.
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Doubling Computing Speed Every 2 Years
In 1965, Gordon Moore, one of the founders of Intel, predicted that the high-tech industry could double computing speed and power every two years. This vision, referred to as “Moore’s Law,” has been realized over and over again. Who would have thought even a decade ago that a wallet sized mobile phone could also take pictures, hold our address books, surf the internet and allow us to text message from almost anywhere?
High-tech Has Failed to Advance Green Technology
Though the industry may have exponentially doubled computing speed and made dazzling advancements in the functioning of their products, they have not used this same ingenuity to advance “green” technologies that have less impact on public health and our environment. The result has been a wake of unintended collateral damage on communities around the globe. Click Here to learn more about the global e-waste crisis.
1930s- 50s: 1st Generation High-tech 1 Stop Shop
The first generation of electronics companies were IBM, HP, Fujitsu and Siemens. They controlled every part of the manufacturing process from design, to construction of components, to final assembly. Having control over this process meant these companies also had control over the health and environmental impacts of the supply chain. These companies are obviously still around today. However, they no longer operate as one-stop shops and outsource much of their production.
1950s-60s: 2nd Generation: Silicon Valley Companies
The second generation of high-tech, the Silicon Valley Companies, emerged in the 50s and 60s. Some of these companies specialized in engineering only without a single square foot of manufacturing space. Others provided specialized technologies for the large brand name companies such as chipmakers, National Semiconductor, INTEL, AMD, and Fairchild, and circuit board makers like Sanmina. Brand name manufacturers soon became “garages,” buying components from a variety of specialty companies, then designing and assembling under their roof.
1970s & 80s: Silicon Valley Manufacturing Hay Day
As technological developments advanced rapidly and the personal computer exploded onto the market, the Silicon Valley became the international technology center that it is today. In the 70s, the area was transformed from primarily orchards and canneries into electronics factories. The Silicon Valley’s population exploded as thousands came to work in high-tech facilities. Though this was a time of unprecedented economic growth, it was also a time of great environmental and worker health disaster. Learn more about electronics manufacturing.
1980s: Worker Health & Environmental Problems Emerge
In 1982, massive groundwater contamination was discovered throughout Silicon Valley near high-tech manufacturing facilities. Though the industry seemed “clean,” toxic chemicals were being leaked out of underground storage tanks. More than 100,000 homes in San Jose were exposed to toxic solvents from a Fairchild computer chip factory. Workers in these facilities were also being exposed to hazardous chemicals on the job. When hundreds of people inside and outside the factories began developing cancer, reproductive problems and other illnesses, they banded together to expose these problems, pass environmental protection laws and brought in the Environmental Protection Agency. The EPA deemed 29 areas toxic Superfund sites, requiring priority environmental cleanup. Today, the sites are still being cleaned up and the Silicon Valley has the highest concentration of Superfund sites in the country. Take the Silicon Valley toxic tour.
1990s: Industry Migration and Globalization
As Silicon Valley area residents began exposing the ills of electronics manufacturing and passing stricter environmental protections, electronic companies began outsourcing and moving their facilities overseas. They typically set up factories and contracted out component production in impoverished developing countries where labor is cheap, and worker/environmental protection laws are weak. Today, behind any brand name electronic product you buy off the shelf, there may have actually been 30 different companies involved with the making of that product. Learn more about industry globalization.
2000s: Silicon Valley 2 Economies
By the year 2000, almost all electronic manufacturing had moved out of the Valley, leaving mostly the “heads” of the brand name companies meaning corporate management decision makers, engineers, and designers. Today’s Silicon Valley struggles to balance two economies that are driven by wealthy industry executives and engineers, and a 2nd “service” economy comprising of mostly low income people of color and immigrants who provide services for their wealthier counterparts. Learn more about Silicon Valley.
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