Lore Harp & Vector Graphic: Silicon Valley’s Forgotten Female Microcomputer Pioneers

Описание: Inspired by the release of the Altair 8800, Vector Graphic became one of the first computer manufacturers developing pre-built microcomputers optimised for the small-business market. It was also a female founded and managed business. In 1981, it became only the second female-founded company on the Nasdaq stock exchange, missing out on being the first by a matter of days.

In this talk I’ll cover the history of Vector Graphic and its primary founder Lore Harp. We’ll look at it its foundation as a memory board supplier operating out of the back room of a Californian home to its peak as one of the most respected suppliers of business computers in America.

We’ll look at the challenges Harp and co-founder Carole Ely faced as female founders in a primarily male industry, as well as Harp’s working relationships with Bill Gates, Adam Osborne, PC Creator Don Estridge and other key industry figures. We’ll also explore how Vector shaped Silicon Valley’s approach to employee relations and stock options (Vector were the first Silicon Valley firm to include an employee share purchase option in their IPO).

Finally, we’ll explore the reasons for Vector’s eventual collapse in 1987 and ask an important question: why has a computer firm so important to understanding early Silicon Valley business computing been continually overlooked in the historical narrative?

About the speaker

Gareth Edwards (who also publishes as “John Bull”) is a writer and historian who focuses on exploring the gaps in common historical narratives. He is currently the author of “ The Crazy Ones: The Forgotten Men and Women of Silicon Valley” a regular column for Every.to. In this, he highlights critical figures outside the common narrative of computing’s past, and tries to place them in both the context of the time and why they are important today.

Edwards has been captivated by computers since his first encounter with a Commodore 64 as a child. In addition to his work as a historian, he is a respected Digital Strategist in both the UK and US, where he is recognised as the creator of the “Trust Thermocline” theory of system collapse. He is an avid collector of old computers, rare books and interviews, and of abandoned cats.

You can follow him on mastodon.me.uk/@garius and bsky.app/profile/garius.bsky.social.