Phil McKinney, the CTO for HP's Personal Computer Group, invited me down to Cupertino yesterday for a "living legends" interview. He has a PodCast service, and he has recently interviewed Art Fong and Dave Cochran. What an honor to be included with them!
Phil is one of those firebrands, with red hair, a wiry beard, and a ready smile. He is Irish through and through, though we did the interview without libation. He is the genius behind HP's new Vivianne Tan netbook, a cosmetic accessory that hiked the price and sold out within days for the distaff half. He has been involved with many more serious pursuits as well, including the VoodooPC acquisition to position HP much more strongly in the games/virtual reality space.
The questions were great -- what made you pick HP in the first place? When and why did you leave? How would you suggest that innovation be kept alive in a large, nay HUGE, company? What were you most proud of? Tell me the REAL story behind the Medal of Defiance....
We chatted for the better part of two hours. He is a skillful interviewer, and he clearly brings passion and desire to his job. My guess is that people who work around Phil McKinney would agree that HP still has the HP Way working. What a privilege!
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