Sun buys Hewlett and Packard

A snip at US$6,000.

Sun Microsystems chief executive Jonathan Schwartz has announced the purchase of Hewlett and Packard for a paltry US$6,000.

No, not the company itself but the founders - Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard. Well, at least a likeness of them.

Some time ago, a bunch of artists at ylem.org/Hitchhikers created plywood likenesses of technology industry titans including Hewlett and Packard, attached a GPS transmitter to them and sent them off on their way home. 

The idea was that public spirited individuals would help the artwork hitchhike back to its rightful destination and that their progress could be tracked by the GPS.

Hewlett and Packard actually made it to their destination of HP's corporate headquarters in Silicon Valley, but the company refused to be involved in the stunt and would not even let Hewlett and Packard into the lobby.

Sun heard about HP's refusal to participate and got in touch with the artists offering US$6,000 for the piece.

"We were shocked to hear that no one at HP wanted to welcome back the namesakes of their company. We would like to return the pair to the road, in search of HP's sense of humour and a new home for HP's legacy," Sun said in a statement.

Schwartz has since been blogging about the purchase in a bid to have some fun with the publicity.

"With nearly 25 per cent of Solaris downloads requested on to HP's servers, we know their customers really want the partnership and we're happy to oblige," wrote Schwartz, hinting that Sun has plans to send them on another tour.

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