5. it was to present personally a gold-plated audio oscillator to Walt Disney. Through the same Mr. Cook the appointment was made. Bill with his PR man Dave Kirby arrived at the appointed hour and after a short wait they were ushered into Disney's office where the walls were hung with autographed pictures of Prime Ministers, Presidents, Princes, and Kings, awards, and other assorted memorabilia. Bill gave Walt a warm friendly smile, gave a short thank-you speech, and presented his gold-plated gift which Walt proceeded dutifully to open. Two things were pretty soon obvious. Disney had no personal recognition of a resistance capacity audio oscillator or - for that matter - no name recognition of either a Mr. Hewlett or a Mr. Packard. After Walt took the gift with the promise that he'd give it to his grandchildren to play with, Bill fled the scene. As Bill and Dave Kirby drove away, Bill maintained a stony silence and finally puckishly grinned at Kirby and said: "I guess he wasn't expecting us." Over the years Hewlett Packard has consistently demonstrated a unique ability to take a product through research and to the market ahead of the competition. This ability to get things done quickly is a hallmark of the firm. It rests on the keen judgment of the quality of advice that is tendered to you. So it was that when Bill decided to build a house, he asked Utah about its experience with an architect that Bill had under consideration. Utah told him that the architect was consistently behind schedule and over budget. So Bill hired him and - guess what - the Hewlett home set new records for being behind schedule and over budget.