Editing Silicon Valley (section)

==Etymology==
"Silicon" refers to the [[chemical element]] used in [[silicon]]-based [[transistor]]s and [[integrated circuit]] chips, which is the focus of a large number of [[computer hardware]] and [[software]] innovators and manufacturers in the region.

The popularization of the name is often credited to [[Don Hoefler]], the first journalist to use the term in a news story.<ref name="Malone_Page_xix" /> His article "Silicon Valley U.S.A." was published in the January 11, 1971, issue of the weekly trade newspaper ''[[Electronic News]]''. In preparation for this report, during a lunch meeting with marketing people who were visiting the area, he heard them use the term.<ref name="DH-71">{{cite web |last1=Laws |first1=David |title=Who named Silicon Valley? |url=http://www.computerhistory.org/atchm/who-named-silicon-valley/ |website=Computer History Museum |date=January 7, 2015 |access-date=October 16, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181016203301/http://www.computerhistory.org/atchm/who-named-silicon-valley/ |archive-date=October 16, 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref> Earlier uses outside journalism exist; for example, a May 1970 advertisement in the ''[[Peninsula Times Tribune]]'' described a [[Palo Alto]] company that "helps production people in Silicon Valley."<ref>{{cite news |title=HLS, Incorporated |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-peninsula-times-tribune/154564426/ |access-date=3 September 2024 |work=The Peninsula Times Tribune |date=25 May 1970 |pages=9}}</ref>[[File:Ingenico Healthcare ORGA 6041 - LAN Modul 6000.0 - BCP51-4797.jpg|thumb|upright|left|Silicon Valley derives its name from the [[silicon]] used in [[transistor]]s and [[Integrated circuit|computer chips]], pioneered in the region in the 20th century.]]However, the term did not gain widespread use until the early 1980s,<ref name="Malone_Page_xix" /> at the time of the introduction of the [[IBM Personal Computer|IBM PC]] and numerous related hardware and software products to the consumer market.

The urbanized area is built upon an [[alluvial plain]]<ref>[https://lawliberty.org/forum/the-frivolous-valley-and-its-dreadful-conformity/ The Frivolous Valley and Its Dreadful Conformity], by Michael Anton (Law & Liberty, published September 4, 2018)</ref> within a [[longitudinal valley]] formed by roughly parallel earthquake faults. The area between the faults subsided into a [[graben]] or dropped valley.<ref name=TimelineWater>{{cite web|url=http://www.valleywater.org/Programs/TeachersStudents/TeacherMaterials/WaterHistoryTeachersGuide/SantaClaraCountyWaterHistory.aspx|title=Timeline of the history of water in Santa Clara County - Santa Clara Valley Water District |website=Valleywater.org |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100208224235/http://www.valleywater.org/Programs/TeachersStudents/TeacherMaterials/WaterHistoryTeachersGuide/SantaClaraCountyWaterHistory.aspx |archive-date=February 8, 2010 |access-date=February 8, 2023}}</ref><ref>[https://water.ca.gov/-/media/DWR-Website/Web-Pages/Programs/Groundwater-Management/Bulletin-118/Files/2003-Basin-Descriptions/2_009_04_East-BayPlainSubbasin.pdf Santa Clara Valley Groundwater Basin, East Bay Plain Subbasin] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201225204616/https://water.ca.gov/-/media/DWR-Website/Web-Pages/Programs/Groundwater-Management/Bulletin-118/Files/2003-Basin-Descriptions/2_009_04_East-BayPlainSubbasin.pdf}}</ref> Hoefler defined Silicon Valley as the urbanized parts of "the San Francisco Peninsula and Santa Clara Valley".<ref name="DH-71" /> Before the expansive growth of the tech industry, the region had been the largest fruit-producing and packing region in the world up through the 1960s, with 39 fruit canneries.<ref>[https://archive.org/details/valley_of_hearts_delight Valley of Heart's Delight : Free Download & Streaming : Internet Archive]. Archive.org (March 10, 2001). Retrieved on 2013-07-21.</ref><ref>[https://archive.org/details/GoldenHa1950 Golden Harvest...Fifty Years of Calpak Progress : California Packing Corporation, Industrial and Public Relations Department : Free Download & Streaming : Internet Archive]. Archive.org. Retrieved on July 21, 2013.</ref> The nickname it had been known as during that period was "the Valley of Heart’s Delight".<ref>https://valleyofheartsdelight.com/ Quote:<br />“The Valley of Heart’s Delight” was the way in which Santa Clara County, home to San Jose and now Silicon Valley, was once described. For those of us who grew up climbing trees in the orchards, and who grow a few fruit trees in their own yards, it still ''is'' the Valley of Heart’s Delight. This valley was once famous for wheat, later for grapevines, citrus, nuts, cherry trees, and fruits of all kinds. Hints of the valley’s past are everywhere to be found.</ref><ref>[https://medium.com/chmcore/silicon-valley-turns-fifty-27738a1bf2b0 Silicon Valley Turns Fifty], by David Laws, published on January 11, 2021</ref>