Editing HAL 9000 (section)

===Origin of name===
[[File:HAL 9000.JPG|thumb|A loose replica of HAL 9000 on exhibit at the [[Carnegie Science Center]]]]
HAL's name, according to Clarke, is derived from ''H''euristically programmed ''AL''gorithmic computer.<ref name=Clarkep78/>{{r|clarke198807}}<ref name="Meaning"/> After the film was released, fans noticed HAL was a one-letter shift from the name [[IBM]] and there has been much speculation since then that this was a dig at the large computer company,<ref>Ted Friedman, Electric Dreams: Computers in American Culture, NYU Press - 2005, page 101</ref><ref name="atlantic">{{cite news| url= https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2013/01/the-letter-stanley-kubrick-wrote-about-ibm-and-hal/266848/| first= Alexis C. | last= Madrigal |author-link = Alexis Madrigal| title= The Letter Stanley Kubrick Wrote About IBM and HAL | newspaper = [[The Atlantic]]  | date= 4 January 2013 | access-date= 19 August 2023 | archive-date= 4 January 2013 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130104205649/https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2013/01/the-letter-stanley-kubrick-wrote-about-ibm-and-hal/266848/ | url-status= live}}</ref> something that both Clarke<ref name="clarke198807">{{Cite magazine |last=Clarke |first=Arthur C. |date=July 1988 |title=Vindication at Last |url=https://archive.org/details/byte-1988-07_202104/page/n25/mode/1up?view=theater |access-date=2025-04-12 |department=Letters |magazine=[[Byte (magazine)|Byte]] |page=22}}</ref> and Kubrick denied.<ref name="Meaning"/> Clarke addressed the issue in ''The Lost Worlds of 2001'':<ref name=Clarkep78/>
<blockquote> ...about once a week some character spots the fact that HAL is one letter ahead of IBM, and promptly assumes that Stanley and I were taking a crack at the estimable institution ... As it happened, IBM had given us a good deal of help, so we were quite embarrassed by this, and would have changed the name had we spotted the coincidence.</blockquote>
IBM was consulted during the making of the film and its logo can be seen on props in the film, including the Pan Am Clipper's cockpit instrument panel and on the lower arm keypad on Poole's space suit. During production it was brought to IBM's attention that the film's plot included a homicidal computer, but the company approved association with the film if it was clear any "equipment failure" was not related to IBM products.<ref>{{cite news| url= http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2013/01/07/hal_9000_ibm_theory_stanley_kubrick_letters_shed_new_light_on_old_debate.html| first= Aisha| last= Harris| title= Is HAL Really IBM?| website= Slate.com| date= 7 January 2013| access-date= 17 November 2016| archive-date= 8 November 2015| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20151108005742/http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2013/01/07/hal_9000_ibm_theory_stanley_kubrick_letters_shed_new_light_on_old_debate.html| url-status= live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url= http://www.lettersofnote.com/2013/01/does-ibm-know-that-hal-is-psychotic.html| work= Letters of Note| title= Does IBM Know HAL is Psychotic?| date= 4 January 2013| access-date= 30 May 2019| archive-date= 30 May 2019| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20190530192601/http://www.lettersofnote.com/2013/01/does-ibm-know-that-hal-is-psychotic.html| url-status= live}}</ref><ref name="atlantic"/>

In the movie HAL identifies himself as being activated at a "HAL" plant in Urbana, Illinois.<ref>"I am a HAL 9000 computer. I became operational at the H-A-L plant in Urbana Illinois on the 12th of January 1992."{{cn|date=March 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Deactivating Hal 9000 HD (COMPLETE) |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UgkyrW2NiwM |access-date=30 May 2019 |website= |via=YouTube}}</ref> An actual company called HAL Communications Corporation was founded in [[Champaign, Illinois|Champaign]] in 1972<ref>[https://pitchbook.com/profiles/company/230207-95#patents Hal Communications], pitchbook.com</ref> and relocated to Urbana a year later when it outgrew its original facility.<ref name=qcwa>[https://www.qcwa.org/k9gwt-16225-sk.htm HAL HISTORY, HAL Devices - HAL Communications Corp.], Bill Henry, President HAL Communications, Quarter Century Wireless Association</ref><ref>{{cite web |title= History - HAL Communications Corp. |url= http://www.halcomm.com/about/history/ |website= HALComm.com |access-date= 14 October 2018 |quote= Initially starting as HAL Devices in 1966 ... HAL Communications Corp. outgrew its existing 2,000 square-foot facility in Champaign and purchased a larger building in Urbana. |archive-date= 13 October 2018 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20181013235000/http://www.halcomm.com/about/history/ |url-status= live }}</ref>  

The former president of HAL Communications, Bill Henry, has stated that any reference to the real company is a coincidence: "There was not and never has been any connection to 'Hal', Arthur Clarke's intelligent computer in the screen play '2001' — later published as a book. We were very surprised when the movie hit the Coed Theatre on campus and discovered that the movie's computer had our name. We never had any problems with that similarity - 'Hal' for the movie and 'HAL' (all caps) for our small company. But, from time-to-time, we did have issues with others trying to use 'HAL'. That resulted in us paying lawyers. The offenders folded or eventually went out of business."<ref>{{cite web |last1=Bill |first1=Henry |title=HAL HISTORY |url=https://www.smecc.org/rtty_ratt_radio_teletype.htm |website=smecc.org |publisher=Southwest Museum of Engineering, Communications and Computation |access-date=14 October 2018 |archive-date=29 November 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181129051217/http://www.smecc.org/rtty_ratt_radio_teletype.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>

Henry also explains the possible source of the false claim that the name HAL was chosen by the ''2001'' authors to scoop IBM in phone books and industry directories: "The name "HAL" was chosen [in 1972] by the first HAL Devices partner, George Perrine. George said he picked the name because it is "one letter ahead of IBM". Turned out to be a good choice and easy to remember. It also does not seem to have any "nasty translations" into any other language."<ref name=qcwa/>