For those of us who've known Hewlett-Packard mostly for top-of-the-line computer printers and recent corporate scandals, it's somewhat mystifying to hear or read the almost religious zeal of an older generation that seems to regard the "old" HP as some sort of business utopia. It's just a company---could it really have been that great?

Michael S. Malone says yes, and his new book, Bill & Dave: How Hewlett and Packard Built the World's Greatest Company, sets out to show just how groundbreaking was the company. Its founders' innovation in both new products and new ways of doing business created an environment in which customers wanted only HP products, employees reciprocated the loyalty HP showed to them, and future Silicon Valley generations tried -- and usually failed -- to follow in their footsteps.

Right off the bat, what makes Hewlett-Packard so noteworthy is Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard.  Their skills, their personalities, and the fact that for almost 50 years they partnered at the top of the organization they founded is a rarity. One doesn't often see a business partnership last so long, and so seamlessly, especially in an era where CEOs prefer to have the spotlight shone squarely on them alone. Hewlett and Packard's skills and demeanors were perfect complements to each other, and their lack of desire to put themselves on a pedestal is what helped create the family atmosphere that came to be known as "the HP Way."

Malone writes Bill & Dave as a straightforward corporate history, but at the same time he wants you to read the book as a primer on how to run a business that not only turns a profit, but also takes care of its people and cares about the communities in which it does business. To that end, throughout the book he notes particularly important lessons with an asterisk, then brings all of these lessons together at the end to create a roughly 10-page document that lays out a blueprint for entrepreneurial success. At first I thought the asterisk thing would annoy me, but once I'd finished the book I liked this short summary of how Hewlett and Packard made it all work.

The book begins by tracing Hewlett and Packard's paths to their eventual meeting at Stanford, where Dave Packard was the tall, gregarious, can't-miss golden boy sports star and Bill Hewlett was a short, dyslexic, somewhat reserved sort still getting over his father's untimely death. Their shared interest in electronics would lead the two to eventually start Hewlett-Packard in the celebrated garage of Dave and Lucille Packard's home on Addison Avenue in Palo Alto, California.