Intel's 50th Anniversary and YouTube's 20th Anniversary
From Intel to Google
Soon after I joined Intel in 2018, there was a Intel's grand 50th-anniversary celebration. The backdrop at the time was that Intel's stock was soaring, having risen for nearly a decade from the depths of the 2008 financial crisis. The seven buildings in Folsom were packed with employees, many of whom were new hires from the large recruitment drive of 2017. Although its manufacturing process seemed to lag behind TSMC, Intel's CPU was still the leader, and the solid-state drives we were working on were about to take off, growing rapidly and gradually gaining a foothold in the server market. In this atmosphere of prosperity and booming growth, everyone was extremely excited about Intel's 50th-anniversary event. The thought of the upcoming event made it impossible to work that week. Looking back now, if Intel's golden age was a movie, then this event could be considered the climax.
The event was held on Wednesday, July 18th, in the parking lot in front of the Folsom site. The decorations were based on Intel blue, and three large inflatable blue arches at the entrance welcomed everyone. In addition to free Intel merchandise, there were also free food and drinks. It is worth mentioning that unlike some software companies where free meals are provided regularly, Intel only offered free black tea and fruit during work hours. So, the fact that there was free food available indicated the budget and importance of the event.
Unfortunately, the event received mixed reviews. Due to the enthusiastic participation, the lines for the freebies were extremely long, causing many people to wait a long time without receiving anything, leaving the event in the evening with resentment. This problem wasn't limited to Folsom; many offices faced the same issue. The organizers had no choice but to write an apology email, promising that everyone would receive the freebie, and stating that they would do a better job next time. We wondered, “What next time? Is that in 10 years? We might not even be at Intel then." Now, we know the real question is whether Intel would exist in 10 years. A month later, after everyone received clothing that didn't fit, our anger finally subsided.
Time flies, and on April 23, 2025, I had already been working at YouTube for three years, which also happened to be the 20th birthday of YouTube. The event was held in the company's central court yard. The reason for choosing this date was that YouTube's founder uploaded the first YouTube video on this very day 20 years ago. Fortunately, April 23rd was a Wednesday, not a weekend, so we didn't have to work on the weekend to celebrate the company's birthday.
Compared to Intel's birthday, I felt relatively indifferent. Why? Compared to Intel's booming economy at the time, things are relatively frugal now. Moreover, with so many layoffs in recent years, extravagant celebrations don't feel right. There was no concert like we had in 2022, and no chartered trips to Los Angeles like before the pandemic; only a celebration in the company court yard. Court yard events happen every month, so everyone is quite used to them. Furthermore, free food is available every day, and freebies aren't very rare, so everyone just stop by before getting off work. As expected, the event wasn't anything special; I went back to the office soon after picking up a souvenir.
Looking back now, Intel's 50th anniversary was quite remarkable. Google faces lawsuits demanding its breakup, with OpenAI challenging its search engine dominance on the left and TikTok carving up the market on the right. Imagine, 30 years from now, will people still type searches into Google? Will people still spend ten minutes watching videos on YouTube? I don't know the answer to these question either. Allow me to do some research and I will come back with the answer in 30 years.