They do seem to have been very innovative, and have had a very good work culture. They also had a huge impact on the Silicon Valley startup scene.
Some products they are known for:
- oscilloscopes
- Atomic clocks, notably highly portable ones, see e.g. Video "Inside the HP 5061A Cesium Clock by CuriousMarc (2020)"
- pocket calculator
HP Origins promotional documentary by HP (2006)
Source. A bit too star eyed, but gives some good ideas.In a way, Agilent represents the most grassroots electronics parts of HP from before they became overly invested in laptops and fell.
They spun out the electronics part as Keysight in 2014, becoming life science only.
