Shockley eventually left Bell Labs to start his own company, , in Palo Alto, California. He wanted to mass-produce silicon transistors.
If you have ever found yourself staring at a pile of salvaged components, squinting at a cryptic code on a tiny black plastic casing, you know the pain. Is that "C945" a general-purpose NPN, or a high-voltage switching transistor? Is "A733" a suitable replacement for the BC557?