After how HL changed I really have to share my deepest thoughts

Clarke based HAL off a real IBM computer- the 704, of was inspired by it- the first one which synthesized human voice, and that computer even sung Daisy Bell just as Hal does. We know IBM makes equipment in 2001’s world. The suits have IBM logos on the wrists. There is a phantom reflection in the suit visors when looking at a computer screen which appears to be “IBM,” and in enhanced high definition footage you can actually see a clear IBM logo on Hal in one scene.

Early drafts of the script had HAL as a female computer called “Athena.” K&C decided that there could be romantic or sexual themes perceived or subconscious to the audience of the computer was “female” - so they made it a “male.”

Did Kubric or Clarke set up a lifelong conspiracy over HAL’s name? Did they lie in interviews for decades, fabricate elaborate supporting documents for deniability such as Kubrick letter of concern over offending IBM and how they would like to be thanked in the credits, or the early documents showing a female computer? Is it all just a coincidence that the evidence worked out to a confusing mess- did they truly originally intend HAL to be a woman, but later decided to rib IBM in a semi secret in joke?

Or... is the inclusion of things like the IBM logos supposedly showing HAL is an IBM computer just a mistake? Were these shots filmed or props designed at a time or by people unaware of IBMs stance and without the changes Kubric wrote his letter asking to make sure IBM was on with it? Some folks dismiss the last one as Kubric was known for being meticulous...

But you also have to realize that 2001 cake out in 1968. With the technology of the time it would be entirely possible to miss those tiny details- fidelity of even professional AV equipment wasn’t the most accurate and very small details and lighting could easily be lost- and at the very least- film makers knew that when projected to a format viewed by the public, these details would often not be visible at all or loom completely different.

Home video technology also wasn’t really a thing- if you wanted to see a movie over and over you had to go pay at the theater to do so and could only watch it sitting it’s run or subsequent runs. So the concept of “Easter eggs” in film wasn’t really there. Many of the clues used in the theory have been discovered in more recent decades, especially the clues in the film which in several cases weren’t clear until technology for HD was commercially available and wide spread. They had to re do off the masters.