5 ms·

If you're going to downvote by 2 points, please state what is inaccurate. Nothing I have stated is inaccurate and Americans agree with me.

chillacy 9y ago
Maybe you could provide some proof for Microsoft being in Seattle because he "didn't want to compete with SV". But also as someone who works in Seattle (for a SV company), it's sort of insulting to imply that you have to be in SV. I get paid SV rates and don't pay any state income tax and have 4x cheaper housing, and the PNW is environmentally beautiful. But sorry I'm depressing your wage!
- davidf18 9y ago
  Seattle has presumably changed a bit since Microsoft was founded there about 40 years ago. No Amazon, etc. No competition for labor from other tech firms. Gates located there because he did not want to compete for labor from other tech firms and it was much harder then for SV or other tech to poach Microsoft employees paying them market wages. Remember Gates is very much the businessman. Nobody is competing with my work, I am simply pointing out facts. HN readers, who generally deal with facts and data should appreciate that. Imported labor depresses wages.
  - chillacy 9y ago
    You're right, I do appreciate facts. But you still haven't provided a source for your claim. Unless you do so, it seems like you're producing a mixture of facts, opinions, and speculation, and calling them all facts.
    - davidf18 9y ago
      See my comment above. I recall Gates or other reliable source stating this information and it made sense, because for me, Seattle is boring, boring.
      - aanm1988 9y ago
        So basically you hate Seattle so you are going to keep pushing this narrative?
        davidf18 9y ago
        No, there is a business case as it keeps tech labor costs lower, at least at the time the decision was made 40 years ago to locate in Seattle. You'll note that Boeing relocated their HQ to Chicago.
      - chillacy 9y ago
        Cool story. Maybe we have different ideas of what proof is... I was hoping for a link to an interview or an article. Did Seattle rain in your coffee or something?
        davidf18 9y ago
        > "Did Seattle rain in your coffee or something?" Haha very funny. Starbucks HQ is in Seattle. I do drink Starbucks sometimes.
  - mywittyname 9y ago
    Why not stay in Albuquerque then? He and his cofounder both grew up in greater Seattle and the area is home to University of Washington, which has a top-ranked Computer Science program (right behind Berkley, CM, & MIT), making talent easy to find.
    - davidf18 9y ago
      > "Why not stay in Albuquerque then?" Couldn't find the tech talent there. > "which has a top-ranked Computer Science program" You do realize this was 40 years ago and as I had already pointed out, things change? Those that have watched the Arthur C. Clark & Stanley Kubrick movie, "2001 A Space Odyssey" know that HAL was created in Urbana, Illinois, home of the Univ of Illinois which is one of the top engineering and computer science schools. If you examine the chart near the end of this article, you can see that U. Illinois receives $170 million per year in CS NSF funds. #2 Cornell is < $120 million. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-03-06/want-a-job-in-silicon-valley-after-yale-good-luck-with-that https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-03-06/want-a-jo... As for the business decision of Gates/Allen to locate Microsoft in Seattle so as not to be in the competitive market for talent of SV, I saw it from a reliable source (perhaps something Gates himself said). Disclosure: I grew up in Urbana (my h.s. is across the street from the U of I CS building) and I programmed for faculty on their supercomputers beginning when I was 15.
      - slededit 9y ago
        > I saw it from a reliable source Yet you can't clarify where this source came from or provide any reference to it. This is worse than hearsay.
        davidf18 9y ago
        Depends on who is saying it. If you look at my previous comments on different topics you'll find that I cite references where I can.

chillacy 9y ago

Maybe you could provide some proof for Microsoft being in Seattle because he "didn't want to compete with SV". But also as someone who works in Seattle (for a SV company), it's sort of insulting to imply that you have to be in SV. I get paid SV rates and don't pay any state income tax and have 4x cheaper housing, and the PNW is environmentally beautiful. But sorry I'm depressing your wage!

davidf18 9y ago
Seattle has presumably changed a bit since Microsoft was founded there about 40 years ago. No Amazon, etc. No competition for labor from other tech firms. Gates located there because he did not want to compete for labor from other tech firms and it was much harder then for SV or other tech to poach Microsoft employees paying them market wages. Remember Gates is very much the businessman. Nobody is competing with my work, I am simply pointing out facts. HN readers, who generally deal with facts and data should appreciate that. Imported labor depresses wages.
- chillacy 9y ago
  You're right, I do appreciate facts. But you still haven't provided a source for your claim. Unless you do so, it seems like you're producing a mixture of facts, opinions, and speculation, and calling them all facts.
  - davidf18 9y ago
    See my comment above. I recall Gates or other reliable source stating this information and it made sense, because for me, Seattle is boring, boring.
    - aanm1988 9y ago
      So basically you hate Seattle so you are going to keep pushing this narrative?
      - davidf18 9y ago
        No, there is a business case as it keeps tech labor costs lower, at least at the time the decision was made 40 years ago to locate in Seattle. You'll note that Boeing relocated their HQ to Chicago.
    - chillacy 9y ago
      Cool story. Maybe we have different ideas of what proof is... I was hoping for a link to an interview or an article. Did Seattle rain in your coffee or something?
      - davidf18 9y ago
        > "Did Seattle rain in your coffee or something?" Haha very funny. Starbucks HQ is in Seattle. I do drink Starbucks sometimes.
- mywittyname 9y ago
  Why not stay in Albuquerque then? He and his cofounder both grew up in greater Seattle and the area is home to University of Washington, which has a top-ranked Computer Science program (right behind Berkley, CM, & MIT), making talent easy to find.
  - davidf18 9y ago
    > "Why not stay in Albuquerque then?" Couldn't find the tech talent there. > "which has a top-ranked Computer Science program" You do realize this was 40 years ago and as I had already pointed out, things change? Those that have watched the Arthur C. Clark & Stanley Kubrick movie, "2001 A Space Odyssey" know that HAL was created in Urbana, Illinois, home of the Univ of Illinois which is one of the top engineering and computer science schools. If you examine the chart near the end of this article, you can see that U. Illinois receives $170 million per year in CS NSF funds. #2 Cornell is < $120 million. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-03-06/want-a-job-in-silicon-valley-after-yale-good-luck-with-that https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-03-06/want-a-jo... As for the business decision of Gates/Allen to locate Microsoft in Seattle so as not to be in the competitive market for talent of SV, I saw it from a reliable source (perhaps something Gates himself said). Disclosure: I grew up in Urbana (my h.s. is across the street from the U of I CS building) and I programmed for faculty on their supercomputers beginning when I was 15.
    - slededit 9y ago
      > I saw it from a reliable source Yet you can't clarify where this source came from or provide any reference to it. This is worse than hearsay.
      - davidf18 9y ago
        Depends on who is saying it. If you look at my previous comments on different topics you'll find that I cite references where I can.