4 ms·

> Because Silicon Valley is seen as a utopia for innovation Is this really the generally held consensus with the public? I certainly don't believe this, but I

> Because Silicon Valley is seen as a utopia for innovation Is this really the generally held consensus with the public? I certainly don't believe this, but I work here so I'm biased. I think most people think Silicon Valley is full of overpaid engineers churning out things nobody actually wants - there's a reason the show Silicon Valley was such a hit. Also a fun fact - Mike Judge (creator of Silicon Valley) actually worked in the Valley for a bit after college. He felt like people here were just ridiculous - the basis for the show is largely rooted in his own experiences working here. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Judge#1985%E2%80%9397:_Early_science_career;_musician;_animation_and_Beavis_and_Butt-Head https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Judge#1985%E2%80%9397:_Ea...

Jasper_ 7y ago
Silicon Valley's writers met with Google X's boss, Astro Teller [0]. He got so pissed they were making fun of him, he stormed out of the room, supposedly on rollerskates, and yet Google still pays him top dollar money. There are a large enough number of people here who believe it that they continue to start startups and play startup-dressup, talk about changing the world, and elevate the world's consciousness or whatever. The number of applications to Y Combinator every year is growing, not shrinking. [0] https://www.businessinsider.com/google-x-astro-teller-hbo-silicon-valley-2016-6 https://www.businessinsider.com/google-x-astro-teller-hbo-si...
- OnlineGladiator 7y ago
  I think it sounds like we agree - most of the people who want to "change the world" are really opportunists looking to get rich. That's not to say there really aren't some fantastic people trying to make a difference, but in my anecdotal experience they are drowned out by people who really only care about money. And ultimately it's investors who dictate what companies get funded, and they definitely care about the money.
- C1sc0cat 7y ago
  Not sure what your point is - where they taking the piss in the meeting he walked out of or was it just the show in general. TBH Hollywood / film /tv does not have a good track record in portraying us do they.
  - blaser-waffle 7y ago
    Given the inevitable bad behavior by big tech companies -- remember Google's "don't be evil" slogan? -- it's amazing they have a track record of portraying SV in a good light? The sociopaths showed up in the 90s and have been there since. At this point it's mostly Wall Street with pseudo-progressive window dressing.
itronitron 7y ago
Public opinion is probably evenly split between 'utopia for innovation' and 'collective of delusional narcissists' (CDN if you prefer an acronym)
dredmorbius 7y ago
That's certainly a major narrative, and the one which SV companies (and their very well-compensated PR engines) are promoting. The Techlash, dating to about 2017 (see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Platform_economy#Post_2017_backlash https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Platform_economy#Post_2017_bac..., I also consider Tim Bray's "You Might be Evil" blog post from September 2017 a watershed, https://www.tbray.org/ongoing/When/201x/2017/09/20/Tech-is-Evil https://www.tbray.org/ongoing/When/201x/2017/09/20/Tech-is-E...), is one of the occasional reversals in popular sentiment for technology and innovation. These arise from time to time, and are not generally irrational. The Luddite movement, the Fundamentalist-Modernist Controversy (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fundamentalist–Modernist_controversy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fundamentalist–Modernist_contr...), numerous examples in Bernhard J. Sterns' excellent "Resistances to the Adoption of Technological Innovations" (1937) (https://archive.org/details/technologicaltre1937unitrich/page/39 https://archive.org/details/technologicaltre1937unitrich/pag..., retyped as Markdown: https://pastebin.com/raw/Bapu75is https://pastebin.com/raw/Bapu75is), various back-to-land movements (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Back-to-the-land_movement https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Back-to-the-land_movement), notably the 1960s-70s commune movement in the US, and others.

Jasper_ 7y ago

Silicon Valley's writers met with Google X's boss, Astro Teller [0]. He got so pissed they were making fun of him, he stormed out of the room, supposedly on rollerskates, and yet Google still pays him top dollar money. There are a large enough number of people here who believe it that they continue to start startups and play startup-dressup, talk about changing the world, and elevate the world's consciousness or whatever. The number of applications to Y Combinator every year is growing, not shrinking. [0] https://www.businessinsider.com/google-x-astro-teller-hbo-silicon-valley-2016-6 https://www.businessinsider.com/google-x-astro-teller-hbo-si...

OnlineGladiator 7y ago
I think it sounds like we agree - most of the people who want to "change the world" are really opportunists looking to get rich. That's not to say there really aren't some fantastic people trying to make a difference, but in my anecdotal experience they are drowned out by people who really only care about money. And ultimately it's investors who dictate what companies get funded, and they definitely care about the money.
C1sc0cat 7y ago
Not sure what your point is - where they taking the piss in the meeting he walked out of or was it just the show in general. TBH Hollywood / film /tv does not have a good track record in portraying us do they.
- blaser-waffle 7y ago
  Given the inevitable bad behavior by big tech companies -- remember Google's "don't be evil" slogan? -- it's amazing they have a track record of portraying SV in a good light? The sociopaths showed up in the 90s and have been there since. At this point it's mostly Wall Street with pseudo-progressive window dressing.

itronitron 7y ago

Public opinion is probably evenly split between 'utopia for innovation' and 'collective of delusional narcissists' (CDN if you prefer an acronym)

dredmorbius 7y ago

That's certainly a major narrative, and the one which SV companies (and their very well-compensated PR engines) are promoting. The Techlash, dating to about 2017 (see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Platform_economy#Post_2017_backlash https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Platform_economy#Post_2017_bac..., I also consider Tim Bray's "You Might be Evil" blog post from September 2017 a watershed, https://www.tbray.org/ongoing/When/201x/2017/09/20/Tech-is-Evil https://www.tbray.org/ongoing/When/201x/2017/09/20/Tech-is-E...), is one of the occasional reversals in popular sentiment for technology and innovation. These arise from time to time, and are not generally irrational. The Luddite movement, the Fundamentalist-Modernist Controversy (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fundamentalist–Modernist_controversy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fundamentalist–Modernist_contr...), numerous examples in Bernhard J. Sterns' excellent "Resistances to the Adoption of Technological Innovations" (1937) (https://archive.org/details/technologicaltre1937unitrich/page/39 https://archive.org/details/technologicaltre1937unitrich/pag..., retyped as Markdown: https://pastebin.com/raw/Bapu75is https://pastebin.com/raw/Bapu75is), various back-to-land movements (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Back-to-the-land_movement https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Back-to-the-land_movement), notably the 1960s-70s commune movement in the US, and others.