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How Remote Work Could Destroy Silicon Valley

29 points by muzz 6y ago

Clubber 6y ago
That's probably a good thing considering computer innovation has become pretty stale. A lot of it is large companies are unable to do it and smaller companies are too vulnerable by themselves (note the copy or buy line, copy is a serious threat). iPhone was the last groundbreaking thing I can remember and that came out 13 years ago, well before the Snowden revelations. Elon Musk has done some pretty incredible things, but he's an outlier. "copying the breakthrough or attempting to buy the startup outright, such as Facebook’s acquisitions of..."
bdcravens 6y ago
Electric cars and the decline of oil dependence could also destroy Houston. The Internet has led to the decline of print media. Progress has a cost, and nothing in life is guaranteed.
gedy 6y ago
I like the articles comparison of the valley's belief in serendipity and hallway conversations to Feng Shui. Some folks think it's absolutely critical, but others in the same space.. don't see it. Been in the industry for 15+ years and the "important hallway conversation" thing just doesn't seem to matter all that much? I see the point if an individual's main contribution is talking to people and schmoozing. But that is individual, not business value either.
- dkdk8283 6y ago
  Making friends over beers after work is the only value of an office to me. Hallway convos for work purposes aren’t really all that great. However, they’re great for personal enrichment.
  - Schiendelman 6y ago
    I think the idea is that it’s the personal enrichment that’s the petri dish for the next company or idea.
aSplash0fDerp 6y ago
Revenue per square foot does not directly apply to this (yet), but just like the casino/gambling industries going online, the serendipity still exists for all involved. Somethings in life are about the "Fantastic User Experience"... Silicon Valley can be digitized in much the same way with all of the best parts intact.
dasil003 6y ago
Wow Medium has some audacity to through a paywall-style signup in front of their sharecropped content.
linguae 6y ago
I have a somewhat contrarian opinion. I'll speak from the standpoint of an American citizen. Yes, remote work will obviate the need to live in Silicon Valley for many engineers. I'm also concerned that the shift to remote work may be used as justification by anti-immigration politicians to reduce immigration on the grounds that highly-skilled immigrants could work remotely for American companies from their home countries. However, engineers in America still need to live somewhere. Silicon Valley is very expensive to the point where $500,000 won't purchase anything except for maybe a one-bedroom condo, but unfortunately many other coastal metro areas in the United States are not affordable, either; Seattle, Portland, Los Angeles, New York, and Boston are expensive places. While I see some engineers moving to more rural parts of America as well as other less expensive portions of the country such as the Midwest, the South, and the "Rust Belt," for some engineers who grew up in or near America's coastal metro areas it's going to be a major adjustment moving to the places I listed due to the differences in cultural values and politics. For these reasons I can see many engineers still opt for living in or near Silicon Valley despite the major challenges regarding housing prices. For these reasons I think Silicon Valley is still going to remain a desirable place to live for some engineers for many years to come.

29 points by muzz 6y ago

That's probably a good thing considering computer innovation has become pretty stale. A lot of it is large companies are unable to do it and smaller companies are too vulnerable by themselves (note the copy or buy line, copy is a serious threat). iPhone was the last groundbreaking thing I can remember and that came out 13 years ago, well before the Snowden revelations. Elon Musk has done some pretty incredible things, but he's an outlier. "copying the breakthrough or attempting to buy the startup outright, such as Facebook’s acquisitions of..."

bdcravens 6y ago

Electric cars and the decline of oil dependence could also destroy Houston. The Internet has led to the decline of print media. Progress has a cost, and nothing in life is guaranteed.

gedy 6y ago

I like the articles comparison of the valley's belief in serendipity and hallway conversations to Feng Shui. Some folks think it's absolutely critical, but others in the same space.. don't see it. Been in the industry for 15+ years and the "important hallway conversation" thing just doesn't seem to matter all that much? I see the point if an individual's main contribution is talking to people and schmoozing. But that is individual, not business value either.

dkdk8283 6y ago
Making friends over beers after work is the only value of an office to me. Hallway convos for work purposes aren’t really all that great. However, they’re great for personal enrichment.
- Schiendelman 6y ago
  I think the idea is that it’s the personal enrichment that’s the petri dish for the next company or idea.

aSplash0fDerp 6y ago

Revenue per square foot does not directly apply to this (yet), but just like the casino/gambling industries going online, the serendipity still exists for all involved. Somethings in life are about the "Fantastic User Experience"... Silicon Valley can be digitized in much the same way with all of the best parts intact.

dasil003 6y ago

Wow Medium has some audacity to through a paywall-style signup in front of their sharecropped content.

linguae 6y ago

I have a somewhat contrarian opinion. I'll speak from the standpoint of an American citizen. Yes, remote work will obviate the need to live in Silicon Valley for many engineers. I'm also concerned that the shift to remote work may be used as justification by anti-immigration politicians to reduce immigration on the grounds that highly-skilled immigrants could work remotely for American companies from their home countries. However, engineers in America still need to live somewhere. Silicon Valley is very expensive to the point where $500,000 won't purchase anything except for maybe a one-bedroom condo, but unfortunately many other coastal metro areas in the United States are not affordable, either; Seattle, Portland, Los Angeles, New York, and Boston are expensive places. While I see some engineers moving to more rural parts of America as well as other less expensive portions of the country such as the Midwest, the South, and the "Rust Belt," for some engineers who grew up in or near America's coastal metro areas it's going to be a major adjustment moving to the places I listed due to the differences in cultural values and politics. For these reasons I can see many engineers still opt for living in or near Silicon Valley despite the major challenges regarding housing prices. For these reasons I think Silicon Valley is still going to remain a desirable place to live for some engineers for many years to come.