5 ms·

There is a supremacy, but the idea that it is threatened is hyperbolic, designed to get readers. This is a small shift in the grand scheme. It might help crea

by ijidak 6y ago

There is a supremacy, but the idea that it is threatened is hyperbolic, designed to get readers. This is a small shift in the grand scheme. It might help create new centers. But the gravity is going to be around the universities and infrastructure that is unique to the area. Shifts like that rarely happen overnight. Especially not because of something as temporary as a pandemic.

claydavisss 6y ago
The "shift" has already been happening for a decade or more, covid just created a few visible outlier migrations that have pushed the conversation into the open. At this point, Netflix is the only major company I know of that that still locates 100% of software work in the Bay Area.
herbst 6y ago
There are great universities outside of sf and even the us. ETH zurich for example. In zurich you also have google, oracle and co. We also have high speed internet for cheap. And are able to fo worldwide business, even in a pandemic. And thats just switzerland. Not sure if there is any reason for sf once most startups moved sonewhere else.
- xiphias2 6y ago
  One of the things that would maybe help Switzerland is to make English an official language (there are already 4 langauges, supporting English wouldn't be that hard). For me dealing with Swiss laws to make a company would make things much harder than for people who speak German well.
  - medium_burrito 6y ago
    You have 4 different official languages to choose from; surely it cannot be that hard to learn one of them for even the most meanly educated tech worker?
    - xiphias2 6y ago
      I tried to learn Swiss German, but gave up quite fast, it's just not my style. Also even people who came from Germany said that it's hard for them, and Swiss people never really take them in their social circle, that took away all my motivation. I could do everything in English though except the tax returns, it just didn't feel like home to me, so like many others I came away. Good luck fitting in for you when you get there!
      - medium_burrito 6y ago
        I speak several languages fluently, so no big deal for me, but one of my talents is learning languages easily. The not fitting in is a way bigger deal in Switzerland. Germans will never be accepted, no matter what. Eastern Europeans aren't even considered people.
        herbst 6y ago
        Then again as austrian o barely face any issues.
- residentfoam 6y ago
  Still, I am sure Zurich wouldn't even come close to the number of opportunities one get in SV. My LinkedIn account is always flooded by recruiters. That gives engineers leverage to seek new and better opportunities all the time. Plus networking is also a big one. Unless you get a job at Google/Oracle and planning on retiring there, SV wins hands down. The language barrier is also a no go along with cost of living.
tharne 6y ago
New England has a ton of world-class universities and yet nothing even close to Silicon Valley. The gravity you mention, is the people, and once they start leaving that "gravity" goes with them.
- nradov 6y ago
  New England had something close to (or even superior to) Silicon Valley. Most of the leading minicomputer companies were headquartered in the Boston area, and benefitted from the world-class universities there. But that industry collectively missed disruptive changes from minicomputers to microcomputers, and then the Internet.
- ghaff 6y ago
  In fairness, I think that's partly comes from defining "tech" as the stuff that's done in Silicon Valley. SV doesn't have the pharma and biotech that Cambridge has for example. That said, there was something of a shift westward for VC funding and new company formation post the minicomputer era and a lot of the new tech-related employment in the city proper are outposts of west coast companies. (There was basically not a single tech company in Boston proper after Teradyne moved out until the past 20 years or so. The computer companies were all outside; hence "Route 128" companies.)
zarkov99 6y ago
The university situation is not particularly unique in SV. What other infrastructure do you mean?
- ijidak 6y ago
  Venture capital, finance, concentration of mentors, proximity to Asia, liberal culture and massive population of California. Infrastructure might be the wrong word. I was mainly thinking of soft factors that take time to grow following the exodus. As well as geography and demographics.
  - zarkov99 6y ago
    I think other than proximity to Asia, Austin has all of this and fewer of the problems. I would not be surprised if there is a significant shif in the coming years.
ed_balls 6y ago
> Especially not because of something as temporary as a pandemic. One could argue that diseases were major contributors to the collapse of the Roman Empire - internal problems didn't allow them to keep the external forces at bay.

by ijidak 6y ago

claydavisss 6y ago

The "shift" has already been happening for a decade or more, covid just created a few visible outlier migrations that have pushed the conversation into the open. At this point, Netflix is the only major company I know of that that still locates 100% of software work in the Bay Area.

herbst 6y ago

There are great universities outside of sf and even the us. ETH zurich for example. In zurich you also have google, oracle and co. We also have high speed internet for cheap. And are able to fo worldwide business, even in a pandemic. And thats just switzerland. Not sure if there is any reason for sf once most startups moved sonewhere else.

xiphias2 6y ago
One of the things that would maybe help Switzerland is to make English an official language (there are already 4 langauges, supporting English wouldn't be that hard). For me dealing with Swiss laws to make a company would make things much harder than for people who speak German well.
- medium_burrito 6y ago
  You have 4 different official languages to choose from; surely it cannot be that hard to learn one of them for even the most meanly educated tech worker?
  - xiphias2 6y ago
    I tried to learn Swiss German, but gave up quite fast, it's just not my style. Also even people who came from Germany said that it's hard for them, and Swiss people never really take them in their social circle, that took away all my motivation. I could do everything in English though except the tax returns, it just didn't feel like home to me, so like many others I came away. Good luck fitting in for you when you get there!
    - medium_burrito 6y ago
      I speak several languages fluently, so no big deal for me, but one of my talents is learning languages easily. The not fitting in is a way bigger deal in Switzerland. Germans will never be accepted, no matter what. Eastern Europeans aren't even considered people.
      - herbst 6y ago
        Then again as austrian o barely face any issues.
residentfoam 6y ago
Still, I am sure Zurich wouldn't even come close to the number of opportunities one get in SV. My LinkedIn account is always flooded by recruiters. That gives engineers leverage to seek new and better opportunities all the time. Plus networking is also a big one. Unless you get a job at Google/Oracle and planning on retiring there, SV wins hands down. The language barrier is also a no go along with cost of living.

tharne 6y ago

New England has a ton of world-class universities and yet nothing even close to Silicon Valley. The gravity you mention, is the people, and once they start leaving that "gravity" goes with them.

nradov 6y ago
New England had something close to (or even superior to) Silicon Valley. Most of the leading minicomputer companies were headquartered in the Boston area, and benefitted from the world-class universities there. But that industry collectively missed disruptive changes from minicomputers to microcomputers, and then the Internet.
ghaff 6y ago
In fairness, I think that's partly comes from defining "tech" as the stuff that's done in Silicon Valley. SV doesn't have the pharma and biotech that Cambridge has for example. That said, there was something of a shift westward for VC funding and new company formation post the minicomputer era and a lot of the new tech-related employment in the city proper are outposts of west coast companies. (There was basically not a single tech company in Boston proper after Teradyne moved out until the past 20 years or so. The computer companies were all outside; hence "Route 128" companies.)

zarkov99 6y ago

The university situation is not particularly unique in SV. What other infrastructure do you mean?

ijidak 6y ago
Venture capital, finance, concentration of mentors, proximity to Asia, liberal culture and massive population of California. Infrastructure might be the wrong word. I was mainly thinking of soft factors that take time to grow following the exodus. As well as geography and demographics.
- zarkov99 6y ago
  I think other than proximity to Asia, Austin has all of this and fewer of the problems. I would not be surprised if there is a significant shif in the coming years.

ed_balls 6y ago

> Especially not because of something as temporary as a pandemic. One could argue that diseases were major contributors to the collapse of the Roman Empire - internal problems didn't allow them to keep the external forces at bay.