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Americans seem to have this ambition to build a company that will out do google (indeed this is waht google did to yahoo etc) where as us Europeans, our pie in the sky ambition is to earn enough money to buy a house, or get a new car. We couldn't imagine making anything that grand. It isn't possible here.
It doesn't just smell for 10 minutes, either. My suitcase smelled for months afterward. I couldn't wash it.
A little arrogant.
You have to have grown up tollerating poeple who do stuff that you don't like or you disagree with (like Europeans have with the americans ;-) (joke) )
Anyway. I didn't smoke for 30 years, now I do ocasionally. Some of my friends do, some don't. But I refrane from slagging of an entire continent because some people do smoke.
Anyway - it's your blog. I can't win this conversation.
I concede defeat.
Lets start by shooting all smokers.
PS I liked 'you smell PU' :-) made me chuckle. Would I get away with 'so what fatty'?
Well, until you fix your culture you'll have smart people moving over here to hang out in San Francisco. That's OK too. Makes my life more interesting and we can go and enjoy a nice French dinner without having smoke blown in our faces like we had in Paris on almost every meal.
I'm not sure I agree with you about the drivers for companies deciding to locate in Silicon Valley.
First thing to say is that hiring talent is *always* a challenge, irrespective of geography. However, there's not any particular shortage of developer talent in Europe, compared with the US. For example, even in your former company Microsoft has a "geek" research centre in Cambridge, UK.
What there is a shortage of in Europe, though, is of experienced senior management; and this is one reason why companies sometimes decide to base themselves in the US. The centre of gravity of a company almost always tends to wherever the CEO is based.
Other big reasons why companies sometimes like to be based in the US are to do with finance: 1) the truth is, when comparing like with like, US companies have significantly higher valuations than their European counterparts; 2) Attracting VC finance is all about competition for capital - US VC groups tend to have more money, and/or greater ambition than their European counterparts. US VCs will only lead investments in US companies. 3) US VC groups have a different attitude to stock options than European VCs: in a typical European VC-backed company, it's only the CEO who has any worthwhile stock options (and even then, they're not that great). So, with fewer employees properly incentivised in European companies, it's genuninely harder to build a great company.
Given all that, I've often wondered why I base myself in the UK ;-) Over the years, I've had quite a few offers to go over to the US. And my answer (to myself) to that question has always been: no amount of money is worth not having control of where you wake up in the morning. And I like living in the UK!
As for for the smoking thing, I'm sorry that people in Europe lit up in front of you without asking, and blew smoke in your face. That's just plain rude. That kind of behaviour is not considered even remotely socially acceptable in the UK. And for information, by Summer 2007, a smoking ban in all public places will be in effect throughout the UK.
"If you’re a geek outside of San Francisco or Redmond, it’s hard to get a job in the industry."
Not in Europe, bub, that is, if you're at all skilled.
"didn’t see people working on computers in cafes or on the trains the way I do in California — and when I did I never saw someone running a compiler like I find in California or Redmond."
That's because we know the correct time and place to compile stuff: at 3:00 AM in a dank basement. sheesh. :P
US VCs invested in Skype, which was based in Europe. And in Fon, which is based on Europe. You might check your facts there.
I'm a small ISV in the north-east of Italy and I know how difficult is to find talented people when you are located far from the biggest point of attraction in your country or region. Milan is the place to work in Italy, as the Valley is in the US.
By the way, I agree with monk.e.boy about the aspiration of the average European, culture is different.
While Europe count for nothing in the tech industry because of this, not every other aspect of the cultural difference is bad. In Europe (at least Italy) you will not "easily" reach your aspiration but you will never end up thinking about how to survive a financial disaster because you have to undergo an operation.
On my trips we encountered smoking everywhere except for Ireland. France was, admittedly, the worst
And, admittedly, it is getting better. On my trips through Europe eight years ago I hit more smoking than we did in the past year.
You tend to state your opinion as a fact. In my opinion fewer smokers is less fun.
For some people the constant moaning of busy-bodies and do-gooders is reducing our fun and freedom.
Next they'll demand that we all stop:
- drinking
- fighting
- sex
And then what would poor folk do for fun?
And, I like two of the other three things you listed. So, no need to worry about me coming after you for those.
Please do let me know where smoking is banned. I'll spend more time on my next Europe trip there. For instance, I'd definitely come and spend my money in Ireland. Had a great time there and had a wonderful meal without smelling smoke.
But out of the approximately 30 days I've spent in Europe over the past two years that's the only place I can say that about. London? Smoky. Brussels? Smoky. Paris? Smoky. Geneva? Smoky. Wales? Smoky. Copenhagen? Smoky.
I don't know about the rest of the continent, but my mom's sister says Germany still has smoke in restaurants (she lives in the southern part by Switzerland).
Maybe you need to come and spend a month with me near San Francisco to understand why I'm so "arrogant" about such issues? Seems your journalists and leaders are worried about losing business to Silicon Valley.
And, don't take my own words for it. When I got tech leaders apart from the crowds in Europe and talked they complained about smoking too and were looking forward to the coming bans. Maybe you should talk to your own non-smoking citizens.
My mom's sister, who lives in Germany, wishes they'd ban all smoking everywhere. So I'm not alone.
Like you, I hated going out in the evening to a smoke-filled pub or restaurant. Now it's a much more enjoyable experience. Not sure we'll see a huge upturn in high-tech inward investment as a result but feel free to put in a good word for Scotland with your SV contacts! We even speak much the same language ;-)
I also recall my days at AST where smoking was banned in their Orange County facilities (pre-1994); if they smelled smoke in the ventilation system, they sent out search parties to find the culprit. I once saw Safi admonish a visitor for smoking in a reception area.
But, turning to non-smoking jurisdictions, both Ontario and Quebec have recently (June 1, 2006) implemented anti-smoking laws that are at least as tough as Californias. Of course, part of the reason was healthcare costs; remember there is "state" healthcare here.
But, of course, if you are considering these areas, bring along your most fashionable ski jacket! Not Bay Area weather for four months of the year.
>US VCs invested in Skype, which was based in Europe.
>And in Fon, which is based on Europe.
>You might check your facts there.
It's not me that needs to check my facts ;-) I said - "US VCs won't lead investments in European companies". That is a true statement. What that means is that in 95% of cases, a European company will not get US VCs to invest without a European VC in there.
You cite examples of two European companies: Skype and Fon. I take it you're aware that both, in fact, had/have Index Ventures - a European VC group with about $1B under mangement - invested in them.
In any case, Skype and Fon are pretty unusual companies. Not typical VC investments at all. I don't think it's useful to extrapolate.
Simon: good point. Thanks for correcting me.
Jim: did you say "skiing?" I'm there!
Incidentally, there's an official website about the smoking legislation in Scotland - http://www.clearingtheairscotland.com/
It's too soon to say but given the weather in Scotland in the winter I expect a huge upturn in productivity since no-one will want to stand outside their office buildings in order to smoke!
If you tell me that The Valley is full of people who go out of their way to get seen running a compiler on their laptop in public, I'd agreee with you: most of them are probably trying to get hired.
However, many of the projects, companies and products that Matt Asay is writing about came up out of Europe and completely blind-sided The Valley - possibly because they didn't come from The Valley. Many of them still continue to have a far wider impact on the industry than much of what has come out of The Valley during the same time-span. In fact, I'd say that for a very long time indeed, The Valley completely failed to see these products, or realise their importance (some still don't!).
For instance, it was only when some of The Valley's big hitters started soring their data on MySQL that the others started asking why they were still giving money to Larry Ellison's yacht fund. The irony is, that Larry actually "got it", and used some of his Yacht fund to buy a stake.
I think Asay is just saying that you don't need to go to Hollywood to make movies. A lot of movies /do/ come out of Hollywood, but a great many of them are absolute howlers.
Anyway, if this thread is actually about smoking, I apologise!
I'm not saying that what MySQL has done isn't important, but come on, what's the biggest thing in business to come along the past few years? Google's advertising network. That didn't get built in Europe.
How about Apple iPod? That has been kicking ass in the marketplace. Designed in Cupertino. At least that's what it says on the back of mine.
MySQL? Is that the best you got? At least trot out Nokia! :-)
The big advantages of the Valley is the local business infrastructure (which includes VCs, lawyers, talent pool and proximity to potential US partners/customers) and the huge (and relatively simple) US market.
The big disadvantage are the limited international know-how, the limited local talent pool, high costs and the initial absolute focus on the US market.
Now these are of course generalizations, which do not apply for every case.
The Valley is also highly dependent on technology development that takes or took place elesewhere and that serves as foundation for new products. Just a couple of examples: The two core people behind the web were an Englishman and a Belgian working at CERN in Switzerland; most of Intels' new processor architectures were developed in Israel; The world's leading mobile network standard (GSM, 2 billion users) was primarily developed in Europe, etc.
The Valley cannot survive without the "outside" world. Although there is quite some interdependency and finally the world could exist without the Valley, but it probably wouldn't work the other way around.
Respecting smokers and non-smokers alike is the only way to go. Where non-smokers cannot evade the smoke, smoking should not be permitted. In a restaurant it is fairly easy to have non-smoking and smoking sections and where it is not possible the owner of the place should decide if his place is smoking or non-smoking. Everybody is free to chose the place he/she prefers. As smokers cannot expect to smoke everywhere they are, non-smokers cannot expect every place they want to go to be smoke-free. If it turns out that smoke-free places are more profitable than smoking places, then the market will decide.
Live and let live.
Even Lenn came back (although he does praise Europe a lot). http://lennpryor.blogs.com/
In my experience this is impossible.
>As smokers cannot expect to smoke everywhere they are, non-smokers cannot expect every place they want to go to be smoke-free.
Yes we can and increasingly we will as demonstrated by Scotland and Ireland and Canada.
I would not say I am jeleous about Silicon Valley. It is big enough to talk tech all the time and here in Europe, we don't have like those crystalisation points.
When Rick asked me about where to go to in Europe / Germany to meet geeks, I had to think really hard. It would be about starting something. From scratch.
London would be a natural choice for some things, but let me tell you that those are very UK centric as well - they missed the chance to be leading role in Europe. Which has begun of course, at least with the conferences and we will find meetups more and more (upcoming.org with the two groups will help).
And in the meantime? Do we spend time following the Valley. :)
London is pretty nice, the Universities are stunning. If I were a geek that'd probably be where I would hang out.
That's not a universal, just something we picked up. Our guys in Eastern Europe worked harder than our guys in 'Western' Europe, but our Western European guys were able to come up with more creative solutions when we hit a wall.
But in the end it was just a big pain so we went back to using mostly Americans.
No idea if anybody smoked...
Well, I /could/ trot out Nokia, but I did take the time to notice that the original article was about open source projects :).
You, meanwhile, trot out "Google’s advertising network"... which runs on MySQL ;).
"What you just said demonstrates you never have spent any time here and compared it to living in Europe."
You really do 'generalisation and broad assumption' from the top drawer, don't you? I /have/ been there (I've been there /and/ Redmond, in fact ;)), but, no - you're right - I didn't compare it to "Europe". I've seen quite a bit of Europe, as well, and from what I've seen it seems to be a pretty big place to try comparing to part of California - albeit a very distinctive part of California.
In fact, I just don't get where you're trying to go, with this post, at all. Is this actually about the original article, or are you just looking for ways to tell Europeans that they're all stinky smokers, and that's why they suck at IT?
"Yes we can and increasingly we will as demonstrated by Scotland and Ireland and Canada." This is called dictatorship of a majority and is a very dangerous thing. If it makes economical sense to have a non-smoking restaurant then owners will immediately convert to non-smoking.
The problem as I see it lies in not having a distinct "tech city" which Silicon Valley and Redmond have grown into. At least here in the UK I've yet to hear of a technological hub [I'd love to be corrected if I'm wrong]
I think some government [governments? pan-euro?] incentives to the big companies to relocate to one new area with the infrastructure to support high tech companies would eventually lead to an emergence of geek culture in those areas.
Something along the lines of whats being tried out in the UAE - with Dubai's Internet City [I dont know how succesful that will prove to be - I already have a slight dislike for Dubai's culture]
Oh and I don't smoke. I put up with the smoke but I didn't ever like it.
I see this as another opinion based soley on your myopic view of the world. And, yes I have travelled all over the world, but I would never be so arrogant as to make such sweeping generalizations about people and cultures. And you call yourself liberal?
1. is full of self important people who think that working in the Valley is a ultimate top of everything. People in their 50s wearing logo t-shirts - sorry, get a life, please.
2. is even full of people who wouldn't get a job outside of the Valley, in more tight markets. The advantage of the Valley is that almost anybody can get a job (I've worked in SV for 10 years and I've seen it).
3. is a place where even the most stupidiest ideas can get a funding.
4. is a place where you can buy 40 years old paper shack box called a house for 800K.
5. is a place only for the geeks - don't expect any real culture events besides the geek parties. Anyway, why you need any culture events when working 8AM/7PM job (and then sitting with your laptop at Starbucks or talking to other geeks about some technology during weekends)?
Robert, I crossed US and Europe many times (I'm actually from Europe) and I can tell you - people don't give a shit about SV. They simply don't care. Only geeks from SV think that SV and the SV technology is the most important thing under the sun.
You are years behind a proper public transportation, mobile technology, car efficient technology (no, not talking about those rich gyus trying to make 100 miles on a gallon in a super light cars, I'm talking about real technologies used in already produced cars), about the solar energy technology for your 300 sunny days per year and so on. The thechnology world is not only about Web 2.0 and other over-hyped technologies.
I totally disagree on you about culture. But, can see where you're coming from. Who really cares, though? SFO flies everywhere in the world so if you need some culture just head on over to London or Tokyo or Paris for the weekend.
What I like about the valley is there are about 60 different languages spoken within an hour's drive of San Francisco. This means the world's culture is brought there. I really miss that in Seattle.
As to public transport, totally agreed. The valley grew up as a farm town and the farmers never thought that their industry would be gone within 30 years and would be transplanted by something else.
If you think Silicon Valley is only about Web 2.0 and over-hyped technologies, then I guess you need to move somewhere else for a while. Some of the best genetics research is being done there. Some of the best cancer and other medical research too. Toyota and GM have a huge auto plant there. The best radio station in the Western United States is there. And San Francisco is well known as a musical hotbed. Some of the best movie companies are located within an hour of SF too. And many, many other things (my dad built military satellites there, a friend built radar systems).
As for not caring about SV? That's not my experience at all. In fact, look at the markets. What's the hottest companies? They are located in Silicon Valley. If no one cared about SV Google wouldn't be at $400+.
There is also a movement toward working from home here, and hence an increase number of laptops in coffe shop around here... but these are not all geeks. (I still haven't see compilers in coffee, except mine.)
But if you look for workers, migrate your compagny here, we have talented geeks. :)
Someone should do a a Google Map of non-smoker friendly states and municipalities if they haven't already. And maybe countries while they're at it.
I believed it was a question of freedom of choice and a civil liberty. And up until I recently traveled in europe I still believed that. I have to say having lived in a smoke free enviroment for a few years it was very strange and unpleasant. to have that forced upon me.
That said, I don't understand what that has to do with where geeks live and work and I certainly wouldn't try to say that's why they gravitate toward the valley and redmond. Might have more to do with the fact that it's where the industry began? or the fact that bandwith is a fraction of the price it is in europe, etc. you know real viable business reasons ;)
As for there not being a geek culture in europe, I have to disagree I'm a geek dating a geek and almost all my friends are geeks, the reasons you don't see us with our laptops out in public are fairly straight forward for the irish anyway, 1. it rains a lot, laptops don't like rain 2. there is very little publicly available wireless internet access and what there is very expensive 3. it rains alot 4. we don't have to many cafe's that people socilise in that tends to be done in pubs, trying getting Guinness out of yer laptop :) oh and did I mention it rains a lot ;)
I live in Illinois, where things are moving slowly towards a smoking ban. Chicago passed one that'll be in effect in 2008, and the suburbs are now passing their own.
If I move anywhere, it'll be to a non-smoking state, like California.
Besides, there's an appropriate time and place for smoking. At 3:00 AM in a dank basement. sheesh. :P
It took me twenty years of resistance before I moved to Silly Valley. It isn't just the computer culture that keeps me here, it's the overall culture. I've seen more plays in the last two years than in the previous ten; I go to a farmer's market weekly, and to arts and wine festivals all summer. Hic! I can't imagine moving away (as long as I can afford the mortgage...)
As far as the smoking goes, it is just something to be expected in europe, although most of the places that I went in London I didn't see anyone smoking (except pubs). Correlating smoking laws with the density of geeks is rather lame.
As far as getting a job outside of the valley, remember a few years back? Then it was easier to find a job NOT in the valley, so I don't think that it is necessarily harder to find a job outside of the valley. Now, the number of high tech companies that are in any region is probably smaller than the number of companies in the valley, and if you stay around metro areas you can have a better chance (Raleigh-Durham, Austin, Dallas, Phoenix, Chicago, New York, Boston, Atlanta, etc...). This is also an industry where your physical location doesn't really matter...
I'm a geek that lives in the bay area, and I do tend to meet alot of people in software, and it can be nice to talk about business, but for the most part, I think that surrounding yourself with geeks tends to dilute your creative capacities. Meaning that you can tell how large groups of geeks that work together, that they actually start forming a group mentatlity and they tend to stop innovating. The valley is a little different in that there are a lot of voices to be heard, but I can definitely see some patterns of people losing their creativity to hive thinking...
“If you’re a geek outside of San Francisco or Redmond, it’s hard to get a job in the industry.”
If you were talking just about the States, then I would add Manhattan to that little exclusive list. If you’re smart and you can code then, JP Morgan etc, are going to hire you.
If “outside of SF or Redmond” is a reference to the rest of the planet then, absolutely, completely, 100% disagree. There are lots of places in the world where developers and techs can get a job and beaver away with other like minded folk in the software industry.
I work in London in the financial sector, and I promise you that if you can code and deliver you’ll get a job. I worked in one large financial institution where every damn piece of software apart from the OS (Windows) and the database (Sql Server, Oracle) was written from the ground up. Trading systems, risk systems, P&L, confirms, everything. Development teams worked on a giant open plan floor the size of a 1.5 football pitches. 1 in 3 people in the building were Tech. Off the shelf packages were just too generic and the users wanted real control of the development cycle.
On the smoking generalisation. Well, if I was eating a good meal in a good French restaurant and people were smoking next door to me. Damn, I’d be v.annoyed too. But I would argue that every square inch of Europe is not like this. Situation would not have happened in an equivalent London restaurant, right now it will happen for sure in a London bar. And that’s all changing for London next summer.
To finish, I’ll make a sweeping generalisation about the US. Terrible food, you can’t get a high quality dinner in the states. I’ve never had good food in the states, despite visiting several times. So it must be true.
I am a Geek. I am European.
Think the WestCoast USA should look out in the mobile space. We have had 'smart' phones in our pockets for ALOT longer. Devloping apps and systems. Thinking inside and out of the pocket - not just the box. We've been SMS TXTing for as long as I can remember.
I agree what you say about Europe and smoking - there's alot more of it here.
I'm amazed phones over here don't come with a lighter built in ;)
But that wouldn't be too 'smart' eh ? ;)
Hmmm... where's my patent attourney?
"I work in London in the financial sector, and I promise you that if you can code and deliver you’ll get a job."
I have been a developer for 20 years and have a track record as long as a long thing... and currently I can't get any interest at all in London... What I don't have is experience working in financial institutions in London, and that seems to be the problem.
Recruitment for tech is messed up over here; I'm writing an article about it at the moment. Once your in your in, but it can be damned hard breaking down the doors to get in.
this must be one of your worst posts ever....
RE smoking: I am dutch but have been living in the USA on/off the last 9 years.I have never smoked (not even the good stuff ;-) I agree that after living in a smoke free country makes you realize that smoking smells but I have to agree that americans are a bit intolerant to smokers or whatever they deem the norm.
more importantantly I saw the title of your post and thougth this might be a good topic and then I got utterly disappointed when you went down the smoking drain. (I guess the cool-aid starts to get out of your system)
I think it is a real issue for Europe to keep tech in europe. Even more so it is an issue for Americans to not let this evolve into a Europe what "is open source" and a USA that is "commercial" (what ever the exact definitions of both are)
It seems that with the EU/MSFT and France/iTunes-Google issues it starts to become more of a religious trade-war than competition on merits. This is sad and bad for everybody in the long run.
A lot of europeans move to the USA for careers in software I have seen it at MS but also at other companies. SAP is one of the very few software companies that is european based. It is the concentration of software companie that attracts engineers as it gives them options to move arround for careers.
hmm ... I'm not going to win that argument till I find you a job.
If you’re a Film or Screenwriterish type outside of LA (or increasingly Vancover), it’s hard to get a job in the industry.
If you’re a magazineish media-bistro type outside of NYC (or increasingly Miami), it’s hard to get a job in the industry.
If you’re a national Lobbyist type outside of Wash DC, it’s hard to get a job in the industry.
If you’re a national Military contractor type outside of Pentagon City, it’s hard to get a job in the industry.
And so on and so forth...don't go Insider Valley Smug Elite...you want the widest possible audiences for thy podcasts...
Agree on the smoking issue tho...Sac and San Fran so breathe easy...
For me it's actually hard to meet geeks in my area esp. in the field of blogging or similar things. So sometimes I have the feeling that I am living in the wrong spot but in the end it still has it advantages ;-) What I actually do for meeting geeks now is to go inside Second Life and they are hanging around there everywhere ;-)
(actually London might be a good place for geeky stuff but there I dislike the cameras-everywhere thing ;-)
I actually doubt that it has anything to do with smoking. I dislike it when people smoke next to me but well, we're used to it (and I even did DJ for years and this is nothing where you really avoid smoking people).
It's probably also more a general cultural thing that you don't have the maker-feel around and there might also be missing incentives to do a startup and just try things (you know, you might fail...).
Regarding laptops in cafe's: Somehow (at least in my town) people are very reluctant to install e.g. wifi for various silly reasons.. Chains like Starbucks have it but for a far too high fee (plus I dislike their coffee but that's another story :-)
Mmmm...tasty long comment. :)
I live in Issaquah, not too far from Redmond/Seattle where smoking was legal for a long time (it only changed sometime between 1997 and 2000, iirc). There's still a smoker-culture here, and it's most visible, nasty, ugly side-effect. Spitting.
I don't like smoke, but I can deal with it in moderation. I find spitting a truly nasty habit, and the preponderance of having to avoid little nasty puddles correlates strongly with the number of people smoking in an area. It's been getting better in a lot of places in the Seattle/Eastside metroplex, but I work in Pioneer Square right now, where LOTS of people still smoke, and it's a minefield getting in to work.
Sorry, was venting.
I used to live in Silicon Valley. I love it there, it's a wonderful place. Work is plentiful for someone with my skills, and the geek culture is all-encompassing, comfortable, and pleasant. I've had recruiters overhear my friends and I talking tech at a restaurant, and come over and politely leave their business card for 'any of you that might be looking for a new job'.
I gave that up, and moved to Washington, because I can't live where 'brown is the new green' anymore. I can't live with having to have my car's air on 'recycle' all the time because the outside air stinks. You need some clouds to have a proper sunset... I missed sunsets, snow, and seasons. I want to have children, and I can't accept what California has to offer for education. I wanted to buy a house, for my wife, and future children to live in, and I can't afford what California has to offer for housing. Oh, and the California Franchise Tax Board is going to eat a lot of that raise you got yourself...
Despite all that, I often miss Silicon Valley; being surrounded by the warm embrace of the pervasive maker mindset is truly addicting, and almost inexplicable to people who haven't spent a lot of time there.
Still, to each their own, and for me I've found a better place for myself up here, in the emerald hills that you've abandoned. :) There's a good bit of that mindset that's rubbed off up here, if you frequent the right places. Enough to ease the itch, and keep me excited. Add it to the overwhelmingly better surroundings, and it's a Good Place.
I don't think smoking/non-smoking is the answer. I think surrounding yourself with people who love what they're doing is the answer. It brings more people who want to be part of that, and it builds a cycle. People talk about it, others want to see what it's like, they come, they visit, they realize how nice it feels to be surrounded by smart people, and how it ups your own game so you can feel like you're also part of the smart culture. Silicon Valley's been doing that for decades now, reinventing itself with every major revolution. Chips begat hardware begat software begat the internet begat content providers, with many interesting offshoots along the way.
Who knows what's next; but the people in Silicon Valley want to build things (maker mindset), and they love new things (neophilia). These two attributes mean that whatever the next step is, there'll at least be someone in SV working on it with a passion.
But, they aren't scientific, so, if you want to say I pulled that out of my ass that's fine with me.
And "all Europeans stink of cigarettes".
Once you have rid all Europeans of Smoking, what next ? Banning obesity ? Moustaches ? People who wear toupees ? Masons ? Gays ? Gypsies ? Jews ?
Right.
[For those of the hard-of-thinking, this was an argument type where I demonstrated the complete falicy of the proposition by expanding it to comedic proportions. Of course I would never propose any of these things]
See where ignoring your own constitution gets you ? See where intolerance gets you ? Right into an unhealthy, ugly place. Racism Central.
So.
Does *all* technology come from Silicon valley ? Surprisingly not.
Choose the industrial revolution. Choose the phone. Choose Capitalism (Adam Smith), Physics (Maxwell), the American Constitution (Based on the declaration of Arbroath), the TV, Radio, Radar, the Diesel engine, Penicillin, Prolog, microcode, The Microwave, DNA-Cloning (Dolly the sheep), MRI scanners. Choose the guys in the Alamo.
(10 bonus points for spotting the film reference)
Where did they come from ?
Oh. Scotland. Ever been there ? Its cool.
(I'll give you Marconi was an Italian, but he worked in Glasgow).
Where was the first computer built? The first 10 computers ? Oh. It wasnt the US. It was Bletchey Park in the UK, and it knocked three years off World War 2. It was still secret till the late '80s'.
Alan Turin would possibly (for a given value of "true") turn in his grave listening to your rantings.
Right. Finished being so quite arrogant and nationalistic/xenophobic yet ?
Yes - silicon valley has a huge density of geeks & VC's - hell - a lot of Scots moved there. What do you expect ? But is it the ONLY place to work ?
Brownouts, drive by shootings, Web v1.0, hugely expensive property, Earthquakes ? Sold it to me already.
Whats the biggest computer company in the world?
[ Not "Whats the biggest software company in the world" - thats your ex-employer - who are NOT based in silicon vallley. ]
The biggest computer company is IBM. And where do they do the majority of their research ?
All over the world.
So. Pleeeeeease. I know your excited about moving back to Silicon Valley. To the extent where you seem to think that all Europeans smoke.
(They banned smoking in all buildings in Scotland this year - and will follow in Englandshire later this year. Holland. Almost gone. Ireland. Gone. Get the idea ? You choose to socialise with folks who blow smoke in your face and you categorise an entire content ?)
Get a grip.
I'm just about at the stage where I read this blog out of morbid curiosity.
---* Bill
http://www.billbuchan.com
P.P.S. On the more positive note, I introduced my father - who is 73 - to the iPod and the idea of Podcasting last week.
He "got it" in about 3 minutes flat and is desperate to record his band and podcast it. Does this (a) prove that Apple UI design is easy and (b) does this make my old man the oldest of the iPod generation? Oh and (c) he's started blogging. No - he's not read your book...
Not bad for an ex trawlerman out of Fraserburgh, eh ?
I'll join him and roll out another one. HTML, WWW & Tim Berners-Lee.
http://www.w3.org/History/1989/proposal.html
WWW would not have happened in Silicon Valley.
There are countries in Europe that have _very_ strict bans on smoking, others that are more liberal. There are countries in Europe with a lower percentage of smokers than the U.S., and there are countries with a higher percentage. But you really shouldn't draw on your personal experience from a few countries to the whole continent.
The point is, almost every figure you come up with seems to be pulled out of your ass but you seem to want to state it as fact.
LDAP came out of the Univ of Michigan
And let's not forget the ITU.
I'm not seeing much history coming out of SV given these last few posts. Remind me again why it's the computing center of the universe?
I think the attractiveness of a life in the US has much deteriorated in the eyes of many Europeans in recent years. The way you are treated at the airports and by officials for example. But thats just another primitive stereotype growing like that in the original post.
That said, I've created a pretty pointless web 2.0 mashup thingy that shows precisely where the current open source vendors are based. One thing it does show is that open source is very much a Silicon Valley phenomenon.
Let's not forget about Northern Virginia/DC Metro Area. 90% of the world's (yes, world's) Internet traffic passes through NOVA every day. There are as many tech companies here as there are in SV. The pay is the same. There are more Ph.Ds and Masters Degree holders here than anywhere else in the country. The average salary here for geeks is just under 6 figures, many exceeding 200k a year. We're talking geeks here. I work in IT security and I personally make 105k a year. Guess what? I'm moving to the midwest because, Like Pepe so expertly put it, people think their **** doesn't stink in places like this and in SV. People go into debt and drive stupidly expensive cars to impress people they don't even know. People shop at overproced stores and eat at vastly overpriced restaurants to impress people they don't know around them. People do this to show people they don't know they've somehow "arrived." Arrived at what? Debt, stupidly high monthly mortgage that exceeds the recommended 20% of one's monthly salary, $500 a month car payments, and a whole slew of other dumb things.
I want out. I am going to take a $50k a ear job to enjoy my family, no traffic, a nice home in a quiet area, a good church life, etc. There are geeks there. It's actually more fun when there are fewer geeks, not more. I work and live next to geeks. I want to talk to the barista chicks, the farmers, the waitress. I want to talk with real people about real issues, not just what stupid browser plug-ins someone uses.
There are lots of businesses now with remote & highly asynch staff. Modulo a few Gen-X VC influences ("I-don't-want-my-money-going-farther-away-than-a 90-minute-drive"). But when describing the ~virtue~ of SV, Rob & commenters here seem to focus on future networking potential. It's OK if my direct reports are in Bangalore and Boston, but I want to be in the same county as my ideal next partner or employer? Hm, is this more of a "next gig" than a "current gig" thing?
I know some coders in Hungary who are just as sure as you that there's no worthwhile geek life outside of one or two places ... but for them, all of them are in Eastern Europe. Not sure this is a global Valley-centric issue. Maybe more like a common tendency not to like dealing with unfamiliar environments?
Own a car?
Naturally, it's much easier blaming smokers for emphysema in schoolchildren rather than internal combustion engines..
"And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?"