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The anonymous Silicon Valley satire that has stumped tech world insiders

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Re: The anonymous Silicon Valley satire that has stumped tech world insiders

#101

Post by jdminhbg »

mattzito wrote: post #93
jdminhbg wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The bubble exists, but it's ludicrous to believe that SV startups don't have profound effects outside it. What % of people use Google, or Facebook, or Android/iOS every day in the west?

I think it's important to differentiate between the effects the products these companies create have, and the effects the companies themselves have on world/US culture. Clearly the products have had a profound impact on culture, but I think the impact would have been the same if they had been developed by Exxon or Halliburton. As far as the cultural impact of the companies themselves, I think it's been modest at best…

> Clearly the products have had a profound impact on culture, but I think the impact would have been the same if they had been developed by Exxon or Halliburton.

But Exxon or Halliburton couldn't have developed these products. They wouldn't even try and fail to develop these kinds of products.

Re: The anonymous Silicon Valley satire that has stumped tech world insiders

#102

Post by neom »

roymurdock wrote: post #23

Self-referential, technology-focused and shaped texts like this make me wonder what the new, dominant school of thought will be for this generation's western literature. Post-modernism [1] has been considered "dead" for about 10-15 years with no discernible movement coalescing to replace it. SV, entrepreneurship, and startup culture have had such a profound effect on the west that it would be hard for authors today t…

butterfield, levie, dorsey, zuckerberg, pisoni - hopefully.

Re: The anonymous Silicon Valley satire that has stumped tech world insiders

#103

Post by ubercore »

clock_tower wrote: post #81
CPLX wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So excellent that the rest of the comments have deftly proven Poe's Law once again.

It's true enough that postmodernism is dead in the water, though. One of the mysteries of the contemporary world is that all of its ideas are stagnant -- and yet no one has any idea what's going to replace them.

Which was one of the original motivations for post-modernism. But it existed, so something else will.

Re: The anonymous Silicon Valley satire that has stumped tech world insiders

#104

Post by biot »

jdminhbg wrote: post #74
AngrySkillzz wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> SV, entrepreneurship, and startup culture have had such a profound effect on the west Only in your tiny bubble. People seriously believe this?

The bubble exists, but it's ludicrous to believe that SV startups don't have profound effects outside it. What % of people use Google, or Facebook, or Android/iOS every day in the west?

The vast majority of the billions of people using those products have no knowledge of SV, entrepreneurship, or startup culture. It's akin to claiming that filling up the fuel in your vehicle is exposing you to Middle Eastern entrepreneurship and culture.

Re: The anonymous Silicon Valley satire that has stumped tech world insiders

#105

Post by [deleted] »

toyg wrote: post #87
teej wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The modern Tony Stark is literally based on Elon Musk. Interest in Computer Science programs jumped after the Social Network movie came out. I think there's more truth in roymurdocks' comment then you give it credit for.

Movie-Stark's mannerism is openly based on Larry Ellison, who helped finance (and even had cameos in) the IronMan films. Other self-styled magnates were also an influence, of course, but Ellison is the big one, afaik.

[deleted]

Re: The anonymous Silicon Valley satire that has stumped tech world insiders

#106

Post by david927 »

ritchiea wrote: post #98
david927 wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm surprised you felt that way. I only read the (linked) introduction so far and I was bent over laughing. The story, punctuated by the tweets, is hysterical . I don't see how the length ( Candide was also short) or physicality of it matters. I find that it is, indeed, poignant satire, and that is enough for me.

Most of the story and the best jokes are in the articles about the book and the included text.

I remember once, years ago, a member of a 70's band (Jethro Tull?) being asked if he watched MTV. When he replied, "Yes," the commentator remarked that he was surprised that this person liked that music. The band member's eyes widened in horror and said, "I watch the news. That doesn't mean I like what I see."

I guess I love the book for the same reason that I hate HN, despite that I check it daily. Silicon Valley has had tremendous success financially, if not technically, and that has spawned with it a strange micro-culture that is easy to skewer when you take just a few steps away from it.

Re: The anonymous Silicon Valley satire that has stumped tech world insiders

#107

Post by cmiles74 »

jdminhbg wrote: post #101
mattzito wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think it's important to differentiate between the effects the products these companies create have, and the effects the companies themselves have on world/US culture. Clearly the products have had a profound impact on culture, but I think the impact would have been the same if they had been developed by Exxon or Halliburton. As far as the cultural impact of the companies themselves, I think it's been modest at best…

> Clearly the products have had a profound impact on culture, but I think the impact would have been the same if they had been developed by Exxon or Halliburton. But Exxon or Halliburton couldn't have developed these products. They wouldn't even try and fail to develop these kinds of products.

I think your missing the point. The idea is that it didn't really matter who made the product; it was the product itself that had the "profound impact on culture".

Re: The anonymous Silicon Valley satire that has stumped tech world insiders

#108

Post by mattzito »

jdminhbg wrote: post #101
mattzito wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think it's important to differentiate between the effects the products these companies create have, and the effects the companies themselves have on world/US culture. Clearly the products have had a profound impact on culture, but I think the impact would have been the same if they had been developed by Exxon or Halliburton. As far as the cultural impact of the companies themselves, I think it's been modest at best…

> Clearly the products have had a profound impact on culture, but I think the impact would have been the same if they had been developed by Exxon or Halliburton. But Exxon or Halliburton couldn't have developed these products. They wouldn't even try and fail to develop these kinds of products.

But traditional/non-SV companies can and do change the world with products all the time. IBM was a massive company when they created the PC. VW invented the beetle (and reinvented it). Vanguard changed the world of investing.

None of these were SV startups with all the stereotypes that accrue to them. It's true that it's harder for big companies to innovate, but you can't say, "Only SV startups build products that change the world, ergo SV startups change world culture"

Re: The anonymous Silicon Valley satire that has stumped tech world insiders

#109

Post by vezzy-fnord »

jdminhbg wrote: post #89
djhn wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Android and iOS phones? They might as well be any generic cheap Nokia, flavour du jour. Did Finnish culture have profound effects on the 40-60% of mobile phone owners at the time?

> Android and iOS phones? They might as well be any generic cheap Nokia, flavour du jour. Obviously not, or people wouldn't be spending hundreds of extra dollars to abandon their generic cheap Nokias in favor of Android and iOS.

Few consumers spend their discretionary income on Android and iOS phones for reasons related to intrinsic advantages of the platform themselves. They buy Android and iOS phones because those are the two platforms that propagated for what they actually seek: mobile devices. It could just as well have been Symbian and QNX, if competitive forces played out differently. But the whole point is that these goods are completely substitutable. People only rationalize them post facto.

Re: The anonymous Silicon Valley satire that has stumped tech world insiders

#110

Post by zentiggr »

jff wrote: post #57
bitwize wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've maintained that our descendants will be like the aliens from the ST:TNG episode "Darmok", except instead of historical metaphors we'll use lolcats, ragefaces, and mythical characters like Scumbag Steve and Overly Attached Girlfriend.

Scumbag Steve, his hat aslant

Grumpy Cat, his paw raised
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