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The Next Silicon Valley

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Re: The Next Silicon Valley

#11

Post by Retric »

jseliger wrote: post #5
libbybrittain wrote: post #3

Finally, someone weighs in on this debate with a genuinely intelligent perspective grounded in history and solid critical thinking instead of bravado and linkbait. The deep roots of the entrepreneurial spirit in the Bay Area (and, really, California as a whole if you extend this argument down to Hollywood) is hugely underestimated in thinking about what has made SV, SV. It really is woven into the thread of what it m…

In some ways, this post dovetails with William Easterly's paper, "Was the poverty of Africa determined in 1000 BC?": http://aidwatchers.com/2010/07/was-the-poverty-of-africa-det... ? Notice this, from the post: "1500 AD technology is a particularly powerful predictor of per capita income today. 78 percent of the difference in income today between sub-Saharan Africa and Western Europe is explained by technology differ…

The other advantage the valley has is newly rich people are willing to live there based on its climate. New York survives in large part because of the ecosystem of arts and entertainment focused on rich people who live there. Random City USA is unlikely to have both, but they can be better.

Re: The Next Silicon Valley

#12

Post by russell »

api wrote: post #7

There's a great point here that the post doesn't really go into enough detail about: in many (most?) places, business and financial types are focused on the goal of trying to find ways of making money without actually creating any value. The mentality seems to be: Creating value is hard! Let's find a way to just make money off "immaterial" assets, financial manipulation, pure marketing and reselling, etc. In the vall…

The NYC financial mindset has little to do with it. It's more useful to compare SV with Route 128. In the late 60's both seemed to be roughly equivalent: dominant technology schools, an educated population, and a strong hi-tech business base. But there was a strong cultural difference. If an engineer left HP, he would be encouraged, and often HP would be a customer. If you left DEC, you were a traitor. You were the enemy, never to repatriated. May your children burn in hell. In the end cooperation beat out secretiveness and destructive competitiveness.

Re: The Next Silicon Valley

#13

Post by rjurney »

russell wrote: post #12
api wrote: post #7

There's a great point here that the post doesn't really go into enough detail about: in many (most?) places, business and financial types are focused on the goal of trying to find ways of making money without actually creating any value. The mentality seems to be: Creating value is hard! Let's find a way to just make money off "immaterial" assets, financial manipulation, pure marketing and reselling, etc. In the vall…

The NYC financial mindset has little to do with it. It's more useful to compare SV with Route 128. In the late 60's both seemed to be roughly equivalent: dominant technology schools, an educated population, and a strong hi-tech business base. But there was a strong cultural difference. If an engineer left HP, he would be encouraged, and often HP would be a customer. If you left DEC, you were a traitor. You were the e…

For more info, see entire book on this topic by AnnaLee Saxenian: http://books.google.com/books?id=gnh2Rb1rcMIC

Re: The Next Silicon Valley

#14

Post by pskomoroch »

api wrote: post #7

There's a great point here that the post doesn't really go into enough detail about: in many (most?) places, business and financial types are focused on the goal of trying to find ways of making money without actually creating any value. The mentality seems to be: Creating value is hard! Let's find a way to just make money off "immaterial" assets, financial manipulation, pure marketing and reselling, etc. In the vall…

Agreed "Create more value than you capture" (Tim O'Reilly) is the thing to strive for

Re: The Next Silicon Valley

#15

Post by noonespecial »

They do not see the past. They do not see the context, or the trajectory. They are Heisenberging the valley at some snapshot in time.

Can't wait to use Heisenberg as a verb in some idel conversation. Pure win.

Re: The Next Silicon Valley

#16

Post by skmurphy »

Timothy J. Sturgeon’s "How Silicon Valley Came to Be" covers this as well:

   The fact that the San Francisco Bay Area’s electronics   industry 
   began close to the turn of the Twentieth Century should lay to 
   rest the notion that industrialization and urbanization on the 
   scale of Silicon Valley can be quickly induced in other areas. 
   Silicon Valley is nearly 100 years old. 
   It grew out of a historically and geographically specific 
   context that cannot be recreated. The lesson for planners 
   and economic developers is to focus on long-term, not short-term    
   developmental trajectories. Silicon Valley was the fastest 
   growing region in the United States during the late 1970s and 
   early 1980s; but that growth came out of a place, not a technology. 
   Silicon Valley’s development is intimately entwined with the long 
   history of industrialization and innovation in the larger San   
   Francisco Bay Area.
See http://web.mit.edu/ipc/publications/pdf/00-014.pdf I had blogged about this in 2008 at http://www.skmurphy.com/blog/2008/11/05/steve-blank-on-secre...

Three good books on how Silicon Valley came to be

"Understanding Silicon Valley" by Kenney http://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Silicon-Valley-Entrepren...

"The Silicon Valley Edge" by Lee, Miller, Hancock, and Rowen http://www.amazon.com/Silicon-Valley-Edge-Innovation-Entrepr...

"Regional Advantage" Saxenian http://www.amazon.com/Regional-Advantage-Culture-Competition...

See also this thread: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=908026

Re: The Next Silicon Valley

#17

Post by listic »

(Full disclosure: I have graduated from Popov Electrical Engineering University, St.-Petersburg, Russia)

It bothers me how every time someone mentions the invention of radio, they seem to mention Marconi, not Popov (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Stepanovich_Popov)

Could it be because the history is written by the winners i.e. if Russia would be the world leader in electronics today, more people would recognize Popov than Marconi?

Re: The Next Silicon Valley

#18

Post by kqr2 »

listic wrote: post #17

(Full disclosure: I have graduated from Popov Electrical Engineering University, St.-Petersburg, Russia) It bothers me how every time someone mentions the invention of radio, they seem to mention Marconi, not Popov ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Stepanovich_Popov ) Could it be because the history is written by the winners i.e. if Russia would be the world leader in electronics today, more people would recog…

But even Popov gives earlier credit to Tesla:

  In 1900, Popov stated at the Congress of Russian Electrical Engineers that,

  "the emission and reception of signals by Marconi by means 
  of electric oscillations was nothing new, as in America 
  Nikola Tesla did the same experiments in 1893."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_radio

Re: The Next Silicon Valley

#19

Post by rjurney »

listic wrote: post #17

(Full disclosure: I have graduated from Popov Electrical Engineering University, St.-Petersburg, Russia) It bothers me how every time someone mentions the invention of radio, they seem to mention Marconi, not Popov ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Stepanovich_Popov ) Could it be because the history is written by the winners i.e. if Russia would be the world leader in electronics today, more people would recog…

Marconi is relevant here because he conducted numerous ship to shore experiments across the Atlantic, before coming to New York and starting the first telegraph network.
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