The Real Silicon Valley • Hacker News Board

Re: The Real Silicon Valley

#11

Post by alaxic » Tue, Nov 13, 2012, 6:45 PM UTC

physcab wrote: post #9

Silicon Valley is not a place. Its a figment of your imagination. San Francisco, San Mateo, Palo Alto, Mountain View, Santa Clara, San Jose are places. But no one wants to read articles and watch crappy TV shows called "The Real San Jose". To me, what people do in "Silicon Valley", they can do anywhere else. Start-ups, Self-employment, Big Companies exist in many other parts of the world. All it is is regular people…

Of course you can do all of these things anywhere else, but I've found Silicon Valley is the best environment to do them. The resources (funding, events, writers, incubators, etc) and the people really make the valley what it is.

Re: The Real Silicon Valley

#12

Post by rprasad » Tue, Nov 13, 2012, 7:48 PM UTC

The show is awesome, if you approach it as a documentary-style sitcom like the Office or Parks and Rec rather than as a reality show.

As a sitcom, the show is pure genious. Especially the last 10 minutes of the second episode, in which the blonde ditz is on a "date" with some nerdy model....

Re: The Real Silicon Valley

#13

Post by [deleted] » Tue, Nov 13, 2012, 7:53 PM UTC

physcab wrote: post #9

Silicon Valley is not a place. Its a figment of your imagination. San Francisco, San Mateo, Palo Alto, Mountain View, Santa Clara, San Jose are places. But no one wants to read articles and watch crappy TV shows called "The Real San Jose". To me, what people do in "Silicon Valley", they can do anywhere else. Start-ups, Self-employment, Big Companies exist in many other parts of the world. All it is is regular people…

[deleted]

Re: The Real Silicon Valley

#14

Post by general_failure » Tue, Nov 13, 2012, 7:53 PM UTC

physcab wrote: post #9

Silicon Valley is not a place. Its a figment of your imagination. San Francisco, San Mateo, Palo Alto, Mountain View, Santa Clara, San Jose are places. But no one wants to read articles and watch crappy TV shows called "The Real San Jose". To me, what people do in "Silicon Valley", they can do anywhere else. Start-ups, Self-employment, Big Companies exist in many other parts of the world. All it is is regular people…

> To me, what people do in "Silicon Valley", they can do anywhere else.

While this is true, you are missing the point of the valley. It's a place where like minded people accumulate. People who think they can change the world by creating the next big think. All these people could all be delusional and totally wrong for all we know, but the point is they all think that way.

It's like a party. Can you just jack up the radio and dance away in the solitude of your room? Sure, you can. But it's better to go to a real discotheque and dance away with others. The chances you meet someone interesting are higher, the chances that your amazing disco steps get noticed are higher etc etc.

Continuing the stupid analogy, in the valley there are these page 3 reporters (techcrunch, cough) reporting all sorts of things. These things make you famous and get you $$. See, how things are different when you are hacking away in your room in cape town? Want more developers? There are tons of people who will code for you. "Passionately". It's all in one place!

Do not underestimate the "energy" of the valley. Having like minded people in one place makes all the difference (just like anything else).