The Next Silicon Valley(joshwhiton.com)
joshwhiton.com
The Next Silicon Valley
http://joshwhiton.com/?p=2554
2 comments
Maybe the greatest part of the article: The first thing you need to know is that Silicon Valley exists because the most important industry in recent history was born there. The commercial perfection of the semiconductor gave rise to the computer industry, which made hundreds of billionaires and thousands of millionaires out of tech-savvy people living in close proximity, which in turn attracted even more of the world’s smartest and most ambitious people to the epicenter of all that tech and money and influence.
That statement conflates several things and is hyperbolic.
The "computer industry" isn't some amorphous industry that has been going strong since the days of semiconductors.
There have been many iterations of technology-- mobile, web, PC, etc-- and while it turned out that way, it should not have be a forgone conclusion that all would have been essentially centered in Silicon Valley. Other areas trying to be the "next Silicon Valley" had many opportunities to unseat it, especially during the busts that have occured in the Valley's boom-bust history.
Even his numbers are incorrect. There are not "hundreds of billionares" in Silicon Valley even today. There are not even 100 in the entire state of California. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_by_the_numb...
The "computer industry" isn't some amorphous industry that has been going strong since the days of semiconductors.
There have been many iterations of technology-- mobile, web, PC, etc-- and while it turned out that way, it should not have be a forgone conclusion that all would have been essentially centered in Silicon Valley. Other areas trying to be the "next Silicon Valley" had many opportunities to unseat it, especially during the busts that have occured in the Valley's boom-bust history.
Even his numbers are incorrect. There are not "hundreds of billionares" in Silicon Valley even today. There are not even 100 in the entire state of California. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_by_the_numb...