The Silicon Valley Bubble
July 17, 2013
As observers of all things search, we are quite aware of the concentration of tech talent that has amassed just to the south of San Francisco, California. Now, the Guardian decries the Silicon Valley bubble in, “How Wealth of Silicon Valley’s Tech Elite Created a World Apart.”
Writer Rory Carroll paints a picture of out-of-touch tech elites luxuriating through San Francisco’s rush hour on exclusive white buses and enjoying famous on-campus perks like gourmet meals and massage therapists. Meanwhile, he says, these companies use their clout to keep community resources flowing their direction while minimizing the taxes they pay back. He asserts:
“[San Francisco] knows better than anyone that technology companies like having things their way, whether it be taxes, transport or lifestyle. This dominance, critics say, has produced a cossetted caste which lords it over everyone else, a pattern established during the dotcom explosion a decade ago and now repeated amid a roaring boom. . . .
“Techies, in other words, price locals out of the housing market, twist rules and regulations to suit themselves, and spend outrageously.”
Carroll notes that these tech titans have responses to the charges against them, though he seems ready to dismiss them out of hand. One defender sensibly points out that the Valley’s comfy shuttles benefit the community by keeping all those individual cars off the road at rush hour. Others say that convenient, on-campus services help keep them focused on their work.
Carroll seems to have a chip on his shoulder with this issue, but apparently he is not the only one. Are Silicon Valley companies charting a way forward for a happy, productive workplace that could spread to other industries? Or are they callously snagging resources for themselves at the expense of their communities? Some of each, perhaps?
Cynthia Murrell, July 17, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
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