The State of Silicon Valley (gloomy outlook ?) (living, life, people)

[18Montclair]

Originally Posted by kidphilly

I am saying that the Bay is a fantastic and very innovative location but it is not not the only and is not even the highest concentration of tech jobs, oddly that would really be NJ from NYC to Philly where that industry is really only 3rd or 4th in imprtance to the region.

But this is a perfect example of why having the highest number of tech workers is totally irrelevant when it comes to actual innovation.

Ive read reports where Chicago, NY, DC and LA all have a higher number of tech workers than the Bay Area, yet Silicon Valley stands all by itself when it comes to actual engineering:

This is from the Wall Street Journal btw:

http://sg.wsj.net/public/resources/i...0721181221.gif


As well as being the best incubator in the world for tech companies to go from an idea to a global name. 47 of the Top 100 Venture Capital Firms in the United States are located in the Silicon Valley.
Introducing the 2010 Venture Capital 100 | AlwaysOn

Furthermore, as jman650 touched on, the region has really spread its wings and scaled itself to become extremely competitive in brick and mortar industries that werent even on our radar just a few years ago.

1. The Bay Area has become a major playor in the Auto Industry with the advent of dozens of start up electric or hybrid auto companies that are leading the way as far as trying to make cars as efficient as possible. Toyota recently closed its NUMMI plant in Fremont and then reopened it as a Joint Venture with Tesla.

2. The Bay Area is now a major player in Telecommunications as smart phones are now the product of choice for most new wireless customers. Apple and Google have really staked major market share and mobile apps have made telco companies around the world flock to the region increasing their presence in the Valley. Now Nokia, the world's largest mobile device maker, has been rumored to be looking at moving its world headquarters from Finland all the way to Silicon Valley specifically to harness the talents of the region and incorporate their innovations into their future products.

3. The Bay Area is now a major player in Media-actually the Bay Area has revolutionized media because our companies have given everyone, and I mean everyone, a platform to make their voices known. Not only through facebook and twitter, but also blogspot, youtube, craigslist and a host of other companies that make it possible for a regular person to potentially reach BILLIONS of people around the world.

The Bay Area is also a major player in new economy industries such as Biotech, Nanotech and Greetech.

Nobody has a crystal ball and we dont know what the future will bring, but I think the region has positioned itself quite well for growth and even more breakthroughs in the years to come.

That is if Beijing or Bangalore havent surpassed us by then.

[tmac9wr]

Originally Posted by Wonderful Jellal

Every year, the top officials, policy wonks, and business managers convene at the annual State of the Valley conference to discuss and debate the health of the region. Over a thousand attendees trekked to San Jose, Calif., on Feb. 18 for the release of this year’s report. Published since 1995 by Joint Venture Silicon Valley Network and distributed for free, the new 2011 Index of Silicon Valley reported bleak indicators and a gloomy outlook.
The event provided Valley insiders a moment to reflect on the economic storm, and the mood was darkly optimistic. A persistent phrase tossed out was the “new normal,” old Wall Street jargon describing a repressed economic environment. Growth is too slow to bring down the unemployment rate, and government intervenes to save a struggling private sector.


The State of Silicon Valley | Newgeography.com

18Montclair will be on fire if he reads that ahaha

What the heck is New Geography anyway? It's pretty much the only source you post and every subject is either bashing California or the Northeast, and promoting Texas and the lower Midwestern states.

[tmac9wr]

I remember seeing this list being linked from Boston's Wiki page for the "Most Innovative Cities in the World". San Francisco ranks as #7 in the world...San Jose isn't listed so I assume they paired the Bay Area together as one.

[Wonderful Jellal]

Originally Posted by tmac9wr

What the heck is New Geography anyway? It's pretty much the only source you post and every subject is either bashing California or the Northeast, and promoting Texas and the lower Midwestern states.

You're wrong, I use Wall Street Journal and The Economist too.

[HockeyMac18]

Originally Posted by kidphilly

Birthplace of Biotech? hmmm??

Biotechnology, as we know it today, has its origins in the Bay Area. The primary patent (recombinant DNA technology) that was responsible for launching the modern Biotechnology (genetic engineering) sector of business was created at Stanford. I know this because I currently work in the lab of one of the 3 creators of this patent; so I'm quite familiar with the history there. Genentech (founded by one of the other 3 creators of that important patent) was the first corporation to take this patent and essentially start the Biotechnology industry.

They were an independent, and extremely important player in the Biotech industry for decades...it's unfortunate they were sold to Roche recently (~1 1/2 years now). I have many friends who work there and they tell me the entire dynamic has been changed/altered (and not for the better). Particularly, I'm hearing there is a lot less emphasis being placed on innovation and freedom in the work place...I guess that's a reflection of the vast differences in sizes of the two companies (Genentech was a small company by comparison to Roche). It can often be harder to innovate in bigger companies (for a variety of reasons). Also, unfortunately, many very very smart and hard working scientists have been laid off since that merger...needless to say, Genentech today isn't the company they were only a few years ago. But, that being the case, there are still many many important companies in the Biotech field in the Bay Area, such as basically all of the microarray (tech also invented at Stanford) companies (Affymetrix, Agilent, Illumina)...

You can argue all you want about what region is the most important to Biotech (I'd personally argue that there isn't one dominate player (a la SV to tech); but rather 3 or 4 major regions, of which the Bay area is one, that together dominate and define the industry in the US).

But I think it's much more difficult to argue that the Biotech industry wasn't really founded in the Bay area because so much of what created the industry started there. It really is a unique place for innovation, and Stanford is no doubt an extremely important reason for this (I can tell this from my own experiences here).

[jman650]

Originally Posted by kidphilly

Birthplace of Biotech? hmmm??

Hmmmmm indeed. See the above post. ^^

The point is, Bay Area innovation is not relegated to nothing more than "tech jobs" of which you paint the picture of it simply playing 3rd or 4th fiddle in in the first place while being glorified by the likes of Facebook. I gave examples off the top of my head that were intended as nothing more than instances where innovation in the Bay was not simply "tech." SETI, NASA and DOD all have a presence here as well where they conduct some of the Bay Area's "innovation," so although some of these innovators such as NASA may not be unique to the Bay Area, or their history stretches to other locations such as SETI, the Bay Area still "innovates" in these areas and is not limited to IT and Web 2.0.

Not really sure why you felt the need to reference the roots of SETI having at some point being connected to the East Coast, as that was neither here nor there, but if you're going to do that you might as well point out that the founder of Facebook came from the NE too and I'll counter that Joe Dimaggio came from SF lol. Wanna argue that the internet was created in DC to pull the rug out from under Apple now to again try and take Silicon Valley's accomplishments down a peg? I'm sure some components of VCR's had their origins in states east of here as well, but that doesn't change the fact that the VCR was invented out here in the Bay. So what were you really trying to prove there?

[DANNYY]

^^
Facebook has more registered users online than the United States even has people. 600 Million to 310 Million, its membership absolutely dwarfs that of the United States, and social website came out in the 2000's and got this large. Facebook in total employs like 2,000 works almost all in the Bay Area and a few in Austin. Not saying Facebook is the end all and be all factor here because its not, but seriously it cant even be denied that Facebook has changed the game in terms of socialization & communication.

Top Metropolitan Areas for Venture Capital Investment:
1. Bay Area: $698 Million
2. Boston: $314 Million
3. San Diego: $138 Million
4. Los Angeles: $108 Million
5. Research Triangle : $72 Million

Source: Life Sciences Investing Rebounds in Q2 2010, Rising 52% from the Prior Quarter, According to PricewaterhouseCoopers - FierceBiotech

If we're talking about Biotech, the two main chief competitors are Boston & Bay Area.

[stan in san diego]

As long as the Bay Area has Stanford and Cal they'll be OK. The same with UCSD and San Diego. Those schools are unbelievable powerhouses.

[tmac9wr]

Originally Posted by stan in san diego

As long as the Bay Area has Stanford and Cal they'll be OK. The same with UCSD and San Diego. Those schools are unbelievable powerhouses.

Cal and Stanford, yes...UCSD? Not as much...definitely a good school though.

[Wonderful Jellal]

Originally Posted by DANNYY

^^
Facebook has more registered users online than the United States even has people. 600 Million to 310 Million, its membership absolutely dwarfs that of the United States, and social website came out in the 2000's and got this large. Facebook in total employs like 2,000 works almost all in the Bay Area and a few in Austin. Not saying Facebook is the end all and be all factor here because its not, but seriously it cant even be denied that Facebook has changed the game in terms of socialization & communication.

Top Metropolitan Areas for Venture Capital Investment:
1. Bay Area: $698 Million
2. Boston: $314 Million
3. San Diego: $138 Million
4. Los Angeles: $108 Million
5. Research Triangle : $72 Million

Source: Life Sciences Investing Rebounds in Q2 2010, Rising 52% from the Prior Quarter, According to PricewaterhouseCoopers - FierceBiotech

If we're talking about Biotech, the two main chief competitors are Boston & Bay Area.

California domination