Silicon Valley Techno-Utopianism

i mean there's a reason the word 'disruption' used to have / should still have negative connotations

I mean, fwiw I am in an industry where it's impossible for any product to make it to market in less than 5 - 7 years so no one's going to go wild and throw junk into the market but I _know_ people want to do exactly as you're saying.

I'd mention a couple missteps I know a little about but not outside 77 :P

I thankfully work in the one corner of technology business where “disruptive” is still a really bad term

I work for a multinational and we’re doing a mix of keeping our reputation high because everyone knows us and micro teams with startup culture mentality

Right now in one area we’re focusing on emphasizing selling a service/experience first and product second, while still staying competitive in the products we offer

Kind of a weird scenario but admittedly one only a huge company can get away with doing

Uh, so famed batshit political toonslinger Ben Garrison decided to do one on Elon Musk:

https://grrrgraphics.com/teslas-musk-mobile/

ben garrison... otm?

...yeah, fuckin' weird, ain't it

Old Wired and computer mags are fun to read, even though I lived through the era/had several Geocities pages/etc. there's a feeling of unreality about early-mid '90s technology now.

wish I'd kept a stash of PC Magazine and Byte. the former to look at the John Dvorak columns and laugh about how they were insanely wrong just a year later. the Byte ones because it was just a solid publication

see if you can spot the odd one out in this lineup of speakers for websummit, 'the best technology conference on the planet'

https://i.redd.it/m8eoc0tnr0g11.png

was ready to be surprised, and result exceeded expectations

it's surprising!

"Davos for geeks" - Bloomberg
"Glastonbury for geeks" - The Guardian

davos/glastonbury for racists morelike

Yeah, WebSummit has always been an embarassment but this is a whole new level. It's a fucking event that gets money from the government and city hall - should hope pressure will result in her getting kicked out before it actually happens.

https://websummit.com/speakers

lol oh shit I know someone on the first couple pages

gotta tell them to get Marine’s autograph

Wait how do u kno ronaldinho

knew that was coming

he opens my beers

https://gizmodo.com/san-franciscos-so-literally-shitty-its-getting-a-poop-1828342269

It’s so weird to visit a city so many times for over a decade and watch it literally turn to shit

At this point, for me - and I’m paraphrasing myself from another thread I think - it’s like somebody you had a big crush on in high school and 20 years later they’ve basically hit rock bottom but their family’s still rich so who cares

Meanwhile... https://www.politico.eu/article/marine-le-pen-uninvited-from-web-summit/

that gizmodo article is disingenuous bullshit

like yes there is a poop patrol now but all of its snarky "points" are being made in bad faith

Over the years the page count just gets thinner and thinner.

http://owenyoungman.com/thenextmiracle/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/photo.jpg

that first paragraph deliberately misrepresents Kositsky (who is actually doing a really good job and is a very dedicated and p innovative guy) and his broader, actually correct point and then just goes downhill from there

xp

The UK edition is trying to keep the same kind of page count per issue by dropping issues down to 10 or maybe 9 a year now.

Theranos hits the very, very end of the road, after not finding a buyer for the patent portfolio. Will settle with its secured creditor by handing over the IP (such as it is) and return the last $5m cash in the bank to unsecured creditors.

lol at the idea of theranos’ ‘ip’

‘uh we have this commercial blood-sample scanner we took apart and put back together again, badly’

you never know when some stupid thing you wrote will turn out to be essential to someone else's invention if you squint hard enough

This is crazy stuff:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=awADEuv5vWY&t=3s

I know Mary Lou through work, and she's legit. It's also possible she is overselling this technology.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=awADEuv5vWY

ELON MUSK: what should i do on joe rogan's show. its gotta be mega epic
TESLA SHORTSELLER WEARING A FAKE MOUSTACHE: you should do drugs on camera
ELON MUSK: yes

— KT NELSON (@KrangTNelson) September 7, 2018

lmao

he’s gone Full McAfee

Watching Lars Ulrich on stage talking about how @Metallica uses @salesforce software for customer engagement and thinking that adult life hasn’t turned out exactly the way I thought it would. #Dreamforce2018 pic.twitter.com/IHbXygU7BF

— Phil Libin (@plibin) September 25, 2018

I was wondering why all these tech people were disinterestedly eating boxed lunches in the park while Master of Puppets was blaring through the air.

not sure where to put this, but it has to go somewhere

https://www.businessinsider.com/a-day-in-the-life-of-hsbc-executive-melania-edwards-2018-10

"Living in the Bay Area exposes me to a plethora of new companies pushing the boundaries."

Where the hell is that giant earthquake?

The word "plethora" always makes me think of Ren from Ren & Stimpy saying "A plethora of mandibles"

"On the evenings that we stay in Palo Alto, we walk down the tree-lined University Avenue, reflecting upon our key wins and challenges and preparing for the adventures of the next day," she said.

affluent person has job but also hobbies, fascinating

https://amp.businessinsider.com/images/5bc74ed9912a9129385150b4-960-720.jpg

Notice it never mentions that they fuck

?

that article is so close to the Byron Barton board books that one reads to 1.5 year olds

-I hated her so much, it...it...it... flames... flames, on the sides of my face, breathing...breathless...heaping breaths-

I discuss my key wins and challenges with my wife every night too.

How is she btw??

"I find that the best way to set the tone for the day ahead is a short meditation where I focus on deep breathing and determine my priorities for the day," she said.

FYI if you’re determining your priorities for the day, you’re not meditating.

more to the point, is HSBC hiring? she seems to do about 3 hours of work per day, mostly meetings.