Silicon Valley: mixed signals for the future
Published: 11 Feb 2005 15:15 GMT
There was an impressive figure of the Silicon Valley gaining a larger share of the nation's venture capital.
It's true. What that says is, if you look at Silicon Valley, we haven't yet suffered any competitive loss. We are in an industry that's not creating jobs. It's a little bit like Los Angeles and the aerospace industry. They did lose a little share, but mainly what happened was that the aerospace market went away all over the place when the defence spending was cut. Other areas are hurting, too. It's just that we have more high tech here, so it's more important.
So you're not so concerned about Silicon Valley losing its status as the tech capital?
I am concerned going ahead. I'm not concerned based on what's happened. I'm concerned about a different set of issues. I'm concerned about housing prices, and if people come here, whether they would find places for their kids in school.
Will they tolerate the commute? I'm worried about the quality of life and housing challenges in an increasingly competitive world. That's prospective -- where we could lose our advantage, because people came here because it was a great place to live and work.
I've been hearing about companies trying to attract what would be offshore IT dollars by locating in lower-cost US regions like Arkansas or Oklahoma City. Do you think there is a chance that those areas could challenge Silicon Valley?
They aren't doing our stuff. They are doing stuff, but they are not doing the innovation. We have a niche, and the venture capital numbers tell you the story. Whenever anything gets maturing, it's cost-conscious. It's not going to remain here in great numbers for a long time. I mean, 30 years ago, everybody said we were dead because of Malaysia and Taiwan.
That was when you were losing the manufacturing -- circuit boards and stuff like that.
Yeah. We always have to be the next new thing. That's generically what we do, and the next new thing has not yet gone to Arkansas. The mature stuff may. But if you look at a chart, you don't see Silicon Valley losing a share of jobs dramatically. You just see the whole high-tech job base kind of going with no growth.
Do you think that it's more likely that the next new thing could start happening overseas more? So many Silicon Valley companies have manufacturing operations in Asia and are now putting research facilities in Bangalore.
Yes. I think the United States is in a competition we don't think we have to pay attention to.
I think we're kind of trying to live off of our legacy. It's not a Silicon Valley problem; it's a national problem. There are other countries, including China and India, that now have science, technology and skilled people. And the Internet is a great leveler. So, yes, that's a national threat.
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