back to article Tech industry climbs out of Silicon Valley, moves abroad

Silicon Valley may well be the center of the technology universe, but it's no longer the locus for technology jobs. That honour now goes to the Washington DC area, according to new research, followed by New York and with a range of other metro areas growing their tech presences at a torrid pace. In short, while Silicon Valley …

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  1. Anonymous Coward
    Thumb Up

    Golgafrinchan solution..

    ... lets get building the B Ark quick :)

  2. The Man Who Fell To Earth Silver badge
    FAIL

    Washington DC

    Is all government contractors simply servicing the US government, hence a non-productive sector of the economy. They really should not count.

    1. David Dawson
      FAIL

      Re: Washington DC

      You have a false premise that government is non productive. Its not profit making, but exists to facilitate the functioning of the rest of the state.

      Try moving around a city without a government and see how far you get without being mugged, burned or just starving due to the anarchic conditions meaning there isn't enough food.

      Oh, and the city wouldn't have come into existence without a government to manage it. Private roads don't tend to go very far, the profit motive isn't there...

      So, government is productive, if you allow the meaning of productive to go beyond the extremely narrow definition of 'profit making'.

      This article is about growth in head count, not GNP. So the arguments around whether government expenditure should be included do not apply.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Washington DC

        He's right, your wrong. Communism proved you were wrong by being a complete and utter failure in every country in which it was attempted. Government only exists by taking money from those who are productive.

        But then you knew that when you pointed out that the state wasts money on things that would not be built if people had a choice how their money was spent. Also I've moved around many 3rd world cities but the only place I've been mugged is in London. But then in those 3rd world countries they shoot muggers instead of waiting for the police to fail. I guess adding a bit of danger to a muggers life is a disincentive.

        1. David Dawson
          FAIL

          Re: Washington DC

          Ooh. What fun!

          "He's right, your wrong. Communism proved you were wrong by being a complete and utter failure in every country in which it was attempted. Government only exists by taking money from those who are productive."

          Setting bad grammar aside for the moment, you are making an equally fallacious argument as the OP. Yours is summarised nicely here -> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accident_(fallacy)

          Just because you consider communism to be a failure, doesn't mean that all government is a failure. To believe otherwise is really showing a lack of intellectual rigour.

          FWIW communism ran for 80 years in Russia, and has run for 90 years in China. I wouldn't call that a failure, as most world democracies have been in existence for far less time.

          Imagine what the large cities of the world would turn into if there was no government?

          "But then you knew that when you pointed out that the state wasts money on things that would not be built if people had a choice how their money was spent"

          I certainly did not. I pointed out that government support the activity of the state by building things that there is no incentive for private individuals and companies to build. This is extremely different. If the government didn't perform these services, society would collapse.

          "Also I've moved around many 3rd world cities but the only place I've been mugged is in London. But then in those 3rd world countries they shoot muggers instead of waiting for the police to fail. I guess adding a bit of danger to a muggers life is a disincentive"

          You have a broad brush idea of the '3rd world'. Its not some kind of hellhole with no government.

          It's a totally outdated idea in any case (1st = western democracies, 2nd= communist, 3rd= neutrals), there's a reason the term used now is 'developing world'.

          There are very, very few places on earth without governments, for a good reason, people will construct one if one doesn't exist, because they are necessary.

          By all means pretend that we could all happily live without governments in place, but don't expect me to join your delusion on the strength of your misguided and selective arguments.

    2. FredScummer
      WTF?

      > They really should not count

      Government contractors can count? Is this a new breed of contractor then?

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    No surprise

    The SF Bay Area is a nice place to visit occasionally, but who in their right mind would want to live there, let alone raise a family there?

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    "geography-agnostic"

    Coming from someone who clearly has trouble seeing beyond the silly valley haze, and thinks he's done the world a service by sticking that into an otherwise completely US-centric blogpost-by-any-other-name. Well, that was enlightening.

  5. Mondo the Magnificent
    Devil

    Perhaps...

    ..they've realised that they're located on, or near to the San Andreas Fault

    It's 2012, the prophets of doom have predicted earthquakes and volcanoes, so 'relocating' just seems to make sense..

  6. luiinsac

    Silicon Valley's success is NOT about how many tech jobs are there-HARDLY

    Its about financing and incubation. Nowhere else in the US even comes close to Silicon Valley as far as venture capital and seeing a start up through various stages of development like SV can---other places can brag about having a bunch of tech support and customer service jobs related to the industry but as far as decision making, engineering & the infrastructure to bring all aspects together and bring innovations to the global market, Silicon Valley reigns supreme by quite a distant margin.

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