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another view -- Dan Gillmor: Quattrone clique disgraced Silicon Valley
From: Dave Farber <dave () farber net>
Date: Fri, 07 Mar 2003 15:47:20 -0500
------ Forwarded Message From: Jonathan Weber <jonathanweber () earthlink net> Date: Fri, 07 Mar 2003 13:48:38 -0700 To: dave () farber net Subject: Re: [IP] Dan Gillmor: Quattrone clique disgraced Silicon Valley Dave, I've mostly lurked on IP but wanted to pass on this comment. Having covered Silicon Valley for the LA Times, and having observed it closely as editor of the Industry Standard, this has been a bit of a pet peeve and perhaps a perspective of interest for IP. FWIW I know Dan well and consider him a friend and a fine journalist. cheers, - jonathan weber But how could Frank Quattrone and his friends have disgraced Silicon Valley? They *are* Silicon Valley. Dan seems to have adopted the common technologists conceit that there are two Silicon Valleys, one composed of greedy capitalists who are only out for a buck and the other composed of altruistic engineers who only want to change the world for the better. In truth, such a split has never existed. Individuals may have a wide range of motivations, but certainly the collective culture of what we know as Silicon Valley has always been informed as much by money and capitalism as by technological excellence. The tech bubble did not happen because a few bad apples "disgraced" everyone else. It happened because capitalism as currently structured in this country (and enthusiastically supported by Silicon Valley) combined with technological optimism (also heavily promoted by Silicon Valley) created a landscape where it could happen. There are very few innocents in this story - I bet even Dan enjoyed a hefty pay hike when the bubble was in full swing - and while it's satisfying to blame Quattrone and his clique, it's also disingenuous. Given the chance, I'm sure the overwhelming majority of Silicon Valleyites would have acted no differently then did the friends of Frank. ------ End of Forwarded Message ------------------------------------- You are subscribed as interesting-people () lists elistx com To manage your subscription, go to http://v2.listbox.com/member/?listname=ip Archives at: http://www.interesting-people.org/archives/interesting-people/
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- another view -- Dan Gillmor: Quattrone clique disgraced Silicon Valley Dave Farber (Mar 07)