In Silicon Valley, all the Sturm und Drang of 2011 seemed as relevant as the Cricket World Cup. High unemployment? Crippling debt? Not in Silicon Valley, where the fog burns off by noon and it’s an article of faith that talented, hard-working techies can change the world and reap unimaginable wealth in the process. “We live in a bubble, and I don’t mean a tech bubble or a valuation bubble. I mean a bubble as in our own little world,” says Google Chairman Eric Schmidt. “And what a world it is: Companies can’t hire people fast enough. Young people can work hard and make a fortune. Homes hold their value. Occupy Wall Street isn’t really something that comes up in daily discussion, because their issues are not our daily reality.”
I do not see how the extended source quote in any way contradicts the point sfgate was making, which is that the valley schmidt is talking about has no connection with the valley they see around them.
Which, I might add, is a very true point. The tech startup scene is very small and incestuous subculture of the SF bay area--and I say this as a 3rd generation resident (my grandparents settled here after WW2 when the land between Cupertino and Santa Clara was mostly orchards). Growing up in Santa Clara Valley, back when it had that name, my friends parents all worked for the government, in manufacturing, education, (non-tech) sales, etc. There were a few engineers of course, but they mostly worked for large firms founded a generation prior.
Tech startups are back in fashion and the business is good--but only for a small, tiny little segment of this valley's population. He's right to call it a (reality-distorting) bubble, but he's wrong to generalize it to the greater geographic region.
Spare yourselves SF Gate's pontifications and read the source: http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/its-always-sunny-in-sil...
Quoted in 3rd paragraph:
In Silicon Valley, all the Sturm und Drang of 2011 seemed as relevant as the Cricket World Cup. High unemployment? Crippling debt? Not in Silicon Valley, where the fog burns off by noon and it’s an article of faith that talented, hard-working techies can change the world and reap unimaginable wealth in the process. “We live in a bubble, and I don’t mean a tech bubble or a valuation bubble. I mean a bubble as in our own little world,” says Google Chairman Eric Schmidt. “And what a world it is: Companies can’t hire people fast enough. Young people can work hard and make a fortune. Homes hold their value. Occupy Wall Street isn’t really something that comes up in daily discussion, because their issues are not our daily reality.”