The Post 9/11 Tech Boom 423
"The battlefield will not be physical so much as it will be digital," Rob Owens, a tech industry analyst at Pacific Crest Securities in Portland, Ore., told the San Francisco Chronicle recently. "There will definitely be people who prosper in this new environment."
Owens and other analysts point to these factors:
- A need for more secure technologies for Net traffic, business communications, computer networks, travel and building architecture, along with the predictably more sophisticated components for new weaponry.
- A huge increase in "homeland security" spending not only by governments, but among biotech firms as the country expects and prepares for attacks potentially more lethal than those on New York and Washington.
- A boon for telecom and video conferencing companies and systems. Not only will many corporations choose to do business without sending executives on the road, but such systems are seen as increasingly vital communications backups in the event of widespread attacks on an existing communications infrastructure. By the same token, it would make sense that in stressful times people will spend more time shopping, talking, amusing themselves and doing business on the Net, as they did in the days after 9/11.
- Continuing increases in sales across the tech spectrum as individuals, businesses and governments make sure their hardware and software systems can deal with the challenges and problems of a post 9/11 world.
The media are feeding these trends. Not only are the images of 9/11 horrific and continual, but the war in Afghanistan has -- correctly or not -- enhanced the idea that technologies are our only feasible response to the profoundly changed geopolitical reality that Osama Bin-Laden created last fall. The fact that we have undermined a terrorist network and overturned a repressive government in weeks, with only a handful of American casualties, has transformed the way even Americans think of technology. This isn't a time for a tech slump, but another boom, perhaps of even greater proportions than the last one.
My grandfather has a phrase for this type of stuff (Score:0, Funny)
My god, this reads like a fucking dry and tired corporate report. All gloss, 150lpi printing, svelte color, clad in delicate paper, but sorely lacking in substance. Katz, what the fuck is your deal? You have the chance to say something meaningful, and all you do is regrugitate the IHT, a 3Com year end statement, and a little of MSNBC. This is such horseshit.
Mmmm... Katz! (Score:5, Funny)
But tech failed us 9/11 (Score:3, Funny)
But, geeks can still prosper in this age. the CIA has a huge problem finding people willing to infiltrate Islamic terrorist organizations, what Ivy League Foggy bottomer wants to leave his blonde sorority girl wife for years of living in a dirty, cold cave, eating putrid lamb, wiping his ass his with right hand and forgoing sex, I know I wouldn't.
Fortunately, this website has a huge amount of geeky sorts who eat poorly, live in a dank, computer infested hovels and haven't gotten near pussy since they were expelled from one 20 years ago. Coupled with a decent facility for languages (just substitute Parsi or Arabic of PERL) and you can too can help the world's best country by being an incountry spy in a third world country like Pakistan, Egypt or France, please contact your local CIA recruiter.
Other businesses aided: (Score:5, Funny)
The Post 9/11 JonKatz Boom (Score:1, Funny)
Re:But tech failed us 9/11 (Score:1, Funny)
You could not be more wrong. I'm sure there are plenty of geeks out there who:
a) have girlfriends/wives
b) own cats
or c) aren't 20.
Re:Guilty Conscience (Score:4, Funny)
No, really if you want proof that they are tracking me look here [slashdot.org] or you might see why I feel this way here [fridgedoor.com]
Please don't scoff at my insane perinoia!
The Post-Katz era. (Score:5, Funny)
Digital Battlefield? In Afghanistan? Ha! (Score:4, Funny)
"OK, Agent Smith. I want you to start by taking down Al Queda's Internet access."
"Uh...sir? There is no Internet access in Afghanistan."
"Perfect! Then disrupt their cellular telephone communications."
"Right...er...they don't have cellphones."
"Well done, Smith! Now, I want to disrupt their landline network."
"Sir, they don't have -- strictly speaking -- what you would call a 'telephone network.'"
"I do say, Agent Smith, I'm very impressed! Then let's hit their power grid. I want 98% of Afghanistan to be dark within 72 hours."
"Well, sir...uh...that's pretty much taken care of, too."
"Wonderful, wonderful, Smith. This new digital warfare is really working out! Now we'll just wait a few weeks and they'll feel like they're living in caves. Join me for golf?"
-Waldo Jaquithi
I know someone who hasn't seen Rambo III ! (Score:2, Funny)
Also, how do you expect a country that can't even feed and clothe it's own people to take over another country? Yeah, that's right, the country plain fell apart remember? I run into John Rambo at the coffee shop every now and then and he told me that he hasn't received one "Thank You" card for all that work. Ingrates!
Re:A quintessentially American solution to securit (Score:2, Funny)
Wow!!! I had no idea that Ronald Reagan reads and posts to Slashdot!