Places Where the World's Tech Pools, Despite the Internet 229
Slatterz writes "A decade ago people were talking about the death of distance, and how the internet would make physical geography irrelevant. This has not come to pass; there are still places around the world that are hubs of technology just as there are for air travel, product manufacturing or natural resource exploitation. This list of the ten best IT centres of excellence includes some interesting trivia about Station X during the Second World War, why Romania is teeming with software developers, Silicon Valley, Fort Meade Maryland, and Zhongguancun in China, where Microsoft is building its Chinese headquarters."
Re:Make physical geography irrelevant (Score:2, Funny)
Anyone else picture a guy jumping into a cab and telling the driver to "follow that building"?
World's Tech Pools (Score:5, Funny)
Do these pools drain into the series of tubes that makes up the internet?
Guess they forgot about Amazon (Score:1, Funny)
They include Seattle as an honorable mention due to Microsoft, but it's silly to pretend they're the only software company in the area. Amazon, Nintendo of America, and Valve are all headquartered there. Also, Google has a sizeable development center in the Seattle area (it's where they develop GTalk, among other things).
And, most importantly, icanhascheezburger.com is based in the Seattle area.
Parent's basement (Score:4, Funny)
I don't think we can overlook the fact that tech pools in parent's basements all around the world. Spooky!
Re:Silicon Valley = Cultural Diversity (Score:5, Funny)
I see lots of other places around the world where folks insist on segregating themselves by ethnicity and/or religion.
Yeah, I can't think of any [apple.com] fanatic [gentoo.org] groups [gnu.org] of people [wikipedia.org] who cling to various beliefs like so many religions, segregating themselves from others.
Excuse me while I go sacrifice a goat to Larry Wall.
there's something terribly oxymoronic (Score:4, Funny)
...in putting "Microsoft headquarters" and "centres of excellence" in the same paragraph.
Re:Yep, the internet did the opposite (Score:5, Funny)
I think that'd make a fascinating poll; I wonder how many US citizens actually couldn't tell you what what Nebraska is.
Re:Guess they forgot about Amazon (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Geeks and Gays (Score:3, Funny)
And less competition for women.
Re:Silicon Valley = Cultural Diversity (Score:4, Funny)
That's why people normally hunt for deer in forests, not suburban neighborhoods. New Yorkers are also surprisingly closed minded, they got mad when I went duck hunting with my shotgun in Central Park.
Re:Silicon Valley = Cultural Diversity (Score:3, Funny)
For all hunters, Hunting is violent. But its not about the violence, right? Most, if not all hunting is fun, right? But its not about the fun. Its about life and death, the struggle for survival, and the thrill of having your life in the balance... because in the bush its either you (and your scoped semi-auto big cal rifel) ... or the beast (a fearless big eyed doe, or viscious sandhill crane, or ... the big game... a feral pig with a furious squeel!).
The inherent danger (killing a loved one in a drunkin' rage or your son killing the neighbor boy accidently) is a small price to pay ... people gotta eat, right?
Now, I have heard rumors of this magical place where you can just pick pre-killed food up ready to cook or even serve... where hunting is seen as so unnecessary its even vain... but I think this... whatsitcalled... "civilization," is just a fantasy.
Re:What's really behind Finlands IT success (Score:3, Funny)
Where else would someone try to write their own O/S kernel but in a country with nights that are six months long.
Linux would never have been written if Linus lived in Hawaii.