NYT/Reuters: Blair Seeks Secret of Silicon Valley's Success

[DeepModem Mom]

Blair Seeks Secret of Silicon Valley's Success
By REUTERS
Published: July 30, 2006

SAN JOSE, California (Reuters) - A risk-taking culture and close ties with universities are big reasons for the success of the U.S. computer industry, some of Silicon Valley's brightest stars told Prime Minister Tony Blair on Sunday.

Blair, on a mission to find out the secrets of the U.S. high-tech sector's success and apply the lessons in Britain, traveled to the heart of California's Silicon Valley to trade ideas with some of the sharpest minds in the business.

Chief executives around the table included Steve Jobs of computer maker Apple Computer Inc. (AAPL.O), John Chambers of network equipment maker Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO.O), Hector Ruiz of chip maker Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD.N) and Jonathan Schwartz of computer maker Sun Microsystems Inc. (SUNW.O).

Blair's visit to Silicon Valley came on the heels of a visit in June by George Osborne, a senior member of Britain's opposition Conservative Party, who questioned why Britain had produced no Internet giants like Yahoo! (YHOO.O) or Google (GOOG.O).

Osborne's comments were sharply criticized by British researchers who said some exciting companies were starting to emerge from the country's universities....

http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/technology/tech-blair-usa.html

[Human Torch]

1. It all begins by sending half of your high paying jobs to India.

There's the secret, Tony. Now go home.

Cisco's John Chambers...the secret to his success was letting 8500 employees go in the bloodbath of 2001. This came after promising "no layoffs." He cried like a little baby about how he only got a couple of hours of sleep on the night before the axe fell. Meanwhile, his $60 million mansion was being built on Russian Hill in San Francisco, right down the street from his little buddy Larry Ellison.

Success...secrets...and guess what? In Silicon Valley, the streets really ARE paved with gold. Big gold nuggets. You just walk along and gather some up if you're running late on paying your bills.

:grr:

[Jackpine Radical]

2. Here it is, Tony. Here's the secret:

Cocaine.

[Demeter]

3. And the Good-Ole -Boy Network

and geeks willing to work 85 hour weeks and live 9 in a house for options.