California: A Beacon Of Innovation

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The creation of Californian self-images is firstly often attributed to the Industry. Hollywood is one of the expressions of Californian creativity, yet another iconic symbol of the inventiveness of California is Silicon Valley.

From this mythical place, knowledge is dismissed all around the globe. It was in California, that the vehicles of knowledge production and knowledge transportation were developed. This knowledge is, from an utilitarian perspective, ‘useful’ and exploitable knowledge: it’s technology.

Silicon Valley modifies our every-day life by these outcomes of Californian knowledge production. Google, Amazon, Apple etc. are to a large extent responsible for the diffusion of knowledge. But there is more inside: it's more than the invention of the internet. California created the vehicles for the access to knowledge and for the creation of new knowledge.

Silicon Valley has spread its own image by the help of its own basis: after its own technical implementation of ideas and by creating its own new media.

The internet projects not only the self-representation of Silicon Valley, but the communication itself comes into being by the help of different Californian products such as the PC, the I-Phone etc. At the same time, it hands over as well the Hollywood self-image to the world.

The Hollywood narrative on Silicon Valley as depicted in the film excerpt has been influenced (and to a certain extent even has been made possible) by its own subject. These self-reflecting aspects re-

represent the creation of self-representational images. While the importance of the innovativeness of Silicon Valley is illustrated by its outcomes such as the personal computer, different programming languages, hardware products such as the mouse, various kinds of periphery, Tcp/IP (developed at Stanford in cooperation with London out of the development of the Ethernet developed by Xerox) the film focuses only on the development of the Personal Computer.

But today, more than 2000 different firms have their Headquarter or a dependency in Silicon Valley. Economically, Silicon Valley is the most important place in the world for the computer industry. This billion dollar industry has had and will again have its ups and downs, dropping bubbles (internet bubble in the 2000’s) or the social network bubble (still intact) – but these are just tips of the creative iceberg. Maybe, it’s this overwhelming density of this knowledge based economic power (just think of what knowledge can do in the hands of those who held power) that represents best the counterpart of the ‘cool’ Tech’ branch – what the film is not about. It re-creates the idea of guru like Steve Jobs, the ‘discovery’ of the PC and the cleverness of a happy few.

It is in the self-reflecting medium of communication (e.g. thinking of re-editing of Encyclopedia entry on Silicon Valley by people from different perspectives and with different interests) that we do communicate here.

This meta-narrative leads to concluding meta-analysis: California has not only literature or the Industry for the creation of its own self-representations and Silicon Valley is not only a mythical place re-represented by the film industry and re-iterating its owns splendor and mythical value.

Silicon Valley creates and generates its own and our future by its knowledge production and the world- wide spread of its technical outcomes and products. In this perspective, our own knowledge production itself is influenced by California. And even further, California influences the way we perceive ourselves - thinking of shaping our own virtual identities and avatars just as illustrated by this blog.