Silicon Valley (Version 2.0) Has Hopes Up says the New York Times. Among the optimists is a member of a startup company producing products for the “Web log” market:
"It feels like we're 12 months, 18 months away from the equivalent of the Netscape I.P.O.," said Andrew Anker, a former venture capitalist who this month became executive vice president at Six Apart, a start-up based in Silicon Valley that aims to help businesses publish Web logs, or blogs.The article is curiously focused on secondary indicators such as traffic:
In 2000, according to the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority, 55 percent of the region's major freeway miles were snarled in traffic during commuting hours, compared to less than 40 percent in 2002, the latest year with data available.and fancy restaurants:
"The bleeding has stopped," said Alex Resnik, a part-owner of Spago Palo Alto. No longer do "three youngsters in their late 20's spend $3,000 on dinner," he said with a frown, but the restaurant is starting to do a brisk business again in wines that sell for $60 a bottle.The press would like nothing better than another chance to churn out 1998 style fluff pieces on the wild and crazy spending of the young geniuses of the New Economy. After all, the end of the millenium wasn't just a boom for the tech industry. The media had a pretty good ride as well.
