An Insider Perspective on What Happened to Silicon Valley

One of the long reads from this month's WIRED magazine offers an insider account to the shift that's happened within Silicon Valley and particularly to the ideals of the now billionaires who were foundational in creating the technology fueling our world today. You may know some of the pieces of this history already, but seeing the evolution of the last three decades mapped out in a single article made me think this week.

"Essentially, the big tech companies became The Phone Company—pernicious behemoths who enshittify their products to extract more profits. You can’t even get a human customer-service person on the phone. In a 2024 survey of Silicon Valley residents, three-quarters of respondents felt tech companies have too much power; nearly as many believe they have lost their moral compass."

This is a story that goes beyond politics or technology and really looks at those pivotal moments when things could have gone one way but went another. Elon Musk getting angry for not being invited to an event. One crypto fraudster souring the world on an entire industry which then came back for revenge. A declined invitation to a meeting. It feels hard to believe the significance of these moments until the dots get connected in this way. The result is a story that will open your eyes and make you wonder how transformed our future might have been if one of those moments had unfolded differently.