Project 366 / 315 - Silicon Valley, money and ideas

Reports are in that tech wonderland Silicon Valley is dead. That despite the valley being awash with cash that there are no new ideas and that everyone is desperately looking out for the next big thing.

And perhaps that's where the problem lies. Big tech things, like Facebook, Twitter, Uber, Instagram etc... come along once in a blue moon. Milestone advancements in hardware technology come along even less. But just because there are only one or two great ideas every now and again doesn't mean there isn't a ton of good ideas which are worth exploring.

The problem is everyone expects so much money. Firstly how much is enough? And secondly does it all really cost that much? A first round of funding may raise $1m but these startups are burning through that type of cash in the blink of an eye. How? Whatever happened to slumping it in your basement or garage? Whatever happened to flat or house sharing? These kids need to get back in the trenches and grind out results.

Another problem with tech is that until the project is ready to launch it won't make any money. And when it does launch it's pretty much sink or swim.

I love the idea that technology is allowing itself to develop. The recent advancements allow people to work wherever they have wifi. That means that tech bubbles are popping up all over the globe, with many of them fixing a local problem rather than a global one.

In India the government is creating a biometric-based national ID system, with the aim of making transferring money as easy as sending e-mail for 1.2 billion people. Estonia is creating a truly digital state. In Israel one tech company is using quantum dots to make batteries that can charge in one minute. In Nairobi they are developing a "school-in-a-box" that already provides primary school education to 100,000 children in Africa.

And this is just a snippet. The exciting futures, the tiny glimmers of everything to come, are in fact evenly spread in nooks and crannies all around the world. In a strange twist of irony, Silicon Valley is becoming a virtual place.