Silicon Valley

The was an informal group of electronic enthusiasts and technically minded hobbyists who gathered to trade parts, , and information pertaining to construction of computing devices. and who met at the Community Computer Center in . They both were interested in maintaining a regular, open forum for people to get together to work on making computers more accessible to everyone., ; which was on occasion of the arrival of the microcomputer, the first unit sent to the area for review by . and credit that first meeting with inspiring them to design the original and (successor) computers. As a result, the first preview of the was given at the Homebrew Computer Club..[60]

Venture capital

By the early 1970s, there were many companies in the area, firms using their devices, and programming and service companies serving both. Industrial space was plentiful and housing was still inexpensive. Growth during this era was fueled by the emergence of on , beginning with and in 1972; the availability of venture capital exploded after the successful $1.3 billion of in December 1980. Since the 1980s, Silicon Valley has been home to the largest concentration of venture capital firms in the world. traced the origins of Silicon Valley firms, including via investments from 's eight co-founders. The key investors in and were from the same group, directly leading to 2014 estimate of 92 public firms of 130 related listed firms then worth over US$2.1 Trillion with over 2,000 firms traced back to them.[63]

Law firms

Prior to 1970, most Northern California lawyers were based in San Francisco, especially the experienced whom the high-tech industry needed to protect its intellectual property. During the 1970s, lawyers began to follow venture capitalists down the to serve the booming high-tech industry in Silicon Valley. One sign of the rapid expansion of Silicon Valley legal services was that Palo Alto law firm "expanded from a dozen attorneys in 1975 to more than 700 by 2000".

Software

Although semiconductors are still a major component of the area's economy, Silicon Valley has been most famous in recent years for innovations in software and services. Silicon Valley has significantly influenced computer operating systems, , and user interfaces.

Using money from , the , and , invented the and hypertext-based collaboration tools in the mid-1960s and 1970s while at (now SRI International), first publicly demonstrated in 1968 in what is now known as . Engelbart's at SRI was also involved in launching the (precursor to the ) and starting the (now ). hired some of Engelbart's best researchers beginning in the early 1970s. In turn, in the 1970s and 1980s, Xerox's (PARC) played a pivotal role in programming, (GUIs), , , and .

While Xerox marketed equipment using its technologies, for the most part its technologies flourished elsewhere. The diaspora of Xerox inventions led directly to and , and indirectly to , , and . Apple's GUI was largely a result of ' visit to PARC and the subsequent hiring of key personnel.'s .[66]

Internet age

Commercial use of the Internet became practical and grew slowly throughout the early 1990s.

In 1995, commercial use of the grew substantially and the initial wave of internet startups, , , and the predecessor to began operations.[67]

Dot-com bubble

Silicon Valley is generally considered to have been the center of the , which started in the mid-1990s and collapsed after the began to decline dramatically in April 2000. During the bubble era, real estate prices reached unprecedented levels. For a brief time, was home to the most expensive commercial real estate in the world, and the booming economy resulted in severe .

21st century

After the dot-com crash, Silicon Valley continues to maintain its status as one of the top research and development centers in the world. A 2006 story found that 12 of the 20 most inventive towns in America were in California, and 10 of those were in Silicon Valley. Silicon Valley is also home to a significant number of "" ventures, referring to whose has exceeded $1 billion .

The has the largest concentration of companies in the , at 387,000 high-tech jobs, of which Silicon Valley accounts for 225,300 high-tech jobs. Silicon Valley has the highest concentration of high-tech workers of any metropolitan area, with 285.9 out of every 1,000 private-sector workers. Silicon Valley has the highest average high-tech salary in the at $144,800.

The region is the biggest high-tech manufacturing centre in the United States. The unemployment rate of the region was 9.4% in January 2009 and has decreased to a record low of 2.7% as of August 2019. More traditional industries also recognize the potential of high-tech development, and several car manufacturers have opened offices in Silicon Valley to capitalize on its entrepreneurial ecosystem.[78]

Manufacture of is, or was, the core industry in Silicon Valley. The production workforce. Technical, engineering, design, and administrative staffs were in large part

Silicon Valley has a , caused by the market imbalance between jobs created and housing units built: from 2010 to 2015, many more jobs have been created than housing units built. (400,000 jobs, 60,000 housing units) As of 2016 a two-bedroom apartment rented for about $2,500 while the median home price was about $1 million. called Silicon Valley the most expensive U.S. housing region. is a problem with housing beyond the reach of middle-income residents; there is little other than in San Jose which, as of 2015, was making an effort to develop shelters by renovating old hotels. also attributes the high cost of living to the success of the industries in this region. Although, this rift between high and low salaries is driving many residents out who can no longer afford to live there. In the , the number of residents planning to leave within the next several years has had an increase of 12% since 2016, from 34% to 46%.

Notable companies