Silicon Valley would not have happened elsewhere. Neither would the dot-com era, or a viable electric car industry (proved out by Tesla). Every FAANG is American and their only viable competition is in China.
I don’t know what the next transformative industry is going to be, but I’d be shocked if it came from a risk-averse place like Western Europe.
I’ve discussed this here before, I think, but SV could have happened in the UK, as they were well ahead of everyone else in some areas. The reason it didn’t, as I’ve been repeatedly told by people who live there, is because at that time they had an entrenched culture that was "anti-anorak", or against hacker culture. The funding wasn’t there because proto-hackers were looked down upon by the establishment as powerless nerds incapable of furthering societal progress. On the other hand, SV happened in the US because these so-called anoraks were given a chance that bore fruit with a large defense budget to further the post-WWII era of technological development.
> could have happened in the UK, as they were well ahead of everyone else in some areas.... large defense budget to further the post-WWII era of technological development.
It kind of _did_ happen in the UK, but earlier, for the same reasons of defence funding, but during the WWII era. Characters like Turing and Cockrell (inventor of the hovercraft), Tommy Flowers (Colossus) were all "off center wheels" so to speak. They did their work in sheds using makeshift tools. They got a shot out of necessity. What happened in Britain between about 1935 and 1955 was an enormous technological push.
> The reason it didn’t, as I’ve been repeatedly told by people who live there, is because at that time they had an entrenched culture that was "anti-anorak"
We still have. Geek never really became cool here. That's an American thing. But the truth is, after the war we were flat broke. Very few smart people had the leisure time and capital to risk as in the US. And then successive governments mismanaged our fledgling computer industry like ICL and Ferranti.
Today the dominant job prospects for a geek in Britain are working for Google, Apple, Microsodt, IBM... it's embarrasing, humiliating given our history, and the disgraceful legacy of successive bad governments.
> SV happened in the US because these so-called anoraks were given a chance that bore fruit
I think that's the nub of it. But we haven't really learned in the UK. Our class system and fear of "outsider" innovation is still entrenched.
For example, I don't need a license to write software, or sell it. I don't need any signoff from regulators. Nor is there a cottage industry of suing software developers. There are no laws specifying how the software is written.
Isn’t that generally true worldwide?
The US in general is more business friendly, which leads to people wanting to invest their dollars in US business.
I recall some German friends of mine being quite surprised at how easy it is to start a business in the US. Though some businesses the government is very hostile to, like being a landlord.
Ut happened because of cheap and plenty of VC money.
Ok, so why didn't other countries have "cheap and plenty of VC money" at the same time? Why not the UK, or Germany, or Japan?
Of all the rich countries that existed in the world at the time, why did only the US develop a Silicon Valley type of situation?
It was never about money -- plenty of other countries had rich investors. It was about willingness to take risk. US venture capital was unique in the world at that time, and it was because of their culture.
It seems part of Silicon Valley culture and technological breakthrough came from people coming from industries involved in the space program.
Space program has been the real kick-starter of VC. No other countries (except USSR) had such program.
Silicone valley would probably also not be possible with modern regulations. But... That has a name. Regulatory capture is far from new. And doesn't require crazy people.
Looking at tech and ignoring how much brain and money power was thrown at nuclear technology is doing a disservice to why the US was so far ahead in many fields for a long while.