Do you know any interesting people who you would consider to be intellectuals who work in technology? If so, are their intellectual interests separate from technology (ie., they have a second life as a musician/artist/writer), or do they have technical interests that you would consider "intellectual".

You can't be sure of that unless you attend the same cocktail parties as Sally, Ben and Amit.

99% is hyperbole. There is a lot more going on in SF than just rails shops. You may only hear about the rails shops, but I know plenty of people in the area working on serious tech that improves life.

Plus, who is to decide who is and is not an intellectual. You're characterization probably applies to a greater percentage of the non-techie population than the techie population.

True, I just thought it was amusing.