- Hardcover: 300 pages
- Publisher: PROMETHEUS BOOKS (Feb 1 2002)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1573929263
- ISBN-13: 978-1573929264
- Product Dimensions: 23.6 x 16 x 2.3 cm
- Shipping Weight: 399 g
- Average Customer Review: 1.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
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Product Details |
Product Description
Product Description
Leaving their families, their friends, and the lives they had known behind, thousands of young information technologists flocked to northern California in the 1980s and 1990s to live the Silicon Valley dream of overnight wealth and power. What they didn't know was that the Silicon Valley dream is really just the American Dream gone ballistic, a place where money and power are the only things that matter in life. In this enlightening critique, counsellors Mel and Pat Krantzler contend that Silicon Valley is more than just the name of a geographical area, it is the name for a psychological obsession found anywhere people believe that instant fame and fortune can be gained through silicon chips and Web sites. Building on this foundation, they reveal that the obsession nourishes itself on an illusion of power and instant gratification. And like heroin and cocaine, it is highly addictive, promising total happiness, but often ending in disarray and despair, leaving even wealthy and successful individuals feeling "down and out." The first book of its kind, this book is as up-to-date as today's headlines.
From the Inside Flap
Reminiscent of the gold rush of 1849, thousands of bright, promising, enthusiastic young people flocked to northern California in the 1980s and 1990s to find their fortunes. Whereas the miners of the nineteenth century believed the streets to be lined with gold, these twentieth-century prospectors saw the streets lined with microchips, personal computers, the Internet, and the World Wide Web. Leaving their old lives behind, these information technologists pursued the rags-to-riches fantasy cultivated by the media and wanted to live the Silicon Valley dream. What they found was, in many cases, more terrifying than they could ever have imagined.
Drawing on their extensive counseling practice, psychologists Mel and Pat Krantzler, who have helped hundreds of managers, CEOs, engineers, and human resource specialists of high-tech companies cope with dreams turned to nightmares, expose the shadowy side of Silicon Valley, the mind-set it exported to other areas of the country, and the awesome personal costs of "success." DOWN AND OUT IN SILICON VALLEY presents a side of high-tech, dot-com culture never explored by the media. The authors reveal the haunting truths that Silicon Valley and its techno-cloned communities throughout the country have one of the highest divorce rates in the world, more children who are psychologically disturbed than in less-affluent areas, no affordable housing even for those earning $50,000 a year, eighty-hour work weeks, and widespread alcohol and drug use.
Although the main focus of this illuminating and intriguing work is the overwhelming impact of the Valley on those who work there, the Krantzlers also present the life cycle of Silicon Valley high-tech industry, from its birth in the early 1970s, through its boom in the late 1990s, to its virtual collapse in the year 2000. They have also incorporated a thought-provoking investigation of the myth of gender equality in the high-tech industry and an encouraging section detailing how a number of archetypal Silicon Valley workers have made the decision to achieve true well-being for themselves and their families, with a formula for real success--a well-rounded, balanced, and fully human life. The book concludes with a chapter exploring the shattering effects of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, on the area and the industry. These attacks may have caused more layoffs, more red-ink for bottom lines, and greater uncertainty about sales and the future, but this does not! preclude a sense of self-renewal based on a more humanistic lifestyle from being felt in the Valley.
DOWN AND OUT IN SILICON VALLEY is the first book to explode the romanticized myth of Silicon Valley, which is still so prevalent in advertising and the media. It will leave readers with a vastly different perspective on technology and the Internet in the world around them. It projects a vision of new technology in the service of humankind rather than in exploitive greed.
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Most helpful customer reviews
1.0 out of 5 stars
Poorly written,
By blotter "blotter" (San Francisco, CA USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Down And Out In Silicon Valley (Hardcover)
You can almost smell the envy and the "I told you so" attitude of the writers. Ironic when this book is no more than attempt to cash in (while of course, occupying the moral high ground) on the .commania so bitterly missed by the authors. I noted that one of the chapter titles misspells the word There are many fascinating stories to be told about fear and greed in the valley --this book has none of them.
1.0 out of 5 stars
Good concept, terrible execution,
By
This review is from: Down And Out In Silicon Valley (Hardcover)
There's a lot to be said about the dark side of Silicon Valley. Unfortunately, Mel and Pat Krantzler aren't the ones to say it. I picked up the book hoping for a comprehensive study of the Silicon Valley area, it's people, the suicide rates, divorce rates, amount of time spent sitting in traffic, and obviously the health and mental problems of its denizens.Instead, what I got was page after page of anecdotal evidence. One example was the chapter entitled: "The myth of gender equality." What I expected from the book is a survey of women working in Silicon Valley companies. Instead, the chapter was dominated by an interview with ONE successful woman. The other chapters are similar. As a Silicon Valley resident of more than 10 years, I'm disappointed. There is much to criticize in the valley, but the criticism should be factual and statistical, rather than anecdotal. (The two authors run a counselling service, so obviously, the only people they ever encounter are people who need help!)
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
1.0 out of 5 stars (3 customer reviews) 4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Good concept, terrible execution,
By Piaw Na - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Down And Out In Silicon Valley (Hardcover)
There's a lot to be said about the dark side of Silicon Valley. Unfortunately, Mel and Pat Krantzler aren't the ones to say it. I picked up the book hoping for a comprehensive study of the Silicon Valley area, it's people, the suicide rates, divorce rates, amount of time spent sitting in traffic, and obviously the health and mental problems of its denizens.Instead, what I got was page after page of anecdotal evidence. One example was the chapter entitled: "The myth of gender equality." What I expected from the book is a survey of women working in Silicon Valley companies. Instead, the chapter was dominated by an interview with ONE successful woman. The other chapters are similar. As a Silicon Valley resident of more than 10 years, I'm disappointed. There is much to criticize in the valley, but the criticism should be factual and statistical, rather than anecdotal. (The two authors run a counselling service, so obviously, the only people they ever encounter are people who need help!)
1.0 out of 5 stars
I was part of the bust,
By D. K. Henning - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Down And Out In Silicon Valley (Hardcover)
These people have no clue what they are talking about. The book is is an obvious attempt to cash in on the glee some people have of seeing the tech bubble burst, because they were not part of it. Most of us have moved on. Most have moved on to other high tech jobs, but some to the law, medicine, politics, finance, and even back to tech again. Most of the people in the tech world are either very happy because they get to do the work they love, or they got out because they were here for a quick buck. The individuals these people see in their practice need help. The ones who thought that moving to the bay area would fix their life had problems to begin with. Duh.
0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Poorly written,
By blotter "blotter" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Down And Out In Silicon Valley (Hardcover)
You can almost smell the envy and the "I told you so" attitude of the writers. Ironic when this book is no more than attempt to cash in (while of course, occupying the moral high ground) on the .commania so bitterly missed by the authors. I noted that one of the chapter titles misspells the word There are many fascinating stories to be told about fear and greed in the valley --this book has none of them. |
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