Silicon Valley Vignettes
Here are a few scenes I witnessed or participated in during my time in the Bay Area. They’re mundane, but stick out for one reason or another. At some point I would like to compile every memorable vignette from my life and link them together.
Redwood City, CA - 2022
A man sits outside of a café with his wife and a friend.
He’s not a CFO. He’s a VP of Finance masquerading as a CFO!
His friend chuckles in agreement, his wife chuckles awkwardly.
You want a CFO? I’ve got a whole portfolio of CFOs.
San Jose, CA - 2024
Hanging out with some friends, one of them - an Apple employee - makes an announcement.
Friend 1: My project is about to ship!
This friend is an electrical engineer. I have a hobby interest in electrical circuits so I prod for more information.
Me: Awesome! Is this something 1st party? Or is it 3rd party?
My friend pauses. They’re usually cagey about the details of their work. Apple is extremely strict with leaks and she’s in the US on a visa. Another friend at the table is confused by the pause and tries to clarify.
Friend 2: He means, is this made by Apple?
Friend 1: I know what he means…
The Apple engineer thinks for a few more seconds.
Friend 1: My projects usually involve collaboration with outside companies.
Everyone nods along.
Me: So is this project already manufactured?
She thinks again, choosing her words carefully.
Friend 1: The hardware usually gets to the factory early in the process.
San Francisco, CA - 2024
Them: What are you working on?
I turn around from the hacker-space’s soldering station. Since I started working on my proto-board someone has sat down at the table behind me.
Me: It’s a project for my dad. A model train light controller. What are you working on over there?
They look down at their laptop.
Them: Well… it’s a music classifier. It tells you who is playing a piano piece using AI.
Me: That’s very interesting. What model does it use?
They scrunch their brow.
Me: … how does it work? Embeddings search?
Them: I just had ChatGPT code it. But it doesn’t seem to work correctly.
Me: Are you a software engineer?
Them: No. I’m a pianist.
San Francisco, CA - 2024
Another day, I’m waiting with an umbrella by the door for someone to unlock the hacker space. A man wearing sunglasses approaches in an oversized poncho.
Hacker: Hey check this out.
He pulls up the poncho above his waist, revealing a half of a split keyboard strapped to each side of his hips. Wires run in and out of his pockets. He looks at a blank wall.
Hacker: I’m on the internet right now.
He types furiously on each hip.
Me: Oh, is that hooked up to a phone?
Hacker: Heh. One of those locked-down prisons? No. I’ve got a full Linux computer in my back pocket. My glasses have a screen in them.
Me: That’s pretty cool. And your keyboard is an Ergodox?
Hacker: Yep. Only problem is the cell carriers won’t let me hook this up to 4G. They don’t want an unrestrained system on their networks. It’s all about control. I only use open source products.
He stops typing and lets the poncho flow downwards.
Hacker: Even my poncho is open source. I downloaded the design, made a few modifications and stitched it together.
Mountain View, CA - 2023
On one of my last days at Google I happened to be eating lunch outside of the Googleplex. At this point in time the Googleplex is the headquarters for Google’s AI efforts. ChatGPT is about 8 months old.
Two white men are talking loudly a couple of tables away.
Googler 1: The thing everyone gets wrong about colonialism is how good it was for the colonized.
The other man laughs.
Googler 2: Exactly! Think of how much better off those people were afterwards. Take the British for example. They brought advanced technology and medicine to the edges of the world.