Wednesday, October 24, 2007

New York and Bellevue grow tech centers

A few decades ago, tech was defined as 'Big Blue' (IBM) most often associated with Tarrytown, New York in suburban Westchester County. Many remember when IBM was considered a leading indicator for the entire New York Stock Exchange.

Times change but history repeats itself.

Once again, Tech seems to be one of the major driving forces behind the markets.

For the past decade or so, you had to be in Silicon Valley to be considered 'in the loop' and many tech companies moved there for just that reason. I can remember being nixed for an contributor spot in the early days of CNET because "they hire almost exclusively from the Silicon Valley area". At the time, I was in a Long Island NY suburb.

Perhaps to lurk in the shadows of Microsoft (or maybe for the fabulous ski slopes and mountain views?), most major players in 'tech' have opened offices or launched start-ups the Bellevue Washington area, mainly in the past 2 years.

Tech returns. New York's tech centers dubbed 'Silicon Alley', despite some of the highest NYC rental prices (and hotel prices) in recent history, is growing exponentially. As the web and mainstream media converge on an ongoing basis, technology's presence among the mainstream players and major advertising companies (not to mention financial centers) has become more important than ever.

Techies on the east coast who have mostly worked from Boston, now have a growing haven in New York.

No comments: