> ...unrelated to the newspaper

This piece was paid for and printed by the Times. It might have been edited by the Times as well. It's not a letter to the editor.

Either way, Taplin considers himself an expert on Silicon Valley culture and seems to have problems objectively describing at least this part of it.

It is part of the NYT's opinion section, and not the editorial board's opinion.

Newspapers include opinion sections from very diverse authors. The NYT has, for example, published a section by Putin:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/12/opinion/putin-plea-for-cau...

Opinion pieces are typically paid. I suspect world leaders and billionaires are not paid, though.

The Times does decide what to print, even if they print an unpaid Putin. They would presumably decline to print a letter from Kim Jong Un about how he shot 38 under par, including five holes-in-one.

> The Times does decide what to print, even if they print an unpaid Putin.

Yes:

https://www.nytimes.com/content/help/site/editorial/op-ed/op...

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/14/opinion/op-ed-and-you.html...