The brave comment I was looking for... I feel the same: Silicon Valley used to be holy Mecca to this French person; since I started having Internet access in the early 90's, all daily online activity was turned towards it - and some of that remains, as I log on here. To me, the financial success of the companies was a minor side-effect of the technological utopia which was the main point. But those who found financial success turned Silicon Valley into a toxic brand... They managed to make quietly progressive European companies look cool in comparison !