California Dreaming
California used to be best known for its laid-back, hippy culture, happy cities, and endless golden beaches. And while these are still very much in evidence, what often springs to mind these days when talking about the state is less leisure and much more business. Home to Silicon Valley and more successful tech start-ups than arguably anywhere else in the world, California is about so much more than just dreaming. The Tech Bros have certainly struck gold on this corner of the planet.
Apple
A recent New York Times crossword clue was “What puts the L in Silicon Valley?”?. The answer, somewhat confusingly, was Apple. Maybe the crossword setter was alluding to what the L stood for. In Apple’s case, it could stand for all sorts of things, including Largest and Latest, as the company always seems to be coming up with a new gadget or operating system on a near-constant basis. Or perhaps the L stood for Loyal – Apple users tend to be incredibly loyal, and many, including myself, would not swap our iPhones or iMacs for any other manufacturer’s model.
However, Apple is so much more than just a maker (or designer and importer) of beautiful, sleek hardware; it has a whole suite of software and services to provide a complete customer package. Entertainment apps include iTunes and Apple TV. Apple has Apple Maps (which is massively improved but still not as good as Google’s) and a suite of “Microsoft Office” rivals like Pages, Numbers, and KeyNote.
While many Apple fans prefer to use alternative software, Apple Pay still stands out as a breakthrough app in the way in which we pay for goods and services online. They initiated the everyday digital wallet, which can now be used everywhere as a secure way to pay for online shopping, whether for groceries or subscription services. Nowadays, people are using Apple Pay at a casino, at the bar, and even at the zoo.
Alphabet / Google
It might have started life as a search engine, but Google always had much larger ambitions. It now dominates the digital landscape and provides services that we would feel hard-pressed to live without. I mean, how would we get from A to B or plan our next vacation without relying on Google Maps? Yes, we could use Apple’s version, but everyone knows that it is an inferior beast.
Alphabet is also at the cutting-edge when it comes to Artificial Intelligence and App development with innovations like TensorFlow. Google’s AI-powered Assistant makes Google a market leader in AI, and it is pushing advancements in machine learning and language processing.
Meta / Facebook / Instagram / WhatsApp
What allegedly started as a way to rate your college mates, called Facemash (or more accurately, as a way for male students to rate the female ones), Facebook and Meta have become the ultimate social media powerhouses. Whether it is Facebook, Instagram, or WhatsApp, Meta is the undoubted leader when it comes to our socials. While Threads never got the same traction (despite people leaving X Corp (formerly Twitter) in droves, the company continues to evolve and is also a leader in immersive digital experiences.
Like its peers, Meta invests heavily in machine learning and content creation. It has also been a leading proponent of the Metaverse, which it believes could be the future of social interaction and online communities. However, while that was a wildly popular idea during the Pandemic and lockdowns, those of us who like to have legs have found real-life meet-ups more rewarding.
LinkedIn Corp
The world’s largest professional network is based in Sunnyvale, California. The platform facilitates job searching and business networking, supporting employees, recruiters, and job seekers with AI tools for improving search optimization and match-making. It is much more than just a job marketplace, and many organisations use it to provide updates and insights into their sector.
So there you have the not-so-secret seven. Seven enormous corporations that have thrived (or not in the case of Tesla) in California’s sunshine. All the big tech firms seem to be there, with the notable exception of Amazon, which is Seattle-based.
