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In SoylentNews' continuing coverage of the aftershocks of the US Presidential election, it appears that tech will factor large in a Trump administration:
Billionaire tech investor Peter Thiel is putting together a brain trust of Silicon Valley insiders to share ideas with the transition team for President-elect Donald Trump. But he's having trouble finding takers.
For the full story, consult the Washington Post article.
Some further tidbits:
Thiel, a libertarian who was shunned by his tech industry peers for being a Trump supporter, is pitching his personal network of entrepreneurs on the opportunity to influence an incoming administration that is somewhat of a blank slate when it comes to technology policy. Because Trump had so few ties to the world of tech, Thiel will have an unusually powerful influence on the new administration, the people familiar with his thinking said.
This much we already knew. Real estate development is ancient tech. Heck, Emperor Nero of Rome did it when he let Rome burn so he could build new condos! But there is resistance in the Valley of Silicon.
But in the liberal bastion of Silicon Valley — where Trump is despised and even admitting you're a Republican can hurt your candidacy for a job – that coveted opportunity has been fraught with challenges. And some people have turned him down altogether. Thiel declined to comment.
We may have reached the corporate defined limits of fair use, so I encourage one and all to read the complete WaPo article. I have not heard anything about an offer being made to The Mighty Buzzard yet, but it is in the range of possibility!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 28 2016, @12:12PM
He's not a fan. [venturebeat.com]
(Score: 3, Informative) by bradley13 on Monday November 28 2016, @12:40PM
I'm not sure that's a fair statement. Here's the full quote from the article from the link, and it is pretty nuanced:
“We’ve had these debates about net neutrality for over 15 years. It hasn’t been necessary so far, and I’m not sure anything has changed to make it necessary right now.
And I don’t like government regulation: We need the US government to regulate the internet about as much as we need the EU to regulate Google — I suspect the cons greatly outweigh the pros, especially in practice.”
I take this to mean that he considers net neutrality to be important, but he's not sure that government regulation is the way to go, because government regulation so often comes with it's own set of problems.
Everyone is somebody else's weirdo.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 28 2016, @12:52PM
Its not nuanced. Its just the same old mindless faux-libertarian argument that if you give companies who have state-supported monopolies abuse their monopoly power it will all work out great in the end.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 28 2016, @10:50PM
So, "nuanced" for libertarian values of nuance? Reminds me of what Oswald Patton said about rightwingers and comedy. http://www.rawstory.com/2016/11/comedian-patton-oswalt-is-terrified-by-what-will-happen-after-trumps-inauguration/ [rawstory.com] Don't do nuance, can't do funny.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 28 2016, @02:22PM
'member Prodigy? Oh yeah, I 'member! 'member AOL? OOOOOHHH YEAAH, I 'member AOL!