[jk2323]

"Mark my words, Berlin will be Europe's Silicon Valley within a few years."

Doubt it. Lack of professional attitude. Disastrous politicians. 3rd tier universities. Lack of capital. Large underclass, big welfare spending.

It is very hard to set up a "silicon valley". The silicon valley had and has some very unique points, including military origins, if I remember right. Germany still has a strong and broad industry, which is lacking in most Eastern and Western European Economies. This is an advantage (try to do a non-software technology start-up in a country that does not have the suppliers and partners, then you know). In the end it is extremely unlikely that EUrope will achieve something similar than the Silicon valley.

Yes, Berlin once was a scientific, cultural, industrial and technological powerhouse. These times won't come back.

The more interesting question would be, can China manage to create a new silicon valley? I have my doubts.

[HillaryBriss]

> Large underclass, big welfare spending.

I don't know what the comparable figures in Berlin are, but in Silicon Valley, about 11% live in poverty.

"About 11.3 percent of Bay Area residents are living at or below the poverty level, according to the report, “Poverty in the Bay Area,” that was released by the Joint Venture Silicon Valley Institute for Regional Studies. The data reflects levels reached in 2013, the most recent year for which these statistics are available."

https://www.mercurynews.com/2015/04/01/poverty-rates-near-re...

[ahartmetz]

The lack of legacy, good CS universities and capital may matter, I don't see how the other things you mention matter. The big plus is it's a great place to live - it is where things happen.

IMO computer science education is crap everywhere in Germany - it's either mathematics or latest hype topic with no "working technology" in the middle. Professors say informatics alumni will design algorithms, programming is for the plebs, or some such. Where do I even start?

There isn't a single respected programming language from Germany. We have nothing like OCaml, or Python, or INRIA or EPFL or ETH Zürich for that matter.

[0xsfv]

May I ask which part of Germany you live in and specifically what your opinion about TUM, KIT and RWTH Aachen is then?

I think it is logically not profound to speak for whole Germany.

[ahartmetz]

I think it matters more where I studied. First Heidelberg, then FU Berlin - actually Physics with secondary subject CS. TUM, KIT and RWTH are maybe the best at CS in Germany, but IMO still not good. What are they known for except being good universities for CS?

[0xsfv]

The fact that you are asking this question makes me believe that you are speaking without having tried to search for an answer on your own. As a CS graduate with secondary subject Mathematics from TUM, I can only speak on behalf of it. You might find https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=194&v=iu6UboRqan... interesting.

How do you know that TUM is not good enough? Probably you are referring to its popularity abroad? Well its definitely worse than that of Stanford, Harvard, MIT, Caltech, etc. But heck, we don't have Hollywood to constantly make plugs in blockbuster movies to boost worldwide opinion.

[yannovitch]

I think that what he is referring to is the lack of big leadership in one (or many) tech sector .

From the examples he mentions, I know automatically (without searching for it) for example that Scala originated at EPFL, that ETHZ (& EPFL to a lesser extent) produce some of the most advanced things related to drones, that OCaml originated in France and is pushed by INRIA, etc... But there is nothing coming immediately to mind about TUM