[roughly]

Do you know the history of why California became a tech mecca?

[ecshafer]

Because of the Federal government heavily investing in Computer research at the Universities there and propping up the semiconductor industry?

[eesmith]

It started even earlier, with US military funding projects in microwaves/radar, electronic warfare, and aerospace.

Think Varian, which developed military applications for the klystron, including nuclear bomb fuses.

The first semiconductor companies were considered too risky for military funding, so used risk capital.

See Steve Blank's writings on the Secret History of Silicon Valley for more, like https://steveblank.com/2009/10/29/the-secret-history-of-sili... .

[derwiki]

Wait, I thought it was psychedelic drugs. What did the dormouse say, anyway?