The Secrets of Silicon Valley – What Big Tech Doesn’t Want You to Know

The documentary begins by discussing the concept of Silicon Valley, which is not just a physical location, but also an idea representing the desire to digitize all information in the world and store it in databases.

The consequences of this digitization are a loss of privacy, a world where big tech billionaires control public debate, and a future where total surveillance and control are the norms.

The documentary then delves into the history of Silicon Valley, which was originally a farming region known as the Santa Clara Valley until the 1960s. The transformation of the region into a hub for technology and social media companies is attributed to World War II and the actions of Frederick Terman.

Terman was a Stanford graduate who ran a top-secret radio research laboratory at Harvard during the war, directing the development of electronic warfare equipment such as radar detectors and jammers.

After the war, Terman returned to Stanford as the Dean of the School of Engineering and transformed it into a center of excellence for microwaves and electronics.

He recruited former members of the radio research laboratory and established the Electronics Research Lab for basic and unclassified research. With military research funds flowing into the region, Terman began transforming the San Francisco Bay Area into a high-tech research hotspot.

In 1951, Terman spearheaded the creation of Stanford Research Park, a joint venture between Stanford and the city of Palo Alto to attract big technology corporations to the area.

The park was successful in luring companies such as Hewlett Packard, General Electric, and Kodak, cementing Silicon Valley as a nexus between Stanford, big tech, and government-sponsored research.

The documentary also discusses the military roots of Silicon Valley, with Terman serving as an advisor to every major branch of the US military during the 1950s. The Stanford Research Institute, which had close ties to the Advanced Research Projects Agency, was also a key military contractor.

Overall, “The Secrets of Silicon Valley” argues that the origins of Silicon Valley lie in military research and government sponsorship and that the region’s transformation into a high-tech hub has resulted in a loss of privacy and control for individuals.