Secret History of Silicon Valley

[Recorded: November 20, 2008]
Today, Silicon Valley is known around the world as a fount of technology innovation and development fueled by private venture capital and peopled by fabled entrepreneurs. But it wasn't always so. Unbeknownst to even seasoned inhabitants, today's Silicon Valley had its start in government secrecy and wartime urgency.
In this lecture, renowned serial entrepreneur Steve Blank presents how the roots of Silicon Valley sprang not from the later development of the silicon semiconductor but instead from the earlier technology duel over the skies of Germany and secret efforts around (and over) the Soviet Union. World War II, the Cold War and one Stanford professor set the stage for the creation and explosive growth of entrepreneurship in Silicon Valley. The world was forever changed when the Defense Department, CIA and the National Security Agency acted like today's venture capitalists funding this first wave of entrepreneurship. Steve Blank shows how these groundbreaking early advances lead up to the high-octane, venture capital fueled Silicon Valley we know today.
Catalog Number: 102695046
Lot Number: X5082.2009

[@jimprice1959]

What a great presentation. It covers the history of "Silicon Valley" of which most are unaware. I was a manufacturer's rep from 1965 to 2000. My customers included almost all of the microwave manufacturers-- Dalmo Victor, Litton, Lenkurt, California Microwave, HP, Watkins-Johnson, Avantek, Yigtek, among others, I've probably forgotten.

[@Margiana123]

Thank you for making this video. I had no idea that my Dad had been "heavily involved" in radar things in the late 1950s while a student at Harvard and probably other things out here also when Dave & Bill of HP brought him to HP in the very late 1950s. I'm trying to get him to talk with the Computer History Museum at some point.

[@SIMKINETICS]

I lived in Santa Clara Valley since '62, worked in engineering here since '66. Looking back, it seems like a time-warp! What a long, strange trip it's been!

[@steamengineer100]

Hi, can a person get your transmission system from anywhere yet? I am interested..

[@slimshadus]

@@steamengineer100 apparently not lol

[@jimprice1959]

I too saw it change from the Peninsula and Santa Clara Valley to Silicon Valley.

[@johnburns4017]

This presentation omits vital history. The Germans emulated what the British had in the Battle of Britain. In the great air battle of 15 September 1940 in the Battle of Britain, the Germans sent 400 fighters to escort about 100 bombers part of the way to London. RAF Fighter Command ordered into the air nearly 200 Spitfires and Hurricanes which swarmed high above London and Kent, attacking the poorly escorted bombers. Nearly 300 RAF fighter sorties were launched that day against German fighter escorts. This massive concentration of fighters, larger than anything ever previously displayed by the RAF, convinced the Luftwaffe that Fighter Command was far from being the beaten force that German intelligence was telling them. The sight of such a large fighter force, that *miraculously* intercepted the Luftwaffe everywhere it turned, shattered German hopes. Chain Home and the fighter control system, which neither of them the Germans had at the time, allowed outnumbered British fighters to turn up at the right time to intercept Luftwaffe raids time after time after time. The element of surprise gave the RAF men an advantage. German formations could be seen, and also their in-flight deviations, *in real time.* This was directed to the intercepting flights as they moved towards the deviating German formations, to accurately locate them springing surprise attacks. _“From the very beginning the British had an extraordinary advantage which we could never overcome throughout the war - radar and fighter control. For us and for our command this was a surprise, and a very bitter one. The British fighter was guided all the way from take-off to his correct position for an attack on the German formations. We had nothing of the kind.”_ - Adolf Galland The RAF knew exactly where the Germans were and coming from, while the German knew nothing of the locations of RAF fighters. The Germans were relying on brute force in numbers. The RAF used intelligence and technology. The British were far more advanced in radar than the Germans, having types of radar sets the German never knew existed. German pilots were giving feedback that they were being intercepted on every flight in surprise attacks, so the British must advanced radar. German scientists refused to acknowledge this. British radar engineers in early August 1940 replaced several of the huge 350-foot fixed antenna arrays of the Chain Home network with a new, smaller, rotating antenna that was used for transmitting and receiving radar pulses - a technological marvel at the time. They also introduced a new superior type of radar scope, called a Plan Position Indicator (PPI). It gave a bird’s eye view from above, rather than the previous side-view presentation. This is what we now traditionally picture as being the typical radar screen. It was an astounding advance. It gave more close controlling of aircraft. The Ground Controlled Interception (GCI). GCI was brilliant for controlling fighters to intercept enemy aircraft, particularly during night interceptions. GCI surpassed the cumbersome filtering of information from visual sightings, sound, radar, etc, and the time-consuming plotting on situation maps. A GCI controller could actually “see” the aircraft as they flew across the countryside, rather than watching voiced plots being pushed across a map. By studying the PPI, the GCI controller could determine the positions of the German fighters, identified by the newly invented Identification Friend or Foe (IFF) technology. The GCI controller could provide timely radio code word instructions directly to the fighters to successfully conduct the interception. The ingenious GCI transformed the British radar system. It provided: *i)* a basic early warning capability; *ii)* a means for dependable air interception control. So, even as the battle was progressing the British were introducing new advanced technology in radar, improved air defence systems and improving the fighter planes. The Germans brought nothing new to the battle. They saw what the British did in defeating them, then did their own version.

[@DavidARosen]

You did an amazing job of bringing it all together and describing the genesis of one of the worlds greatest economic and technomic booms in the world. Thank you @steveblank.

[@antigen4]

FASCINATING!! Thank you so much for posting this.

[@gatorpika]

Really interesting talk. I met a guy that used to fly those ELINT missions in the 50s-60s recently at the Smithsonian. Based on what he said and reading his book later, that was a scary business.

[@Jump-n-smash]

Can you tell us the title of the book? Thank you.

[@johnnyzippo7109]

As an undergraduate of history with a degree in said field from the Ole War Skule , thank you for the lecture , very well done , very articulate . I enjoyed every second of this lecture , it lit my mind up like an old vacuum tube .

[@kimholm4607]

This is excellent - should be an example in curriculum for senior graduates - it is important!

[@johntomasik1555]

Great video. Can't get enough of videos like this.

[@wastaggio]

I thought there was going to be something about Townsend Brown, electro-gravitic coupling, the Hutchinson effect, micro-wave direct energy weapons and so on. There was non of that but still a good talk/presentation.

[@1967DS21]

AMAZING presentation

[@bossdog1480]

Very interesting. We were always told that the British were the ones with the radar and the Germans had none.

[@modularmoon]

very informative! thanks for uploading this video, everyone should see this!

[@sparkybluefox]

Bravo! This is a GREAT talk ! Over the top Awesome! Bravo! SBF

[@keithammleter3824]

His introductory comments about the current generation of university engineering students view the world and think is spot on. Basically, they graduate from high school not knowing anything, uninformed, and too lazy to think. Since they are the same human race that their fathers and grandfathers were, the problem cannot be with the students. The problem must be a failure of the high school system and the training of school teachers. Today's generation of university students regard anything older than themselves as ancient history, and will not read textbooks published more than 15-20 years ago, regarding them as obsolete and probably wrong.

[@dauntoldrnodgroot3437]

It was intentional

[@cbread208]

Wow, very informative! Well done, thank you.!

[@antigen4]

SUCH a great talk and subject - i knew nothing about this before seeing it - apparently most americans (nor british) had an idea either!

[@senthilkumar5]

Sometimes we need to understand each and events in the history, that can give us better context.

[@TheRuralpoet]

Steve Blank represents the best of US academics. This is a good story which is also an important history lesson. He also gives each player on the stage their due, the US - Britain and Germany and doesn't fall into the trap of jingoism. As a Briton his intelligent take on history makes me feel like The US and Britain have a future kicking anus together.

[@TyphoonUSSR]

Russia's view of American jingoism is quite different. This gentleman began his speech with an outright lie, saying that the USSR and Germany attacked Poland, and so the war began. In fact, a year earlier, Poland, Germany and Hungary attacked Czechoslovakia, and thus the war began. Even Churchill, because of this, called Poland the hyena of Europe, and wished her the same fate as Czechoslovakia. And such a lie in everything that concerns historical facts. Just think about the fact that it was the United States that sent its B-52s and U-2s into the airspace of Russia affected by the war, and not Russia sent its planes to the well-fed United States, which earned money from this war. It was you who dropped two nuclear bombs on civilian cities in Japan without any military necessity. Russia defeated Japan in 2 weeks, but you fought with it for 4 years, and could not beat it. But no one here prefers to talk about these historical facts. This is American jingoism in its purest form, in which there is nothing but lies. We in Russia treat with irony those technical victories that you allegedly made during the Cold War over the USSR. I could go into the technical details of the confrontation, but my comment is already too long and negative for the KZbin algorithms that censor this social network and protect the US population from inconvenient stories.

[@robertstewart4953]

​@@TyphoonUSSRVery well said. Don't take the poison pill thinking the authoritarian state capitalists of USSR were any better though, hope you're not a tankie.

[@matsten]

Great introduction . Would have loved to be a student of his plus Jonathan Haidt and Jordan Peterson.

[@robertstewart4953]

JORDAN PETERSON LOL... 🐸 My grandmother brushed my face with her pubic hair in a dream 🐸 Bro don't get too invested in the benzo addict that almost died from a sip of cider and cried on national TV in defense of incels. Also don't be like this lecturer and fanboy over the "amazing strength and power of the US military", the military industrial complex is and has been one of the greatest evils man has ever created.

[@claymationwaves]

I'm here because Jerry Garcia was talking about silicon valley and how it was already booming in the 60s so interesting I love American design until around 1998

[@mykillmielia5640]

44:00 critical part

[@RandallFlaggNY]

One of the best videos I've ever seen on this site.

[@johnburns4017]

The British had onboard radar in planes. The planes that sunk the Bismarck were equipped. They dived vertically down to the sea in cloud, then levelled out skimming the sea surprising the German AA gunners, making successful attacks. Admiral Cunningham's fleet that was seeking the Japanese fleet that attacked Ceylon in the Indian Ocean, had planes with onboard radar. If he had located the retreating Japanese fleet, his planes at night would have decimated the fleet - the same fleet that bombed Pearl Harbor. The Japanese fleet had no radar of any description. The two fleets did not meet. The Battle of Midway (the destruction of a Japanese fleet) could have been six months earlier.

[@4EverDubin]

Well, before that California along with mid-west has always been the hub for military R&D. But SV today solely started with those few from the company Fairchild who rebel against the conventional way of how companies at that time ran things in a hierarchy structure. That is where the transistor was put to good use simply by the ideas and minds of Noyce and the men with him.

[@genericsomething]

My grandfather flew one of those B 24s with the radar. I'm lucky to be here.

[@CookieFridays]

I watched this randomly (very randomly, went from history of Pixar to history of Silicon Valley ha) yet found it quite interesting.

[@RobinEvans1234]

This was interesting but the red scare nonsense about the Soviet threat had me laughing.

[@RoyalKnightVIII]

Indeed, the USSR was never planning to invade and was always on the defensive. The military knew this too See Operation Gladio

[@AstraLuna-o9i]

I’m sure that the majority of scientists creating this technocratic state had no clue they had been propagandized and working for the same people who funded the Nazi’s and the Bolsheviks. So I’m sure to them the red scare and fear of nuclear proliferation was very real.

[@youngpolen-a1579]

This is the kind of stuff that make Hideo Kojima make Metal Gear.

[@robertmccully2792]

Parents moved to Silicone Valley in 1960. Was farmland back then.

[@killyourtelllievision]

This is a huge eye opener for the AWAKE community in reenforcement of points to ponder and actually does a lot dot connecting not otherwise forthcoming

[@DarkPrinceNH5570]

What this guy talks about. Is what Eisenhower gave a speech about on Jan. 17th 1961. This is just an example of "stuff". Not what you think.

[@canyonproductions7683]

I am blown away by this.

[@EddieKMusic]

This video is most popular with: Gender Age Male 45-54 Male 35-44 Male 55-64 What?... I'm 15 years old and today I already watched like 3 hours of these videos while programming with C++ lol I love this kind of stuff

[@dmacpher]

To think you’re almost 30 now 😂

[@EddieKMusic]

@@dmacpher ... :D

[@EddieKMusic]

@@dmacpher Yeah… Time flies…

[@ssoka-m5n]

⁠​⁠@@EddieKMusicI’m 16 and I enjoyed this video!

[@EddieKMusic]

@@ssoka-m5n Damn... 12 years, and I'm still developing

[@dalxo]

@kehmulke My question to you: When the WW2 started? a) Signing Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact on 21st August 1929? b) Signing Munich Pact on 30th September 1938 by UK, France, Italy and Germany? c) Invasion of Poland by Germany on 1st September 1939? d) Declarations of war on Germany by France and UK 3rd September 1939? e) Invasion of Poland by Soviets on 17th September 1939? f) Invasion of Germany to Czechia on 30th October 1938? g) Invasion of Hungary to Slovakia on 23rd March 1939?

[@cart172]

For China, it started years before 1939 when the Japanese were already invading and killing.

[@dalxo]

@Squeeonline You're wrong: wikipedia page> World_War_II 1) Now you refer to Soviets. Not seeing difference between Russia and Soviet Union is the same as no difference between current Germany and Nazi Germany. 2) Moreover, WW2 started by Germany on 1.9. -Soviets joined war later. Read carefully source you refer to. If Germany would not attack Poland, Soviet Union would hardly made invasion 3 weeks after German attack.

[@MichaelChernik-zf2fy]

oday's Silicon Valley had its start in government secrecy and wartime urgency. In this lecture, renowned serial entrepreneur Steve Blank presents how the roots of Silicon Valley sprang not from the later development of the silicon semiconductor but instead from the earlier technology duel over the skies of Germany and secret efforts around (and over) the Soviet Union. World War II, the Cold War and one Stanford professor set the stage for the creation and explosive growth of entrepreneurship in Silicon Valley. The world was forever changed when the Defense Department, CIA and the National Security Agency acted like today's venture capitalists funding this first wave of entrepreneurship.

[@BarryDuttonSellsHomes]

Deep dive of truth. Found this via the Corbett Report!! Give me Liberty.

[@Wofly4]

It is interesting to note that as the motivation for innovative applications of science has moved from nationalism to profit, the demographics of the workforce has followed a similar course. General Electric now employs more foreign workers than US, and while its workforce expands, it's American workforce has been steadily declining. Similar stories exist for other leading US high tech firms. Will the global desire for profit ultimately erode nationalistic concerns over borders?

[@johntomasik1555]

I never blame "the system". Each person makes their own choice what to do with their lives. Maybe Americans need to pick themselves up by their own bootstraps and become leaders once again? We've been falling down the ranks of academic performance by country. Meanwhile, our appetite for entertainment, recreational drug use, and money easily earned grows. Don't point the finger. Pull the thumb.

[@niSE7EN]

Can you turn on the transcribe feature? I would like to watch this piece with captions.

[@WildBillCox13]

Great little primer.

[@giocmw]

by Steve Blank, giving background of Frederick Terman in WW II

[@robertslugg8361]

Radio Engineers Handbook, aka, The Bible according to Terman

[@emetzger]

actually, SiV as an innovation area started in 1937 with HP.

[@dalxo]

@kehmulke Munich Pact on 30th September 1938 where France, UK, Italy and Germany without Czechoslovakia agreed on: 1) Germany will occupy Czechia (started in Oct. 1938; 2) Poland will annex part of Czechia; 3) Hungary will annexe 1/3 of Slovakia including the capital; 4) Hungary will annex Carpathian Ruthenia; 5) Rest of Czechia and Slovakia become satellite stale ruled by Germany. After singing Chamberlain declared, that is is act of piece and was amazed by Hitler's great personality.

[@gyeppmester]

The first question arises. We talk all the time about the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. We repeat this after our European colleagues. Question: was this the only document signed by one of the European countries, then the Soviet Union, with fascist Germany? It turns out that this is not at all the case. I'll just list them with your permission. So, the Declaration on the Non-Use of Force between Germany and Poland. This is, in fact, the so-called Pilsudski-Hitler pact. Signed in 1934. In fact, this is a non-aggression pact. Then - the Anglo-German naval agreement of 1935. Great Britain provided Hitler with the opportunity to have his own military fleet, which was essentially forbidden to him, or reduced to a minimum by the results of the First World War. Then the joint Anglo-German declaration of Chamberlain and Hitler, signed on September 30, 1938, agreed by them on the initiative of Chamberlain. It stated that "the signed Munich agreement, as well as the Anglo-German maritime agreement symbolize ..." and so on, and so on. The creation of a legal framework between the two states continued. That's not all. Franco-German Declaration signed on December 6, 1938 in Paris by the French and German Foreign Ministers Bonn and Ribbentrop. Finally, the agreement between the Republic of Lithuania and the German Reich, signed on March 22, 1939 in Berlin by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania and the same Ribbentop, stating that the Klaipeda Territory would again be reunited with the German Reich. And the Non-Aggression Pact between the German Reich and Latvia of June 7, 1939. Thus, the Treaty between the Soviet Union and Germany was the last in a series of those signed by other European countries, as it were, interested in preserving peace in Europe. At the same time, I would like to note that the Soviet Union agreed to sign this document only after all possibilities were exhausted and all the proposals of the Soviet Union to create a unified security system, an anti-fascist coalition, in fact, in Europe were rejected

[@bestintentions6089]

this is probably the most real bit of history that's been told.

[@trainwreck420ish]

pavelzaitsev lmfao yea no

[@vito7pt]

great stuff! didn't know that SV started due to war

[@sssbaraba]

20:25 length of the aluminum foil around 12 inches or 30cm

[@kehmulke]

@dalxo Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact: On 21 August Stalin received assurance that Germany would approve secret protocols to the proposed non-aggression pact that would place half of Poland (border along the Vistula river), Latvia, Estonia, Finland, and Bessarabia in the Soviets' sphere of influence. That night, Stalin replied that the Soviets were willing to sign the pact, and that he would receive Ribbentrop on 23 August. Wiki map illustrates well what USSR occupied later.

[@gyeppmester]

The first question arises. We talk all the time about the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. We repeat this after our European colleagues. Question: was this the only document signed by one of the European countries, then the Soviet Union, with fascist Germany? It turns out that this is not at all the case. I'll just list them with your permission. So, the Declaration on the Non-Use of Force between Germany and Poland. This is, in fact, the so-called Pilsudski-Hitler pact. Signed in 1934. In fact, this is a non-aggression pact. Then - the Anglo-German naval agreement of 1935. Great Britain provided Hitler with the opportunity to have his own military fleet, which was essentially forbidden to him, or reduced to a minimum by the results of the First World War. Then the joint Anglo-German declaration of Chamberlain and Hitler, signed on September 30, 1938, agreed by them on the initiative of Chamberlain. It stated that "the signed Munich agreement, as well as the Anglo-German maritime agreement symbolize ..." and so on, and so on. The creation of a legal framework between the two states continued. That's not all. Franco-German Declaration signed on December 6, 1938 in Paris by the French and German Foreign Ministers Bonn and Ribbentrop. Finally, the agreement between the Republic of Lithuania and the German Reich, signed on March 22, 1939 in Berlin by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania and the same Ribbentop, stating that the Klaipeda Territory would again be reunited with the German Reich. And the Non-Aggression Pact between the German Reich and Latvia of June 7, 1939. Thus, the Treaty between the Soviet Union and Germany was the last in a series of those signed by other European countries, as it were, interested in preserving peace in Europe. At the same time, I would like to note that the Soviet Union agreed to sign this document only after all possibilities were exhausted and all the proposals of the Soviet Union to create a unified security system, an anti-fascist coalition, in fact, in Europe were rejected

[@TyphoonUSSR]

The USSR did not occupy anything, it returned what was taken from it by Poland after 1917. But Poland, together with Germany, attacked Czechoslovakia and unleashed a war. Poland occupied the Teszyn region by introducing tanks along with Hitler. Then, in Poland, immediately after Kristallnacht, a parade was held and Hitler's envoy was invited to it to express his desire for a joint campaign against the USSR. However, Hitler only laughed at the Poles and a year later attacked his allies. Nobody supported Poland, because. a year earlier, she had attacked Czechoslovakia with Hitler. The whole world welcomed the USSR, which prevented Hitler from seizing the Russian territories that were occupied by Poland. This saved the lives of millions of Jews and Slavs, including Poles, who under Hitler in the Polish territories occupied by him participated in the mass extermination of Jews. In this matter, the Poles and Germans were at the same time and helped each other.

[@richardvernon317]

Werzburg the first GCI Radar!!!!! Bollocks. The RAF did it first with the Type 2 GCI radar in late 1940. They had 6 operational sites in early 1941, long before the German system was operational.

[@vsaldanas]

it is so sad that, their is no more research and development jobs for young Americans anymore in the Silicon Valley:Sunnyvale, Santa Clara, Mountain View.....All the High tech and Low tech jobs are in India and China now:(

[@hrhodes3]

Wow I am an x Navy ET and this inspired me!!!

[@avefreetimehaver5154]

Did he say 'trolling infrastructure' @7:17?

[@c.c.s.1102]

I gasped when he revealed the director of the Harvard Radio Research Lab.

[@kennethflorek8532]

You didn't listen to the presentation, so why comment? He gave the functions SV was working on and to what end they were used.

[@yeaggermiester]

Such a fantastic video.

[@hongyizhou1734]

regarding the last question - cold war with china will spur investment into the valley

[@thePsykomanteum]

(40:52) great diagram, really convincing! air-PLANES have to fly in a curve over the globe! Long distance bullets also curve equidistantly over the curve to hit a target. at. the. same. height. they. were. fired. from.

[@yuglesstube]

Excellent

[@sahhaf1234]

Wish the presenter had written a book. Esp. on the earlier part of the story...

[@ClarksonsinUSA]

Many adavances in tech have come out of US military funding..

[@CharlesThomaston]

Great presentation

[@ChrisWindley]

Fascinating stuff - Thank you !!

[@Teekles]

himmelbett, not belt ... great presentation tho

[@dmitrilebedev8635]

38:05 "in WWII we could fly over Germany, but in the Cold War it was illegal, it was an act of war." 42:40 "flying along and then inside the Soviet Union". So who was committing an act of war in the first place, huh?

[@gyeppmester]

The first question arises. We talk all the time about the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. We repeat this after our European colleagues. Question: was this the only document signed by one of the European countries, then the Soviet Union, with fascist Germany? It turns out that this is not at all the case. I'll just list them with your permission. So, the Declaration on the Non-Use of Force between Germany and Poland. This is, in fact, the so-called Pilsudski-Hitler pact. Signed in 1934. In fact, this is a non-aggression pact. Then - the Anglo-German naval agreement of 1935. Great Britain provided Hitler with the opportunity to have his own military fleet, which was essentially forbidden to him, or reduced to a minimum by the results of the First World War. Then the joint Anglo-German declaration of Chamberlain and Hitler, signed on September 30, 1938, agreed by them on the initiative of Chamberlain. It stated that "the signed Munich agreement, as well as the Anglo-German maritime agreement symbolize ..." and so on, and so on. The creation of a legal framework between the two states continued. That's not all. Franco-German Declaration signed on December 6, 1938 in Paris by the French and German Foreign Ministers Bonn and Ribbentrop. Finally, the agreement between the Republic of Lithuania and the German Reich, signed on March 22, 1939 in Berlin by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania and the same Ribbentop, stating that the Klaipeda Territory would again be reunited with the German Reich. And the Non-Aggression Pact between the German Reich and Latvia of June 7, 1939. Thus, the Treaty between the Soviet Union and Germany was the last in a series of those signed by other European countries, as it were, interested in preserving peace in Europe. At the same time, I would like to note that the Soviet Union agreed to sign this document only after all possibilities were exhausted and all the proposals of the Soviet Union to create a unified security system, an anti-fascist coalition, in fact, in Europe were rejected

[@TyphoonUSSR]

@Namaste Bois If Soviet Russia (USSR) is dead, why is there still a NATO military bloc that attacks European countries and turns them into dust (Yugoslavia).

[@CorwinLakin]

Shudda been at this program--Docent @ CHM

[@apricotcomputers3943]

KZbin's Algorithm on suggestions is amazing... Only if it could be used for relationships😂

[@DarkPrinceNH5570]

OSS should of formed it up. Brought people like me in... dropped 6 gliders all over Europe and stopped that and kept it covered up. 24 hour time hack before the airborne were dropped in. Or someone should of.

[@CSIXTY4]

There's an exhibit on innovation in the Valley, but nothing this detailed.

[@MrKevMan]

Hes right. Do a search you will see 4 mounts with 2 engines each.

[@inf0stud]

And we are all better off because of these new SV entrepreneurs? 24x7 always on work-life (100:1) balance.

[@alainportant6412]

That noisy intro was totally uncalled for.

[@007JNR]

Lol...Mate, I almost closed the app🤦🏾‍♂️

[@ClarksonsinUSA]

@DigitalStudent I will send you some info on Linux...The post would be to big for this forum...

[@okhabin]

Thank you so much. I'm gonna go to Stanford Univ. I'm serious.

[@ILykToDoDuhDrifting]

not a single thing about silicon valley was said, only vague implications that .... radars were designed in SV? and radars are useful in warfare...

[@500Global]

real interesting great tell me moar can you give more illustration? what should be the #1 take away from this vids?

[@michaelmoser4537]

The command and control centers were called Himmelbett - canopy bed in German (not Himmelbelt) ; Another point that is not clear at all: if the AA system was so bad then why did the US Air force continue with its bombing raids during the day - wouldn't it have made more sense to bomb during the night instead? Also the wikipedia article on Kammhuber line says that large bomber streams were the most effective countermeasure - the network was designed to handle a few bombers but was just unable to handle a bomber stream consisting of of several hundred bombers. Otherwise this was a very interesting lecture.

[@Leo2112Lion]

I'd imagine that the US Airforce bomber force didn't go by day due to scheduling. The guy said that the British RAF was in lockstep agreement with US Air Force to raid the German grounds using specific parts of the day. Since America chose the day, we weren't allowed to join the Brits in the night or else the attacks would have been redundant, more likely to be stopped, and resulted in a worse concentration of casualties/unsuccessful bombers shot down - which would have ruined the Allied Powers morale. Also that, and the fact that we were originally limited when we joined the war so we had to follow British orders as seniors being their newer, weaker partner (ironic historical moment, but we're still bigger than them >_>) That's my thinking on that aspect. What's really amazing is how well-though out the Germans had gotten by '41-43 with their electronics. The Nazis were smart cookies :/

[@Sovereign_Citizen_LEO]

Thry bombed during the day and the night. Anyone who has researched WWII well would know this.

[@KrisKringle2]

The Americans practiced precision bombing which required daylight bombers and allowed them to hit indivual (large) targets like railway rally yard, factories, etc. The British practiced indiscriminate area bombing to burn out the entire city, which could be done at night and reduced losses, but was considered a war crime. The British officer in charge of it, Bomber Harris, was controversial in Britian **during** the war. And as the lecturer says, individual night fighters got their own radar later in the war, not right at the beginning. The bomber stream couldn't overwhelm the large ground-based radar for general detection and location.

[@Leo2112Lion]

Good points, good points. It's still cool though that because there was a massive demand for warfare electronics, it led to the rise and eventual longstanding success of Silicon Valley. Imagine if we never joined the war. Santa Clara would just be another normal, expensive place to live in California.

[@zootius]

Excellent presentation, but please - learn how to use apostrophes!

[@KnightOnBaldMountain]

Like nearly every lecture I try to listen to on this platform the audio sucks. You’d think that intellectual venues would have the smarts to hire a good sound guy. At least hire an intern with the necessary skills.

[@enricotigani8944]

wasnt epson by HP?

[@rgfrw]

The 1st 55 minutes had nothing about Silicon! Only until Shockley came on the scene. And you have Shockley's career backward. He didnt work on radar during the war and just happened to invent the transistor. He invented the transistor and just happened to work on radar during the war!

[@kennethflorek8532]

You didn't listen. And he did tell you all the way through that it was going to connect.

[@jasontownesfrench6853]

“Is there another crisis that will restart the valley’s cycle of innovation?” say no more fam

[@preciousmettlex]

Financial crisis. Crypto. 👀

[@taistelutomaatti]

"attach" "annex", same thing. At least in the Soviet sense.

[@Humpinnaples]

I enjoyed the video... I lost interest a little bit around the 39:10 mark when he said the B-52 was a 4 engine bomber... Everyone knows the B-52 has 8 engines...

[@youreale]

+Humpinnaples I think this is fair enough since he told the audience in advance that something he was about to say could be wrong. Overrall, a very inspiring presentation, IMHO.

[@enoadams1005]

Blank merely compared B-52 during WWII 'like a four engine plane' he said, but not a "4-engine bomber"

[@joach0412]

Steve Jobs, Steve Woz.... Steve Blank?

[@jasonmarin5634]

Viva Santa Clara, MX

[@tatarqa]

whistles were attached on bombs because of their psychological effect (for people on the ground)

[@dauntoldrnodgroot3437]

Yeah worry about mental issues while getting obliterated 😑

[@DarkPrinceNH5570]

I think its like that for alot of countries but whats the spending budget for usa? More than 50% goes into military right?

[@CiscoZZZ-cs7ep]

i live in santa clara

[@DarkPrinceNH5570]

You wouldnt even know where to begin to fix a "society" (notice how I said society, not economy). So tell me son, what would you do?

[@Ayavias]

How do you change macro-level? Start micro🙃 I can explain this EASILY. Eould take me 4 hours or so I bet but I can do this

[@_mippi_]

Jelani sent me here

[@DarkPrinceNH5570]

Im glad he likes to talk about this stuff. Not sure where at in the ranking they are at but high enough in that area. What does YALE say about this? LOL

[@mixxmexx]

epic

[@DigitalStudent]

How is Linux American?

[@axlebain3689]

Proud , Murikans?

[@vivaparenzo]

Federal telegraph formed in 1909 Palo Alto by Stanford graduate. So private capital first, later U.S. capital. I heard many times army is the force behind scientific progress, not true. Money is the force behind science. If army has most funds, most progress will be in military tech, if funds are held by private companies consumer tech will be first, and if bureaucracy has control over funds most tech will be useless.

[@TyphoonUSSR]

Are you an anarchist and deny the state? In man there is hard (bones=bureaucracy) and soft (muscles=private initiative), so he belongs to the species that has become the crown of evolutionary development. This follows from the laws of Marxist dialectics - the unity and struggle of opposites. Without bureaucracy, there is no state; without money, the bureaucracy does not have the social policy of the state. In the 21st century, officials without money is a state without social policy, and as you know, it either degenerates into a dictatorship, as in Africa, or becomes unstable and goes to civil war, as in the United States. Therefore, today the printing press is working in the United States and the public debt is growing. All so that the bureaucracy would have the money for social policy, which extinguishes the US movement towards disintegration as a result of the outbreak of civil war.

[@antigen4]

but the germans never HAD radar during WW2 - or so the history books and documentaries tell us!

[@johnburns4017]

You have been reading the wrong books.

[@johnburns4017]

The great air battle of 15 September 1940 in the Battle of Britain, the Germans sent 400 fighters to escort about 100 bombers part of the way to London. RAF Fighter Command ordered into the air nearly 200 Spitfires and Hurricanes which swarmed high above London and Kent, attacking the poorly escorted bombers. Nearly 300 RAF fighter sorties were launched that day against German fighter escorts. This massive concentration of fighters, larger than anything ever previously displayed by the RAF, convinced the Luftwaffe that Fighter Command was far from being the beaten force that German intelligence was telling them. The sight of such a large fighter force, that *miraculously* intercepted the Luftwaffe everywhere it turned, shattered German hopes. Chain Home and the fighter control system, which neither of them the Germans had at the time, allowed outnumbered British fighters to turn up at the right time to intercept Luftwaffe raids time after time after time. The element of surprise gave the RAF men an advantage. German formations could be seen, and also their in-flight deviations, *in real time.* This was directed to the intercepting flights as they moved towards the deviating German formations, to accurately locate them springing surprise attacks. _“From the very beginning the British had an extraordinary advantage which we could never overcome throughout the war - radar and fighter control. For us and for our command this was a surprise, and a very bitter one. The British fighter was guided all the way from take-off to his correct position for an attack on the German formations. We had nothing of the kind.”_ - Adolf Galland The RAF knew exactly where the Germans were and coming from, while the German knew nothing of the locations of RAF fighters. The Germans were relying on brute force in numbers. The RAF used intelligence and technology. The British were far more advanced in radar than the Germans, having types of radar sets the German never knew existed. German pilots were giving feedback that they were being intercepted on every flight in surprise attacks, so the British must advanced radar. German scientists refused to acknowledge this. British radar engineers in early August 1940 replaced several of the huge 350-foot fixed antenna arrays of the Chain Home network with a new, smaller, rotating antenna that was used for transmitting and receiving radar pulses - a technological marvel at the time. They also introduced a new superior type of radar scope, called a Plan Position Indicator (PPI). It gave a bird’s eye view from above, rather than the previous side-view presentation. This is what we now traditionally picture as being the typical radar screen. It was an astounding advance. It gave more close controlling of aircraft. The Ground Controlled Interception (GCI). GCI was brilliant for controlling fighters to intercept enemy aircraft, particularly during night interceptions. GCI surpassed the cumbersome filtering of information from visual sightings, sound, radar, etc, and the time-consuming plotting on situation maps. A GCI controller could actually “see” the aircraft as they flew across the countryside, rather than watching voiced plots being pushed across a map. By studying the PPI, the GCI controller could determine the positions of the German fighters, identified by the newly invented Identification Friend or Foe (IFF) technology. The GCI controller could provide timely radio code word instructions directly to the fighters to successfully conduct the interception. The ingenious GCI transformed the British radar system. It provided: *i)* a basic early warning capability; *ii)* a means for dependable air interception control. So, even as the battle was progressing the British were introducing new advanced technology in radar, improved air defence systems and improving the fighter planes. The Germans brought nothing new to the battle. Goering in June 1940 said _“My Luftwaffe is invincible. So now we turn to England. How long will this one last - two, three weeks?”_ After the clash over Dunkirk, which the British won, it is incredulous he said this.

History very interesting about Silicon Valley that I don´t now

[@achan1058]

I only knew history of the Silicon Valley back to the traitorous 8......