So deliciously hilarious! Please admit nobody's wearing flip-flops, or open-toe beach sandals, so in that sense they are somewhat put-together on the nerd-overlord fashion scale.
Let's face it: New York business transactions are completely different than twentysomething silicon valley guy transactions. I'll be honest and say, um, is anyone really surprised this is what they wore?
In the Valley, your level of formalwear is inversely related to your power. Only the schlep lawyers and bankers have to (slightly, in CA) dress up - the principals dress down. Way down, if you're exceedingly rich and powerful. It's a game, kids.
@LorenzoDesomma: It's this attitude that is most objectionable. Wearing a suit is a gesture of respect. You act as if your parents made you do it. It's this infantile man-baby attitude that will be the West Coast's real cultural legacy.
@Motoko Kusanagi: Look, I'm all for decorum, pomp & circumstance. But these guys have made up a Brave New World, and we're kinda all living in it now. Why shouldn't they be allowed to also make up their own sartorial rules for it? I very much love a man in a sharply tailored suit, but I also love a designer/programmer/surfer nerd-superman in baggy shorts. I dated a bunch of them and found that the glasses/chinos/flip-flops uniform is almost kind of sexy after you fall in love with their brains.
@Motoko Kusanagi: Look, I'm all for decorum, pomp & circumstance. But these guys have made up a Brave New World, and we're kinda all living in it now. Why shouldn't they be allowed to also make up their own sartorial rules for it? I very much love a man in a sharply tailored suit, but I also love a designer/programmer/surfer nerd-superman in baggy shorts. I dated a bunch of them and found that the glasses/chinos/flip-flops uniform is almost kind of sexy after they rope you in with their brains.
@snugbug: My point is that baggy shorts, glasses, flip-flops (all of which I am wearing now, while I work from home) are essentially playing out an infantile fantasy of "you can't make me do it".
This is especially true when the business environment in the Valley has essentially canonized the "anti-suit" look as a conscious rejection of suit-types.
When I go into my office (I own my company), I wear a suit and tie. Everyone that works for me does the same. Why? Because they: (a) understand that image matters, (b) would rather die than wear that fucking Patagucci garbage, and (c) look damn good all the time.
Now, there was a time that "geek-chic" did not exist, when guys like Woz set the "anti-suit" ball in motion, and guys like Steve found innovative ways to essentially walk the line. And there was a certain logic to following their lead, since the whole milieu was hung up on not being square IBM "suits".
Those days are so long gone. Now, it's actually uncommon to see someone wearing a suit in NYC. Most law firms and banks are casual. Their employees look like fucking holiday golfers on their best days. The whole business casual thing is so fucking pathetically wishy-washy and unclear that it just turns to shit.
So, in a funny way, my office wears suits because it's time for the "anti-anti-suit" backlash.
@Unsolicited Advice: I agree, but that's because I'm a fee whore. If someone wants to give me and two of my buddies $50 million to share, I'll dress however I want and my shareholders and business partners can hate and disrespect me all they want.
@Unsolicited Advice: totally agree- dress as though your closing a $50 million deal, not going to play world of warcraft! Act like a business person and maybe the rest of the world (not just the valley) will take you seriously.
And for God's sake Zuch, come up with something more orignial that the black Patagonia fleece- you're not Jobs kid.
@Unsolicited Advice: Jealous? Look, they're in their late 20s (early 30s?) and worth ten times what any of us are, so I'm guessing they can wear whatever they want, whenever they want.
Shirts and ties are out, unless you're a lawyer
@gogetemguy: Uh, since everybody and his mom is on Facebook, I do believe the whole planet Earth is taking them seriously. And look, the Founding Father does know how to tie on a tie:
@Unsolicited Advice:
The only people not taking them seriously are the people that are completely out of touch with the culture of the entire tech sector.
@smokee:
Right. Let me inform you of that culture: there are kids in apartments coding "the new economy." And then there are people who actually dress in the morning paying for it all.
@Unsolicited Advice:
Thank god for those kids, because we are going to need someone to pick up the pieces after the suits finish driving "the old economy" into the ground.
And yeah. Scoble wastes time firing the names of web 2.0 startups around. Like he's a litmus test or something.
What?
I fail to see the substance. It's not like he's an investor recommending successful business models, he's some hack. As I said above, web 2.0 is the gold rush, he's trying sell gold picks (Smart!). EXCEPT not physical goods, he wants ego boosts and feelings of self-worth.
Fact: This guy will fade into obscurity. He's another dumb blogger. Everything he says is philosophically wrong because web 2.0 is a collective financial failure. I could write more on why he's a loser unworthy of unrecognition than his honest contributions.
It's amazing, because you see this idiot has a delusion that he's an authority on something... And people actually fuel it!
I sort of see web 2.0 as a gold rush, and scoble is sort of the tour guide through dilapidated attempts to strike rich. He keeps the story in queue, hopes up, has little background, but keeps people in because he keeps the myth and people's fantasies alive. Kind of like a con, except instead of money, it's your time, hope and dreams.
He has fanboys. His Wikipedia article has had deletion attempts. His wikipedia article mentions a measurement of a "scoble", something having to do with twitter bullshit. His book, non notable, airport prolefeed. His co-writer virtually unknown, edits his own Wikipedia article. Get the scoop at Scoblecruft on his talk page.
Edit: Apparently his mom edits his article too. Meritously.
@MATIC: Not at all easy to hate, and not a bad guy.
But good guys can make mistakes, give bad advice, waste people's time and money on dead end ideas.
I think he did a good job of putting a human face on Microsoft. Whoever actually ended that relationship made a big mistake. Microsoft replaced him with a Borg-like robot, who was soon forgotten.
The association with Microsoft gave Scoble a false aura of technical savvy (of course Microsoft does a pretty lousy job of picking winning technologies too).
The problems Scoble is having are just the tip of the iceberg for the many technology co-conspirators surrounding him. What value are the many blogs pumping up the next potential recipient of venture capital now that VC spending is drying up? Innovation for innovations sake is over for now (and maybe for a long time). People want to hear success stories about tools that work, right now, not some brand new untried thing that only Scoble (or those like him) are privileged to know about.
I suspect a great number of bloggers who are doing this for money, speaking fees, product placement opportunities, stealth marketing and in many cases, unearned credit for various technical achievements are going to be looking around for other work as well and quite a few of them are going to have to reintroduce themselves to the drudgery of a real job.
Just because you work hard at something (and I don't think anyone would deny that Scoble works hard at what he does) doesn't mean you are producing anything of real value. I think that is something a lot of folks are going to have to struggle with in this new "share the wealth" economic system we are entering into.
08/11/09
I, for one, welcome our new casual overlords.
08/11/09
08/11/09
08/11/09
08/11/09
08/11/09
08/11/09
08/12/09
08/12/09
This is especially true when the business environment in the Valley has essentially canonized the "anti-suit" look as a conscious rejection of suit-types.
When I go into my office (I own my company), I wear a suit and tie. Everyone that works for me does the same. Why? Because they: (a) understand that image matters, (b) would rather die than wear that fucking Patagucci garbage, and (c) look damn good all the time.
Now, there was a time that "geek-chic" did not exist, when guys like Woz set the "anti-suit" ball in motion, and guys like Steve found innovative ways to essentially walk the line. And there was a certain logic to following their lead, since the whole milieu was hung up on not being square IBM "suits".
Those days are so long gone. Now, it's actually uncommon to see someone wearing a suit in NYC. Most law firms and banks are casual. Their employees look like fucking holiday golfers on their best days. The whole business casual thing is so fucking pathetically wishy-washy and unclear that it just turns to shit.
So, in a funny way, my office wears suits because it's time for the "anti-anti-suit" backlash.
08/11/09
08/11/09
08/11/09
And for God's sake Zuch, come up with something more orignial that the black Patagonia fleece- you're not Jobs kid.
08/11/09
Shirts and ties are out, unless you're a lawyer
08/11/09
@gogetemguy: Uh, since everybody and his mom is on Facebook, I do believe the whole planet Earth is taking them seriously. And look, the Founding Father does know how to tie on a tie:
08/11/09
The only people not taking them seriously are the people that are completely out of touch with the culture of the entire tech sector.
08/11/09
Right. Let me inform you of that culture: there are kids in apartments coding "the new economy." And then there are people who actually dress in the morning paying for it all.
08/11/09
Thank god for those kids, because we are going to need someone to pick up the pieces after the suits finish driving "the old economy" into the ground.
08/11/09
08/11/09
08/11/09
08/11/09
03/07/09
What?
I fail to see the substance. It's not like he's an investor recommending successful business models, he's some hack. As I said above, web 2.0 is the gold rush, he's trying sell gold picks (Smart!). EXCEPT not physical goods, he wants ego boosts and feelings of self-worth.
Fact: This guy will fade into obscurity. He's another dumb blogger. Everything he says is philosophically wrong because web 2.0 is a collective financial failure. I could write more on why he's a loser unworthy of unrecognition than his honest contributions.
03/06/09
1.) He's a talentless no nothing
2.) People somehow look to him for approval
3.) Yet, he looks to them for approval
It's amazing, because you see this idiot has a delusion that he's an authority on something... And people actually fuel it!
I sort of see web 2.0 as a gold rush, and scoble is sort of the tour guide through dilapidated attempts to strike rich. He keeps the story in queue, hopes up, has little background, but keeps people in because he keeps the myth and people's fantasies alive. Kind of like a con, except instead of money, it's your time, hope and dreams.
He has fanboys. His Wikipedia article has had deletion attempts. His wikipedia article mentions a measurement of a "scoble", something having to do with twitter bullshit. His book, non notable, airport prolefeed. His co-writer virtually unknown, edits his own Wikipedia article. Get the scoop at Scoblecruft on his talk page.
Edit: Apparently his mom edits his article too. Meritously.
03/06/09
Speeding along? Or slowing down?
03/06/09
03/06/09
03/06/09
03/06/09
But good guys can make mistakes, give bad advice, waste people's time and money on dead end ideas.
I think he did a good job of putting a human face on Microsoft. Whoever actually ended that relationship made a big mistake. Microsoft replaced him with a Borg-like robot, who was soon forgotten.
The association with Microsoft gave Scoble a false aura of technical savvy (of course Microsoft does a pretty lousy job of picking winning technologies too).
The problems Scoble is having are just the tip of the iceberg for the many technology co-conspirators surrounding him. What value are the many blogs pumping up the next potential recipient of venture capital now that VC spending is drying up? Innovation for innovations sake is over for now (and maybe for a long time). People want to hear success stories about tools that work, right now, not some brand new untried thing that only Scoble (or those like him) are privileged to know about.
I suspect a great number of bloggers who are doing this for money, speaking fees, product placement opportunities, stealth marketing and in many cases, unearned credit for various technical achievements are going to be looking around for other work as well and quite a few of them are going to have to reintroduce themselves to the drudgery of a real job.
Just because you work hard at something (and I don't think anyone would deny that Scoble works hard at what he does) doesn't mean you are producing anything of real value. I think that is something a lot of folks are going to have to struggle with in this new "share the wealth" economic system we are entering into.
Be careful what you wish for.
03/06/09
03/06/09
With french crullers, natch.
/like i should talk