January | February | March | April | May | June | July
August |
September | October | November | December
The Social Media Bubble of 2011 doesn’t resemble past ones like the Dotcom Bubble, the Real Estate Bubble or the Dutch Tulip Bubble of 1637. Prosperity’s rewards seem to have a shorter reach these days, like the hot dog thrown at Tiger Woods during his recent golf game here. While the price of a Silicon Valley pad cracked the $100 million mark and Google’s execs sought parking spots for their personal jet fleet, Wal Mart chopped health benefits and protesters encamped at City Hall.
Even shrewd business minds seemed baffled by the new economic landscape. Netflix announced it was splitting its business in two, then changed its mind, but customer reaction to its price hike destroyed three-quarters of Netflix’s $16 billion in shareholder value anyway. HP announced its withdrawal from the personal computer business, then switched CEOs and 180-ed two months later. The valley’s daily mused about changing its name by removing “San Jose” from the masthead, but reversed course. And Coke went back to red cans after consumers complained that the beverage tasted different in polar bear white aluminum.
As is our tradition, this end-of-year wrap-up includes some of the events and non-events that defined the year here in California’s Santa Clara Valley. It supports our optimistic belief that there will be lots of work for Silicon Valley’s journalists in 2012 chronicling society’s devolution amidst technology’s uncharted future.
January | February | March | April | May | June | July
August |
September | October | November | December
