Silicon Valley, One

 
 
 
 

Vocabulary

 

vehicle	establish	big/bigger/biggest
create	club (3)	peninsula
use	income	meet/met/met
rent	research	combination
micro-	passive	notice (2)
net (3)	based in	corporate
faculty	reach (2)	worldwide
origin	extensive	grow/grew/grown (2)
dean	giant (2)	legendary
offer	priceless	industrial park
mentor	graduate	association (2)
active	member	find/found/found
goal (2)	found (2)	see/saw/seen
prove	watch (2)	good/better/best

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Video

 

 
 
 
 

Transcript

1. The world’s biggest library is Google, with total visits of 80.7 billion. It was established in 1998.

2. Established in 2004 with 2.5 billion users, the world’s biggest social club is Facebook.

3. With 170 million views, the world’s biggest cinema house is Netflix, having been established in 1997.

4. Uber is the world’s biggest taxi company, with 3.9 million vehicles. It was founded in 2009.

5. Founded in 2005, YouTube is the world’s most watched TV, having 2 billion monthly users.

6. With 6 million rooms, Airbnb is the world’s biggest vacation rental, and was founded in 2008.

7. The world’s biggest microblogging company is Twitter. Started in 2006, they have 345 million users.

8. Started in 1976, one of the largest smartphone companies is Apple, with a net income of $55.256 billion in 2019.

9. Having 12 million users daily, the world’s biggest meeting room is Zoom, having started in 2013.

10. LinkedIn is the world’s biggest job professional club, with 260 members and established in 2002.

11. Established in 2009 with 1.6 billion active users, WhatsApp is the world’s biggest communication platform.

.     .     .     .     .     .     .     .

 
Did you notice something?

All these companies are based in California.

Most of these corporate giants were established within the last twenty years, and some even in the last ten years.

They have reached millions and billions of users worldwide in a very short time.

.     .     .     .     .     .     .     .

 
What are the reasons behind such an extensive and fast growth?

What makes California so special?

The answer lies in the origin of Silicon Valley.

Frederick Terman, the legendary dean of Stanford University, created the tradition of Stanford faculty starting their own companies.

His idea of associating the industry more closely with the university was revolutionary.

Terman established Stanford Industrial Park in 1951.

He offered priceless mentorship to two students, Bill Hewlett and David Packard, who founded HP in 1939.

Tech companies moved to the industrial park to help Stanford graduates find work.

This combination of industry and research created magic.

Terman once said in an interview about Silicon Valley “creating a center of high-technology industry on the Peninsula was our goal.”

Seeing all the world’s best tech giants at one place proves that he had created a family tree of success.

*     *     *     *     *     *     *

 

Questions

IBM (International Business Machines). Google is the world’s biggest library. What does this mean? Do you use google?

ARPANET, Internet, World Wide Web (www). Everyone in the world uses Facebook as a social media. True or false?

Hewlett-Packard (HP). Do movie theaters like Netflix?

Xerox. Is television viewing becoming more popular, less popular or remaining the same? Are more, fewer, or the same amount people watching TV?

Cisco Systems. Hotels, hostels and motels love Airbnb. Is this right or wrong?

Intel. What is the major difference between Zoom and WhatsApp?

Oracle Corporation. Is the best place to find a job in newspaper ads?

Tesla. Were most of the major tech companies established in New York City or London? Why has Silicon Valley become a global tech center? How has Silicon Valley become a center of technology?
 
 
 
Apple, iPhone. My friends, classmates and colleagues and I would like to live and work in Silicon Valley. Yes or no?

Microsoft, Windows. Are there cities or regions in your country that have become a “Silicon Valley”?

Google. What are the top universities in your country in terms of science and technology?

Facebook, Instagram. Do you and your friends have any ideas for a startup?

YouTube. What might happen in the future?

Wikipedia. What could or should people, businesses and governments do?