- Social:
covers tech and internet culture from San Francisco for The New York Times
Reporter for the New York Times.
PROFILE
Nellie Bowles
Guest
FROM Nellie Bowles
Press Play with Madeleine Brand
Silicon Valley takes personal health monitoring to the next level Here’s a gift idea for that person on your list who has everything already: a personal pollution monitor. It tells you how good or bad the air quality is.
Press Play with Madeleine Brand
Wealthy Silicon Valley parents reduce screen time for kids LA Unified was going to spend more than $1 billion buying iPads for LA public schools. It was all about the digital divide: the idea that poor kids in public schools would fall behind, and rich kids in private schools would be better prepared for the future because they can access lots of high-tech gear. Now there’s a screen backlash. In Silicon Valley, the same tech insiders who helped make screens addictive are starting to strictly limit it for their kids. Some private schools are getting rid of screens altogether.
Press Play with Madeleine Brand
Vinod Khosla fights a 10 year battle for a beach he doesn't use Venture capitalist Vinod Khosla wants people off his beach, and he’s willing to spend billions of dollars to make it happen. He’s been pursuing the issue in court for a decade. But California courts have so far sided with beachgoers, saying Khosla is violating state law by trying to restrict access to his beach. So now he’s trying to take his fight to the Supreme Court. Khosla bought a whole beach village just south of Half Moon Bay in Northern California. But he hasn’t even spent a night there.
Press Play with Madeleine Brand
San Francisco cracks down on corporate cafeterias Tech companies like Google, Uber, and Twitter offer free food to their employees as a way to lure top talent. But two city officials in San Francisco introduced an ordinance that would ban employee cafeterias in future office buildings.
Press Play with Madeleine Brand
Dorms for adults: Extreme response to San Francisco's housing crisis A company called Starcity has opened three dorm buildings in San Francisco, and they’re working on several more. Adults in their 20s-40s are paying $1400-2400 a month to live in 130-220 square feet bedrooms. They share kitchens and bathrooms. The monthly rent is $1400-2400. There are 8000 people on the waitlist for new units.
Press Play with Madeleine Brand
The Hi-Tech Teens of Silicon Valley In the world of Silicon Valley, the talent is getting younger and younger. College dropouts have joined the ranks of tech companies for years, but now high school dropouts are calling the valley home. These are kids who were skipping school anyway to attend hack-a-thons; and kids who’ve already made apps on top ten most-downloaded lists. Bored with regular teenage life, they are headed to Silicon Valley to work in the tech sector. Tech journalist Nellie Bowles wrote about them in “ Real Teens of Silicon Valley ,” an article for the California Sunday Magazine.
Press Play with Madeleine Brand
The Hi-Tech Teens of Silicon Valley In the world of Silicon Valley, the talent is getting younger and younger. College dropouts have joined the ranks of tech companies for years, but now high school dropouts are calling the valley home. These are kids who were skipping school anyway to attend hack-a-thons; and kids who’ve already made apps on top ten most-downloaded lists. Bored with regular teenage life, they are headed to Silicon Valley to work in the tech sector. Tech journalist Nellie Bowles wrote about them in “Real Teens of Silicon Valley,” an article for the California Sunday Magazine
Press Play with Madeleine Brand
Downtown Utopia Hits A Snag A utopian village for tech entrepreneurs in downtown Las Vegas is turning out to be not so utopian. Tony Hsieh, the enigmatic CEO of Zappos, put up $350 million last year to buy and develop about 60 acres of property in downtown Vegas. It’s called the Downtown Project. It’s a community for tech entrepreneurs complete with a school, communal living quarters, bars and restaurants. But now it’s being reported that there are big problems with the Downtown Project... and it might be on the verge of collapsing.
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