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GE's Move To Boston Could Revive Local Tech Business Ambitions (networkworld.com)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Networkworld: Two-hundred people will run General Electric from the company's new headquarters in the Fort Point part of the city and another 600 will work in its labs. According to Immelt's vision, the headquarters will be open for interacting with startups and academia in which GE is both convener and catalyst. In an interview with Boston's business and political elite yesterday, chairman of the board and chief executive officer of GE Jeff Immelt said GE moved to Boston for two reasons: to win the Internet of Things and rethink how companies work in this winner-take-all technology and innovation economy. If GE's top management can add the missing ingredient by transferring the know-how for growing businesses to billions of dollars in quarterly revenue, Boston could regain its preeminent position for technology business leadership equal to its reputation for leading-edge research and development.
I can't think of one good thing to have come out of Silicon Valley within the past decade.
Most of the "innovation" that happened there has revolved around advertising and making it more invasive.
Anything that might actually have some value (virtual reality, Internet of Things) ends up being hijacked to, you guessed it, subject people to advertising while invasively collecting data about them.
And then there are things like Android, which are basically just 1990s-era technology like Linux and Java.
We've also seen them destroy a lot of formerly-good technology. Look at how Firefox has been ruined, for example. Silicon Valley has also been the hub of shitty modern web design, where what should be simple web pages end up requiring extensive JavaScript frameworks and many MB of unnecessary images, videos, and other resources.
JavaScript, Go and Rust are good examples of how Silicon Valley hasn't improved programming languages at all. JavaScript is still awful, decades after it was first created. Go is, despite all of the hype, rather mediocre and primitive. Rust is a joke.
For all of the hype that Silicon Valley gets, and all of the funding that has poured into it, we've seen pretty much nothing of real value created by these folks!
I did some contracting work for them in the '90's but thought they'd all been devoured by rabid weasels after GE Finance went away. The fact that many of my old appliances has their logo on them is a complete coincidence. So, what's ol' Generous Electric been up to, lately?
I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?
Like taxes. Maybe they'll start paying them!
Boston won't be a tech leader again. They're not culturally diverse enough to attract top talent and top companies. Silicon Valley is very welcoming to Asians, Hispanics, homosexuals
You mean Boston, in the first state that legalized gay marriage isn't welcoming to homosexuals? Massachusetts is in the top quintile of states for proportion of Asians too.
The main reason the Boston area is a better incubator of tech is the same reason it lost the pre-eminence it enjoyed among American cities in the colonial era: it's too cramped and expensive for industry to grow. So it usually makes sense once your company is a going concern to move it elsewhere.
Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
Ever since Welch left GE the thing becomes sort of rudderless
If they think a move to Boston can get them their rudder back, welcome to the real world
As per what the AC said .. you do know why his nickname was "Neutron Jack" don't you?
He was famous for getting rid of people while leaving the buildings standing in the same vein as a neutron bomb.
I am Slashdot. Are you Slashdot as well?
As someone with relatives 2 streets away from their old headquarters in Fairfield, CT, the move to Boston is predicated on two things:
1) the college labor pool in MA is more plentiful, the cost of living is lower, and thus it's a cheaper labor cost to GE for entry level college intern and recent grad talent
2) CT state government significantly raised corporate taxes last year, and GE said they would move if they did. This is just following through on that promise.
And surprisingly, Taxachusttes is actually 25/50 in income taxes, while CT is top 5/50 for income and top 2/50 for estate taxes.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-01-28/why-ge-spurned-connecticut-for-massachusetts
I work a few blocks from the proposed HQ site and there are construction cranes in all directions, & there is plenty of demand for office space in Fort Point and excellent freeway access due to Big Dig exit at convention center. We already have enough Internet of Things meetups believe it or not.
Muckrock and the Boston Institute of Nonprofit Journalism tried to raise $1700 demanded by the mayor's office for reproducing the GE emails. But who needs emails when the charm offensive has begun? BINJ did a five-part series on the scheme.
These crony style one-off deals are always terrible economics. The "free market" certainly will fill that space very soon. There is no lack of demand, instead tons of local money already develops this area. In Jan 2015 a parking ramp in Fort Point sold for $56 million or $106,500 per spot!
As noted above many in the population are furious #MakeGEpay protesting in the freeze of last weekend's clipper. (Mayor Walsh was elected with 52% on 38% turnout). The schools are facing a $50 million shortfall, students walked out just a few days ago partially protesting this.
In this deal they don't have to pay regular taxes, instead they get to muck around in the local school system with all the purse strings attached as the press release makes clear. Instead of letting the city get normal tax revenue and the School Board allocate money for programs GE gets to basically do what it likes, as the press release clearly specifies.
Sen. Sanders said they are "destroying the moral fabric" of the USA. Boston Magazine reported in January:
Do you really think that some of these Beacon Hill luminaries haven't been looking forward to a taste of that offshore $119,000,000,000?? The centralization of decisionmaking in the schools, by withholding program revenue, is unfolding in parallel to this incredible offshore tax scam. Maybe they want Ft Point Channel access to float in barges of cash, why not? I am disappointed none of this important info is in the story summary.
--hongpong.com
I personally stay away from companies who practice the GE way. Jack Welch left a terrible legacy as an enemy of innovation...
I wonder what source or experience you're citing when you say that. Here's mine, take it for what you will.
My dad worked at the GE Global Research headquarters in Niskayuna for most of my childhood. He was in a couple of different research departments, and eventually became a Program Manager. He met Jack Welch on a few occasions, and has a lot of admiration for him. I have never heard him say anything that indicates he was an "enemy of innovation". Apparently I even met him once, my dad says I "cost him a ride on Jack's helicopter, because I was too afraid".
Jack removed a lot of bureaucracy, fostered an informal environment, and stripped out tons of middle-management. My dad often speaks highly of the "rank and yank" policy, where the bottom 10% of employees were let go on a yearly basis and new hires took their place. There was constant turnover, influxes of new people, new ideas, etc. Even if you were performing well, you would never stay in the same position for more than 6 years. If you weren't promoted within that time (often to other projects or departments), you received what was called a "sideways promotion"; you were shifted somewhere else, maybe at the same level, maybe at a lower level. The idea was to constantly have fresh eyes on everything, to prevent people from stagnating in one position. Jack also broadened stock option availability to a lot of employees based on their performance. He was cutthroat, for sure, but if you were damn good at your job, you thrived at GE.
Only crack the nuts that crack. You don't put the ones that don't crack in the sack.
Boston's pretty welcoming. You've just got to understand that "Fuck you, ya fuckin' faggot!" is how they greet everyone, it's even what they say to the priest as they're leaving Sunday mass. It's a term of endearment in Boston. "You fuckin' fag townie. Fuck you and your fuckin' mother you fucking cheap ass whore. That was an excellent service Father and yes, I'll be here next Sunday and I'll tell my mother you said hello." To which, the kindly priest responds, "Well fuck you too, ya fucking cock-sucka."
I'm telling you, it just means they like you.
"So long and thanks for all the fish."