A throwaway side point in a thought-provoking article in the New Yorker by George Packer says that Twitter’s “San Francisco headquarters employs a thousand people but draws tourists from around the world—the company turns them away—” The article’s main points are about the contrasts between Silicon Valley’s wealthy utopianism and the growing gap between rich and poor, in the Bay Area and around the country.
Worth reflection and soul-searching. In the meanwhile, Twitter’s tourist problem is solvable. Create a piece of public art with Twitter Trending on various different topics with different colors. Needs display technology that can withstand outdoor display. And, given gap between wealthy and destitute at mid-market, regular physical maintenance.
A lot of companies should do this. Mozilla is building a really cool Firefox monument at Harrison and Embarcadero that I think people will love to visit. People always want to visit Google and Twitter and also… the EFF. It’s something I think SF should take note of! Tech themed monuments and public art with internet kiosk sort of things, or big displays, would be a huge tourist draw and people would like it.