Silicon Valley (Version 2.0) Has Hopes Up

The New York Times > Technology: "'It feels like we're 12 months, 18 months away from the equivalent of the Netscape I.P.O.' Since 2000, the region has added one new job for every 15 jobs lost, according to data provided by Mr. Levy, and added roughly 13,000 jobs over the last four months. Office vacancy rates in the region were below 4 percent during the boom, but reached 18 percent in the second half of 2003, according to BT Commercial Real Estate/NAI. That figure now stands at 17.6 percent, even though office rental rates are at their lowest level in more than seven years, according to that firm's Silicon Valley Office Report. (Home prices in the area, however, are at record highs, according to DataQuick Information Systems, a real estate data firm based in San Diego.)

Josh Becker, a top executive at Agile Software, a company that sells software packages to large corporations, offers another test for Silicon Valley's prospects. "When you see people starting to leave companies like eBay to start their own companies, despite leaving considerable money on the table in unvested options," he said, "then you know Silicon Valley is back."

For now, Mr. Becker added, "that isn't happening. "