I don&#x27;t know if I agree with the author&#x27;s thesis (haven&#x27;t thought enough about it yet) but the comparison seems fascinating regardless.  The very first thing that occurred to me was that, while patronage is a central feature of both systems, in Florence it was out in the open while in Silicon Valley it&#x27;s obfuscated behind a layer of arbitrageurs.  Not really sure why anyone would consider that an improvement, either in terms of being less transparent or of having yet another party between the creators and the profit from their work.