&gt;Forget optimism&#x2F;pessimism, even criticism of downright unethical&#x2F;illegal actions is largely nonexistent.<p>This is something that scares me about Silicon Valley. That kind of attitude opens a market for respectability, and once that becomes accepted, the tech bro douchebaggery is going to get shunned, hard. The services they made so cheap will make it even easier for someone else to eat their lunch, and even pointedly NOT being a part of the Valley could be a point in a company&#x27;s favor (privacy-centric consumers who see SV companies willingly send personal data to NSA dragnets). Then it becomes a matter of fashion. (&quot;You&#x27;re still using snapchat after X came out?  What are you, 12?  The government is reading all of your snaps by the way.&quot;)<p>But leave it to a society of nerds to forget the vital necessity of being cool.