siliconization.mdwn (1265B)
1 **Siliconization** refers to how local technocultural practices all around 2 the world have been replaced by an imported "Silicon Valley" model, 3 especially since the [[1990s|history]]. 4 5 This phenomenon was particularly prominent in Eastern European countries 6 after the fall of the USSR. The term was originally used in Romania to refer 7 to how their local practices ("șmecherie") were obsoleted at this time. It 8 is also a near-anagram of "colonization". 9 10 Similar developments also took place in many other countries at this time. 11 In Western Europe, this era is often connected to the marginalization of the 12 earlier home computer cultures by a "Wintel" [[monoculture]] and the 13 normalization of constant hardware "up"grades. 14 15 The spread of [[Californian ideology]] and the technology startup culture 16 are closely connected with siliconization. 17 18 In order to understand the effects of siliconization it is important to 19 remember and study the pre-siliconization computer cultures – particularly 20 regarding how the mindsets and values differed from those dominant today. 21 22 External links: 23 24 * [Corruption, Șmecherie, and Siliconization: Retrospective and Speculative Technoculture in Postsocialist Romania](https://catalystjournal.org/index.php/catalyst/article/view/32905)