The Willow Glen Resident

Point of View

Deborah Taylor-Hollis

Silicon Valley, make room for Pottersville

There's a scene in the movie It's a Wonderful Life where Jimmy Stewart, as George Bailey, is sitting in the office of the town miser and big shot, Mr. Potter. Potter, who owns and controls everything else in Bedford Falls, wants to try and weasel his way into owning the Building and Loan, a Bailey family enterprise. It is the only thing for miles around that Potter, a self-serving , greedy, mean old man, doesn't own. He is a man bent on a mission--total control--and for years has tried everything to be the biggest, and only, fish in the Bedford Falls pond.

George sits there in Potter's luxuriously appointed office, humiliated and humbled, puffing on an impossibly large stogie Potter has handed him, and actually begins to consider an offer from Potter to work for him. It means a huge pay increase for his family and gives him the possibility to travel--a lifelong dream he has never been able to achieve. Instead, he's scrimped and saved, keeping the family business afloat. Bailey's business has meant that hundreds of townsfolk have had their own dreams realized and have lived wonderful lives without Potter's interference. They have been given opportunities Potter would never have allowed. They have had someone other than Potter to turn to for help.

George looks at his peculiar life, and all its tragedies, and considers the offer carefully. He is taken in by the surroundings, the promises of better things that Potter dangles in front of him, and he almost caves in. Then, suddenly, Potter shakes George's hand. The physical contact snaps George back to reality. He knows that doing business with Potter is certain doom for his idealism and his self-respect. He calls Potter a scurvy little spider who sits around spinning little webs for people to fall into, and storms out of the office.

Last month, Mr. Potter bought into Apple Computer.

The sticky-fingered giant with a monopolistic hold on every media it can get near has finally sunk its teeth (ever so gently) into the big apple when it was in dire straits. As millions of Apple faithful mourned, one of its founders, Mr. Jobs, walked into Mr. Potter's office, liked the surroundings, puffed on the stogie and signed the deal. He has no idea what web he may have fallen into.

While the bankers and stock analysts forecasted the millions of scenarios that may result from the merger, I had just one thought: The hero's fallen in battle. A simplistic view, certainly, but one Homer had when he wrote The Odyssey.

When Frank Capra made his "simple little movie" more than 50 years ago, he was also talking about a lot of complicated fiscal maneuvers. He explained to a nation in easy-to-understand terms that, even with the Depression, the stock market crash and the Dust Bowl, there were still some easy answers. In his movie, you didn't have to mull over the millions of possible outcomes that would ensue if Bailey had gone with Potter. The result was as simple as black and white.

That's why so many Apple faithful fell crying to their knees at the moment this merger/helping hand was announced. They didn't want to be blinded by all the shenanigans, didn't want to succumb to the hoopla and hype. They could still see the forest for the trees, and they could see that Microsoft had gone from a company to a giant spider, buying into everything, taking final control, making so much money that Bill Gates could pay off our entire national debt and still have pocket change left over to buy IBM and all the Monets in existence.

What has happened on those shady Palo Alto streets is exactly what Jimmy Stewart feared would occur if he didn't resist. Now that Apple, one of the five premiere corporations in the valley, has floundered and taken Mr. Potter's hand, the place is safe for no one. We are at risk of losing the ability of small start-ups to become great industries.

The moment you buck the giant, he will stop you--hire away your talent, block your expansion capital and eventually buy you out.

Maybe not today, and maybe not tomorrow (different movie, but stay with me here), we will lose the individual spirit and competitive edge that makes this valley great.

"During the bank run, we were the only cool heads in town," Potter tells George. "You saved the Building and Loan, and I saved all the rest."

"Most people say you stole all the rest," George reminds him. Sometimes, simple is not only relevant but accurate. Welcome to Pottersville.

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