Bits and pieces of the comments below were extracted from the following article: http://www.newsfactor.com/perl/story/19044.html entitled "Ailing Silicon Valley Searches Its Soul".

I thought the last section about the 50 year old project manager burning his books was interesting. His way of protesting the rapid rate of change.

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Not long ago, Silicon Valley found itself at the center of the world, a job- and money-making machine extraordinaire fueled by the popularity of the Internet and technological innovation.

Valley chief executives made magazine covers. Hometown geeks became national heroes. MBAs and politicians came to find the second gold rush. The money gushed, and people paid $1,000 for a bottle of aged balsamic vinegar, or $150 for a "Bubbly Burger" - with champagne - at a Palo Alto, Calif., diner.

Those days are a distant memory now. Silicon Valley lost its strut two years ago, and then some of its bearings last year. Now the valley is questioning its very identity, as the financial pounding continues.

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"There's some resentment toward the technology industry for fueling the stock market mania of the late 1990s," said Arthur Asa Berger, a professor of pop culture at San Francisco State University. "A lot of people feel the collapse of the dot-coms led to the collapse of the economy. It was a contagion."

Some would argue that point, but there's no arguing that the market value of the Nasdaq, which is chockfull of valley companies, has dropped by $4.5 trillion from its highs in mid-2000. The reversal of fortune here can be seen in block after block of office buildings, empty and transparent, with big, indiscreet signs slapped on them: "AVAILABLE."

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Few admit their pride has been broken. Not many question the choices they've made, the education they have sought or the careers they have picked.

Burning Books

But Nick Rafati has. Out of work for a year, the 50-year-old project manager and network engineer was so bitter one recent day he carted hundreds of his books on topics such as data communications and packet searching to his brother-in-law's back yard near Truckee, Calif. After digging a hole five feet deep and five feet wide, Rafati dumped his books and set them on fire.

The books, Rafati says, symbolized everything wrong with the tech industry - the cycles are too fast, experience is discounted. His education and training are rapidly becoming obsolete as he remains unemployed, he believes. "I was ready to burn my degrees and certificates," he said.

Rafati, a Dublin, Calif., resident, now splits his time teaching computer skills at a nearby elementary school and giving drivers' education instruction to high school students. If he does not find work in a month, he will leave, he says.