Some punk scenes are so hostile to mainstream norms that everyone ends up dressed and coiffed identically in the name of nonconformity. In tech, the ironies arise from rigidly specific codes of carefree informality. Dress standards can get so laid back that ties are ripped from the necks of hapless visitors, scissored in two and mounted on trophy walls that herald the company’s militant easygoingness. Certain CEOs haughtily refuse any beer poured in a glass as an affront to their folsky habit of unpretentiously drinking straight from the bottle. And half of the local plutocrats seem to think the thinnest window-dressing will give them Guevara-grade lefty auras. Thus all the flat anti-hierarchies seeking to offset the founder’s awkward membership in the top 0.001 percent by having him sit amidst the rabble at a desk protected by neither walls nor doors. You know, just like a regular schlub!
I had a tough time picking a paragraph to quote from this book, there were so many good options!
A nascent AI gains consciousness as part of a OKCupid-like platform powered by a quantom computer. Tons of technobabble and Silicon Valley (the culture, not the TV show) references to geek out on and chuckle at. It reminded me a lot of jPod, down to the misguided AI looking to make friends within the tech company that birthed her! That show had so much potential.
Thanks @ssoroka for the recommendation!