Sunday, August 21, 2016

EOC Week 6 Silicon Valley Episode 6

Episode 6 centers on the Pied Piper team's hiring of an outside consultant to move the company's infrastructure to the cloud — something Richard just doesn't understand how to do. “The best strategies still aren’t clear, but forward- thinking firms tend to experiment with new approaches.” (265) The consultant is a teenage wunderkind named Kevin — known by his online alias "The Carver" — a black-hat hacker who once supposedly took down Bank of America's system. It was a good idea to hire someone that can do specialty work that no one else in the company can do.  Richard's tense interactions with Kevin provide some of the episode's best moments, especially when the younger upstart shoots looks of derision and unblinking judgment at the less-young upstart. Richard’s body language suggests that is uncomfortable and upset with the situation. “Even if your words are inviting, the wrong body language can alienate and distract your audience…” (75) Denish’s body language telegraphs that he is normally comfortable and Erlich’s is way too comfortable and flirtatious.  It's also ultimately satisfying to see Kevin crash and burn so hard, after Richard — cowed into groupthink by his teammates — allows the teenager to access Pied Piper's DDL. Leaving The Carver with access to the work that he isn’t supposed to be in charge of was a terrible mistake on Richard’s part. It was a good idea to ask for help, but a terrible mistake to leave him unsupervised. “The best way to combat equity issues is through clear, open communication from management.”  (252) Now after Kevin destroys the system he needed his prescription of Adderall, but Jared was locked in an automated car headed to an island of robots. So Richard tries to buy some drugs off of the kinds in the neighborhood. Participating in illegal activity is unethical for a business.

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