Silicon Valley has a bad habit of "inventing" things that already exist

On Monday, the internet collectively laughed at the hubris of ride-sharing giant Lyft for marketing its new Lyft Shuttle as something inherently new, rather than what it was -- namely, a private version of a city bus. http://twitter.com/surfbordt/status/876805235863408641 But Lyft “inventing” the city bus isn’t the first time Silicon Valley invented existing things and tried to wrap them in the guise of the Silicon Valley hype machine. That time Silicon Valley invented being thirsty Over 8,000 crowdfunders threw $627,000 at the Hidrate Spark, a water bottle that retails for $46.95 and which is billed as “a connected water bottle that tracks your water intake and glows to make sure that you never forget to drink your water again.” Unlike the lowly cup, which has existed since the dawn of time and can even be created by contorting one’s hands together under the faucet, the Hidrate Spark has a bluetooth chip, an accompanying smartphone app, and a glowing light that tells you to drink, and must be plugged in and recharged periodically or it stops working. That time Silicon Valley invented sustenance Billed as a means of providing “complete nutrition with minimal effort,” Soylent is a powdered food product that some techies swear by. That time Silicon Valley didn’t invent anything, but put a wi-fi chip in existing inventions to make you think they’d invented something new The “Internet of Things” is a marketing gimmick whereby tech companies put wi-fi chips in everday objects like appliances and toasters and fridges, and then create an overcomplicated and vulnerable system to manage them through your smartphone or computer.