CBS News (KPIX, Channel 5, local)

August 9, 2005 6pm Newscast

San Francisco, CA - Ten years ago Tuesday, Netscape held its IPO, marking the start of the Internet boom.

What a difference a decade makes. The landscape of Silicon Valley has changed dramatically since then. Traffic has lightened up, the billboards look different, and in many ways, there is a kinder gentler Silicon Valley.

In Palo Alto Tuesday, a group of engineers and volunteers scanned books and applied software so that blind people can listen to them.

"We're all about how to take Silicon Valley's technology and apply it to these great social things that don't make a lot of money," said Jim Fruchterman of Benetech.

Benetech is a non-profit, and it's part of a growing community of Silicon Valley social entrepreneurs.

"Now people are thinking past just getting the most wealth," said Fruchterman. "They're actually thinking about what can they with that wealth. And now there are actually a lot of high tech people who are spending a lot of time thinking about, 'How do I give away my money?'"

Fruchterman received some of his funding from former eBay president Jeff Skoll. His $500 million foundation has financed hundreds of socially responsible organizations since 1999.

"I think in a lot of ways actually it is very much from the dot-com days," said Sandy Herz of the Skoll Foundation. "I think there is this fundamental belief, this optimism that comes out of technology that total reinvention is possible... One of the effects of the Internet boom and bust was that it brought people back to what is it that matters most at the end of the day."

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