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Rural vs. Urban: Technology/Culture Gap
I’ve heard Rym and Scott mention technology culture gap (or the culture gap in general) between rural and urban areas. I currently live in what most people from NYC would consider as a rural area (Des Moines, IA [Wiki]). While it’s a fairly large city (over half a million people), we are still Midwest; I cannot drive more than fifteen minutes in any direction without running into a farm. I have also lived in larger cities such as LA or Minneapolis and I travel quite a bit for work so my experience (within this country at least) is broad.
The problem with this discussion is that there are perspectives that are somewhat true, and some that are more stereotypes. For example, Iowa apparently has some of the slowest internet speed in the country.
The thing about technology is that it makes the culture gap smaller. Information travels faster. Compared to when we were all children, the gap is almost non-existent. I remember seeing “Grunge†on TV and not getting it in the Midwest for a solid year. This gap no longer exists. TV and Internet are as ubiquitous as Wal-Mart consumer culture.
There’s also a certain amount of transportation logistics that helps. We used to get comic books and games weeks after the coasts would. Now it’s a day or two later (for large releases such as Halo or Guitar Hero it’s the same day as the rest of the country).
So I guess I’d be interested in knowing how each of you experience and/or perceive the geographical technology culture gap. If you’d like to touch on it, what about the gap between class stratifications?
The problem with this discussion is that there are perspectives that are somewhat true, and some that are more stereotypes. For example, Iowa apparently has some of the slowest internet speed in the country.
The thing about technology is that it makes the culture gap smaller. Information travels faster. Compared to when we were all children, the gap is almost non-existent. I remember seeing “Grunge†on TV and not getting it in the Midwest for a solid year. This gap no longer exists. TV and Internet are as ubiquitous as Wal-Mart consumer culture.
There’s also a certain amount of transportation logistics that helps. We used to get comic books and games weeks after the coasts would. Now it’s a day or two later (for large releases such as Halo or Guitar Hero it’s the same day as the rest of the country).
So I guess I’d be interested in knowing how each of you experience and/or perceive the geographical technology culture gap. If you’d like to touch on it, what about the gap between class stratifications?
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