[Air-l] hmm, last mile, imaginations, and historical projections

jeremy hunsinger jhuns at vt.edu
Thu Aug 1 19:54:31 PDT 2002


yes, definitely have to be careful with certain assumptions.  
detraditionalization, traditionalization, and retraditionalization are 
sociological terms which do have certain things to do with tradition, 
but have alot more to do with the changing of practices that embody 
those traditions.  so my comment on detraditionalization was not to 
assume that rural was more traditional, but to assume there was a 
process of detraditionalization and it would probably be quickened by 
broadband access.   the processes operate across all late modern/late 
capitalism societies, i think.



>
> 2.  The major problem facing rural communities is trying to get their 
> young
> people to stay--or to come back home after college.   The permanent
> emigration of young people from rural communities is due almost 
> entirely to
> economic pressure.  As agriculture has gotten bigger, jobs have gotten 
> fewer
> and most family farms have folded.  The potential economic effects on 
> rural
> communities of new information technologies--particularly any jobs they 
> may
> create--are likely to outweigh anything else.  (It's notable that in the
> 1990 census, for the first time *ever*, more people were living in rural
> areas than they were 10 years earlier.  The 2000 census shows the
> rural/suburban ratio essentially holding steady.)

yes this is part of the process i noted above.
>
> 3.  Again, agricultural has become a high-tech, technology-driven
> enterprise.  All of the farmers I know have wireless internet.  These 
> people
> *need* the web to manage the logistics of a modern ag 
> operation--detailed
> weather reports; ordering and inventorying supplies, parts, seed/feed, 
> etc.;
> arranging transportation and storage with distributors,  local 
> granaries,
> the railroad; tracking commodities futures; specialized subscription
> services which advise optimal times to plant and harvest--the list goes 
> on
> and on.

well they need something in the way of information technology it may not 
be the web, but yes i agree.
>
> 4.  I think that the spectacle of people moving to rural communities to 
> live
> "off the broadband" is pretty darn unlikely.

but that is a selling point in some areas, especially those areas that 
do have regular logistical access to a population center where they 
could possibly telecommute most times, and travel in as necessary, sort 
of a 200 -300 mile circle, a broadening of the megalopolis perhaps.
>   First of all, if I can get
> broadband all across Garfield County, WA, (pop. 2,300) I can get it 
> pretty
> much anywhere. ( http://www.firststepwireless.net/overview/ ) And 
> second,
> though upper-class suburbanites may desire to escape from congestion,
> stress, and sprawl, they LOVE the web. Just ask them.

i was unclear i thought they would still have good access to the web due 
to their access to the broadband.
>
> my $.02,
>
> Matt
>
> ********************************************
> Matt Hindman, Ph.D Candidate
> Politics Department, Princeton University
> mhindman at princeton.edu
> http://www.princeton.edu/~mhindman/
> ********************************************
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "jeremy hunsinger" <jhuns at vt.edu>
> To: <air-l at aoir.org>
> Sent: Thursday, August 01, 2002 7:10 PM
> Subject: [Air-l] hmm, last mile, imaginations, and historical 
> projections
>
>
> I'm sitting here looking at several fairly substantial proposals for
> programs taking rural last mile broadband into account and was thinking
> that taking the lastmile to the house in rural america may not have the
> effects that are projected.  any opinions, theories, thoughts?
>
>
>   I'm thinking that there is corresponding detraditionalizations that 
> may
> not have lasting positive effects on these communities, though immediate
> economic effects may occur.  I'm thinking this will promote an overall
> migration and population transition toward more urbanization, etc. which
> of course is not supportive to small rural communities, which may in the
> end result in a new gentrification of those communities by displaces
> upper class urbanites looking to operate off of the broadband, thus
> possibly creating the same situation as occured with industrialization
> with the automobile in the south.  again, thoughts, theories, opinions?
>
> I mean what we have is a certain number of imaginations of the future,
> sometimes even supported by research and i could really use some more
> citations on this, that seem to assume a certain set of goods in
> development and goods in the expansion of technologies for the
> populace...
>
> so in short, let me know.
>
>
> jeremy hunsinger
> jhuns at vt.edu
> on the ibook
> www.cddc.vt.edu
> www.cddc.vt.edu/jeremy
> www.dromocracy.com
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jeremy hunsinger
jhuns at vt.edu
on the ibook
www.cddc.vt.edu
www.cddc.vt.edu/jeremy
www.dromocracy.com
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