Click here to see a map of where the "true techies" live based on the results of a survey reported in USAToday.com. Click on the county listings and the methodology buttons to see easily digestible info. that is really interesting. So what do all those counties have in common? Is it affluence? Is it access? Is it proximity to technologically-based business and industry? Is it social networks? Is it a particular perspective that arises out of the local culture? I found this very interesting and look forward to exploring it more . . .including the survey on which these results are based.
Wednesday, December 14, 2005
Where the True Techies Live
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2 comments:
Interesting...but I didn't see any comment or explanation of what technologies were available amongst those that were being measured. (I admit, I'm skimming to some degree) For instance...DSL is a new technology in some places that have had nothing but dial up for years, while at the same time High Speed cable is "old hat" in other areas. I think of this because of the disparity of what was available in schools where I taught, through no fault of their budget or tech policies. Thanks for sharing, started the old brain cells on a think with this one. ; )
Click on the methodology box to see what they count as "new tech." On the other hand, your point about our inability to contrast the presently available with what is being measured is well taken.
As I took another look at the counties that were represented, I realized that I have friends who teach in many of them. (That, in and of itself, was interesting to me.) Many of them are quite affluent, suburban communities. However, there are also a number of communities there that are quite rural (so the early adoption of the tech as a means of bridging physical gaps makes sense).
Personally, I am coming to believe that vision has a lot to do with it. Early adopters attend to a different set of cues and patterns than the general population, they have a tendency to see practical potential in things that don't seem all that interesting to average users, and their use seems to evolve rapidly into new and innovative modifications of the purposes for which the technologies were originally developed or intended.
I am aware of plenty of institutions that are loaded with the latest technologies, but in which one would be hard pressed to find adopters of any kind, much less early adopters. So I think there must be more than access involved.
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