Dr. Perry Morrison mentions the effects of the railroad. I just
finished an in-depth series of interviews and visits to rural US ICT
and community organizing projects in 12 states. Here in 2001, the
after effects of the railroad (some good, but a lot not so good) are
still being felt. Many of the small towns were started as real estate
investments by the railroads, and they were totally dependent on them.
Now some of these places still have tracks, but no train stops (nor
any busses, for that matter). Others take only freight. A century
ago, in 1901, Frank Norris wrote the novel "the Octopus" about the
negative effects of the railroad. It is still read in schools to this
day. Nobody has done the same for the Internet!
A couple of years ago I attended a conference organized by the
Annenberg School of Communications. It was called "Technological
Visions: Utopian & Dystopian Perspectives" Not a whole lot has been
answered since then. My old report is here:
http://home.inreach.com/cisler/tech.htm
Steve Cisler
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