From the desk of: Cathy Coloff
Subject: Stay connected with IT Radix!
I was recently reminded of the days before high-speed Internet was available everywhere. This summer, on a family vacation in the Sawtooth and Bitterroot Mountain ranges of Idaho and Montana, we visited a gold mining ghost town, rafted the Salmon River, and hiked and rode ATVs in the local area. It was nice to reconnect with nature and a slower pace of life. But even with this, Internet was available—albeit via a satellite dish or perhaps DSL.
At one place, I noticed the hotel manager on the phone with tech support trying to diagnose Wi-Fi issues in the cabins. Cell phone service was intermittent; but clearly, Internet service was important to many of the area businesses. We found our whitewater rafting company on the Internet, and the couple who had recently purchased the business from its previous owner were happy to hear their Internet marketing was working. Others used the Internet to keep in touch with their families throughout the country, order things that they wanted or needed, or in some cases, to manage their businesses remotely.
As we toured a gold mining ghost town, it was hard to imagine what it would have been like to be in the middle of the mountains, away from your family and truly self-sufficient. These were tough people as far as I’m concerned. They used all their resources and ingenuity to survive and thrive. In comparison, I wonder if our ingenuity is being squashed by video games and instant access to information via the Internet.
What do you think? I’d love your thoughts—you can share them on our website blog where this is posted.
First published in our August 2019 IT Radix Resource newsletter
