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Comment by sjs | Hacker News Reader

They contracted someone to build the thing in the first place. Whoever is there for the data centre will be renting or buying a place to live, or at least staying at hotels, shopping for food and going to restaurants.

It may not solve all of the town's problems but it probably does not do any harm either.

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You're right. But the problem is bigger than this. It's that the data centre eliminates a far greater number of jobs than it creates. Somewhere else in the US, there's a CD pressing factory which has just closed its doors with 150 jobs lost. And 10 retailers who sold those CDs. And the company that printed Road Atlases. It's an inevitability, but one that is overlooked by saying, "Well it's progress, we're creating skilled jobs in the businesses that are doing the displacing. Let's retool our workforce."

If a data center produces only 50 jobs, then I find it hard to believe that a CD pressing shop produced 150 jobs.

Sorry, I meant shop as short for workshop (ie. factory) It's probably not common now that I think of it.

The Sony CD plant in Terre Haute, IN employs ~ 1,400 [1]. I know they have other plants, but I think that is it for the Eastern US. And, it's pretty much the only company in the country that produces physical media, so other CD pressing plants are pretty rare.

[1] http://www.indianaeconomicdigest.net/main.asp?SectionID=31&#...

Edit: According to http://www.sonydadc.com/en/locations/, the only production facility in the US is in Terre Haute...

tough shit. I bet the candle industry was hurt pretty bad by the development of electricity.

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