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Comment by hughes | Hacker News Reader

The future's going to come out of a location that's free from the high-rent nonsense that creates a work culture of subordination.

I've been toying with the idea of a rural technologist. Sure, if the startup I'm part of goes big, my equity might get me (most of) a house near the city. Or, I can take my skills and my money to the country. How might society change if rural areas had an influx of people who care about applying modern tech outside of city life? I feel like I (and maybe OP) would flourish with lower living costs, time to think and experiment, large tracts of land and grassroots farming & manufacturing industry.

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It may not be as crazy as it sounds at first. Per documentaries, that was why the Silicon Valley came to be. Land was cheap, so Shockley (specifically avoiding the old centers of industry) set up shop there, and the rest is history.

That's skipping the substantial part where Terman establishes Stanford's engineering department, brings in massive government funding, and encourages students to commercialize the research.

Yes, certainly not to say Shockley was all alone in establishing in the Bay Area- but without him, would it be called the Silicon Valley? :)

perhaps shockley would have actually preferred if it were called 'germanium valley' :)

Yes I have been interested in this as an idea. The industrial revolution in the UK started in the countryside (in the beautiful Peak District) due to availability of water power, and Cambridge University started in a rural setting too (to escape from Oxford).

There have been some versions, like this http://www.colletta.it/

I think you need some sort of coworking facility, the monastery model rather than the hermit model to get the most out of it. Otherwise you are giving up too much of the community aspect that makes cities so stimulating now.

This would seem to assume modern tech isn't cared for outside of cities, which is pretty funny. Now don't quote the Amish to disprove me, I'm talking about regular rank and file rural people.

Some fun things to google for are "high tech redneck" and the scene in Huntsville AL in the 90s (and probably now).

This sounds like the future. A lot of people are still in the "i'm city person" mindset, without ever knowing how it is to live in a less populated area where living costs are lower and your peace of mind is almost guaranteed.

X-posted on FS: http://firespotting.com/item?id=1087

This sound like an amazing premise for a reboot of Green Acres.

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