Kansas’ Times Square commercial showed a woman with a laptop accessing the Web alongside a rural pond, but Harris News Service reported that about 5 percent of Kansas ZIP codes lack any high-speed Internet access, and that half of the ZIP codes have two or fewer access options. Many rural Kansans still must use snail-paced dial-up connections. A Kansas Department of Commerce spokesman defended the picturesque ad. "I don’t think it was a stretch to assume that large numbers of people have Internet access in Kansas," spokesman Joe Monaco said. OK, but pondside access?
Posted by Rhonda Holman
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20 Comments
When I first saw that SBC offered DSL I wanted to get it. I was told that it would be almost six months before it would be avilable in Augusta. The good news was that if I signed up for dial-up the DSL would be cheaper once it got here. It only took them five months and I am quite happy with my DSL. Now just three miles down the road people are still waiting for a cheaper Dial-up as the have to dial long distance to get a connection.
On the contrary Rhonda,I think Kansas is hot as hell!!!
Gee I’ll bet Hank has a pond-side connection.
Five percent of zip codes in parts of southern and western Kansas probably also lack people and a consistent supply of water as the acquifers dry up. No high speed internet and no ice cold beer in a neighborhood bar. Kansas Farm Girl’s new restaurant “way out there” excepted.
Been out there JWink. You don’t even get cell phone service.
??? If you have a high speed internet connection, a wireless router will give you a wireless connection.
Even pondside.
In 5% of the Zip codes in Kansas, you will probably find that nobody there has even heard of the internet!
Ok guys, western kansas, according to the “experts”, is 95% deployed, as they say. Do you guys think I blog using two tin cans and a string? The tinfoil on my head interfers with that arrangement. :)
But satellite technology is good. I am about to get rid of my land line altogether, go soley cell, and hook up to the same connection as my satellite tv service. Same price as a land line and dial up.
I dont think anyone in their right mind expects to be able to have a wifi connection in every square inch of kansas. My cell phone works just fine out here, satellite dish is good, so I think the new internet connection will work fine too.
My farm is 20 miles from town, 10 miles from paved road, and two miles from my nearest neighbor. And, for the record, in 2001, I was able to get dsl at my kansas home BEFORE I was able to get it at my house in Austin, one of the most wired cities in the world.
The internet has the potential to save western kansas, and we do know what it is and how to use it for personal stuff. I just cant get too many people to see the value of it as a business and economic development tool.
But that atty-tude aint unique to the west!
Proof kfg proof.
And you missed the opportunity for a shameless plug!
Relax, I got it.
Western Ks. does have the internet and they do use it. And yes I think it has tremendous potential for small biz. Especially for hospitaltity destination spots like…….
http://www.collyercafe.com
Thanks JR. Sorry it is just the temporary page. The real deal will be up soon. Complete with my own Collyerblog. Heheheheh
Collyerblog – is that gonna be the online gossip column?
People in collyer are above that kind of gossip behavior. If we have something to say, we just tell ya to yer face :)
It is a community blog, but it just isnt up and running yet. We have members all over the world, and we do email newsletters, but the homies like to check the web to keep up with us!
And the homophobes will stay away or be banned. Membership has it’s perks.
We have a lady that used to run the ‘community news’ column for our local paper. She’d call once or twice a month and ask what was going on. Then later that week in the paper we’d read about the Smiths trying out a new pot roast recipe or the Brown’s in-laws coming for a visit.MM swore one day he was gonna tell her that the extraterrestrial aliens came over to our house for afternoon tea. :)
Funny part is when I was writing about rural internet coverage, thanks to Pioneer Telephone in Ulysses, a lot of small towns had internet access before SWBell-dominated Wichita. The Bell folks were mostly clueless and when they finally did catch on, they were months behind.Same with cell phone service. Sprint kicked Bell butt. Unfortunately its executives fell in love with themselves and have practically ruined the company.
“Pioneer Telephone in Ulysses”
Those were the people I heard say that kansas was 95% deployed.
If you want internet access, there is no reason not to have it, even out here. We are looking at a wifi connection at our restaurant.
Someone with a laptop near a pond is not unusual – even if it would only be dial-up. The technology is available in many places in KS.
Pioneer does a great job spreading technology. I work with Internet technology in WK and central KS on a daily basis. It has come a long way. Some of the areas have more up-to-date technology than Wichita.
Julie,
My old hometown paper was the same way, back in the good old days. Looking back and comparing it to now, it was kinda nice. Our news merged with the news of several other small towns in the area and, frankly, it sucks.
Do those social notices often end with, “…and a good time was had by all?” I’d LOVE to see a notice about MM’s visit from ET’s, ending with that.
Cool Collyer. Gary Gorsky still hanging around those parts?
He sure is!!!!!
Gary is a wonderful man, as is his whole family. His wife was a Tidball, one of the founding families in the Collyer area. Newt was a wealth of history. We used to cut wood on his land, but we had to clean up EVERY twig that hit the ground. heheheheh.
I see Gary frequently and will tell him he is now famous!!! He is a shy guy so that will send him underground.
Coool.
And btw, if anyone out there attended or remembers the Collyer dances, even as far back as the thirties and forties, we are collecting stories for our restoration project.
And if you ever played in a band there, we are planning an all star performance fund raiser. You can contact the Collyer Community Alliance at http://www.collyerks.com.
heheh. Our URL stands for Collyer, Kansas, but whenever I see it, I think it says “coll yerks”.
I guess we have been called worse things than “yerks”. hehehehehe