Comments on: Lessons from Small-Town America

By: Kimmoy Matthews

Kimmoy Matthews — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 03:22:13 +0000

Chris, I have to agree with you 100%. I visited a friend in Morgantown , WV a couple weekends ago, and had the same epiphany. Because it is such a popular university small town, it has attracted a lot of business there. You just have to be bold enough to go after the opportunities in a small town, and make your mark…could be lucrative!

By: Alec Rosen

Alec Rosen — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 13:36:42 +0000

totally agree. we all know (or should know) people who live in the Keil’s of the US.

i was at a SFTA conference (south florida technology alliance) and the panel was talking about new apps, web 3.0 and beyond. even though this was a tech group, people were still overwhelmed by the next wave of apps, software and social media. my comment to the panel was,

some people just want a cell phone to make calls and a PC to do e-mail, and besides do all these things come with an off switch, which is the most important hi-tech invention ever.

alec

By: Charlie Kalech

Charlie Kalech — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 18:39:02 +0000

Thanks for the reminder

We work with a lot of small businesses and NPOs. We have always had what I call a Least Common Denominator approach to design, but this is constantly being bumped up. The challenge is to strike a balance so that sites stay modern but work for all (not just technically but from a usability perspective as well).

By: Chris

Chris — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 04:25:58 +0000

@ Len Green: I love the State of the Need idea. If you don’t mind, I’d like to use it in a future blog post (of course I’ll give you full credit for the phrase!). Thanks for the comment.

@ George Moraetes: I agree. It is absolutely amazing how much work does get in these small towns. The work ethic there is so strong. I think some people can learn a lot from how hard these folks work. Most of my in-law’s family are farmers. Talk about hard working people!

@ Chuck Duncan: I do think we’re all connected. Some of us are just connected at “slower” speeds.

@ Jeff Atkinson: I did it myself. I started with a template in WordPress called Floristica 1.2 which I got from AOE Media (http://www.aoemedia.de/). It’s pretty easy to customize and has some nice features in it. Thanks for asking.

By: George Moraetes

George Moraetes — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 02:35:46 +0000

Chris – I grew up in a small town and life was far easier and simpler people getting by with just the necessities. It is a laid back style yet incredible work is done there. Don’t think for a minute small town’ers are pressured to keep up with the rat races in the big towns.

By: Len Green

Len Green — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 02:34:45 +0000

Chris. lots of truth in that. I tend to prefer “State of the Need” over “State of the Art” because the former is what needs to be satisfied. It does not mean “State of the Art” is irrelevant, but just that for some folk, that does not represent what they need. People in “those small towns” may be able to do what they need with a lot less fuss sometimes:)

By: Chuck Duncan

Chuck Duncan — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 19:22:25 +0000

Now you’ve opened a can of worms . . . the US media says we’re all connected. Do you have any idea of how many homes are not connected? How many are high speed, dial up, have a computer, have no computer? Was that bridge to the 21st century the same one they talk about for some island in Alaska . . . one to nowhere?

By: cspag (Chris Spagnuolo ?)

cspag (Chris Spagnuolo ?) — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 17:54:06 +0000

Blogged: Lesson from Small-town America http://tinyurl.com/5cj53y

By: Jeff Atkinson

Jeff Atkinson — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 17:01:09 +0000

Can you tell me who did your layout? I’ve been looking for one kind of like yours. Thank you.