Trumblog

Mayor Bill Bunten of Topeka, Kansas this week moved  to rename his city Google, Kansas for the month of March as a stunt to secure their selection as the location for testing of Google’s ultra fast internet infrastructure and receive the jobs, investment and who knows, tourism, that goes along with it. Interestingly Topeka means “to dig good potatoes” in the Kansa and Ioway languages.  I imagine that Bill Bunton wants it now to mean “dig for fiber optic cable.”

It reminds me of course of Hot Springs, New Mexico that in 1950 hitched it’s star to a different media channel (radio) and renamed itself Truth or Consequences.  2010 is a different time than 1950 and Bill Bunton is either smarter or less committed than the people of Hot Springs because Truth or Consequence’s name change was permanent while Google, Kansas will revert back to Topeka on April Fools Day.  And that’s probably a good thing anyhow since any city that permanently names itself Google would quickly find themselves on the wrong end of a copyright lawsuit rather than showered with thanks for the PR.

I wonder if the results will be fleeting.  Truth or Consequences (the quiz show) was broadcast from Truth or Consequences (the city) once, but then host Ralph Edwards was dedicated enough to the city that he visited every year for half a century as part of the city’s “Fiesta” held on the first weekend of May.  I seriously doubt that the hardware and fiber optics laid by Google will still be in use in 50 years and if it is then it will be as outmoded as the Victrola used to listen to quiz shows back in 1950. If Topeka’s smart, and I have no doubt that they are, they will need to capitalize on a Google investment by luring tech companies with cheap bandwidth and become a sort of “Silicone Plains.” But they’ll need to act fast because if Google’s plan is a success then Topeka’s window of opportunity will be short and the digital divide closed before they know it.

Photo: Truth or Consequences by einelam

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