<story><title>Dad takes son to Mongolia to get him off his phone</title><url>https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-50830944</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>ctdonath</author><text>Last summer, family vacation. Tetons-Yellowstone-Glacier-Badlands region in particular, scenic backroads also. Was surprised at how extensive coverage (down to 3G) was, but there were large areas of zero connectivity as well. That&amp;#x27;s overlooking lack of wifi hotspots lest my cell tethering data cap run out. Kids were subject to &amp;gt;week of no TV&amp;#x2F;data&amp;#x2F;games, having no internet &lt;i&gt;and&lt;/i&gt; no power (solar-gathered electricity used only for lighting &amp;amp; mapping).&lt;p&gt;From that perspective, methinks Starlink.com will contribute to significant population shifts, making such low&amp;#x2F;no-connectivity areas viable to those dependent on internet connectivity. I&amp;#x27;d move to that region quick were data fast &amp;amp; reliable.&lt;p&gt;[ETA: &amp;quot;Midwest&amp;quot; as in &amp;quot;west side of mid&amp;quot; a la broad boundary of central plains and Rocky Mountains.]</text></item><item><author>chapium</author><text>&amp;gt; American Midwest, in part because of the no-tech&amp;#x2F;no-connectivity of large swaths&lt;p&gt;Wait, what?  When is the last time you went to the midwest!?</text></item><item><author>ctdonath</author><text>If you already have an inclination to travel to Mongolia, this makes for an interesting &amp;quot;last straw&amp;quot; to justify going. I like the relative desolation of the American Midwest, in part because of the no-tech&amp;#x2F;no-connectivity of large swaths; any excuse to go there is appreciated.&lt;p&gt;Once that hurdle is cleared, going to such an extreme for disconnecting helps hammer home the point to the kid: cellular connectivity isn&amp;#x27;t just a few feet of separation from phone, or a few miles outside cell service, it&amp;#x27;s far enough that disconnection is absolute &amp;amp; profound - you can drive (not just walk) for &lt;i&gt;days&lt;/i&gt; and still not get a connection.&lt;p&gt;The real horror is a society so deeply dependent on something they use so intimately yet so completely fail to understand. Getting kids &amp;quot;back to the Earth&amp;quot; is very important, full &amp;amp; complete disconnect from &amp;quot;technology&amp;quot; so they can grasp their own ability to live &amp;amp; thrive without it. Clarke: &amp;quot;any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic&amp;quot;; we&amp;#x27;re there, and while the benefits are good, the psychological dependency &amp;amp; mystery isn&amp;#x27;t. Go somewhere distant from technology, forage&amp;#x2F;hunt food, make a meal over an open fire, and sleep under the stars - so vital for a child&amp;#x27;s psychological well-being.&lt;p&gt;[ETA: &amp;quot;Midwest&amp;quot; referring to roughly the boundary between central plains and Rocky Mountains.]</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>s0rce</author><text>I wouldn&amp;#x27;t really consider the Tetons in the Midwest, they are part of the Rocky mountains. Same with Glacier.&lt;p&gt;This map seems to capture how I think of the larger regions in the USA&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.touropia.com&amp;#x2F;regions-of-the-united-states&amp;#x2F;&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.touropia.com&amp;#x2F;regions-of-the-united-states&amp;#x2F;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;p&gt;Probably would divide Socal from Norcal.&lt;p&gt;Also, there is a distinct inter-mountain west between the Rockies and the Sierra&amp;#x2F;Cascades. Utah isn&amp;#x27;t really in the Southwest and Eastern WA&amp;#x2F;OR isn&amp;#x27;t really in the PNW but close enough.</text></comment>
<story><title>Dad takes son to Mongolia to get him off his phone</title><url>https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-50830944</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>ctdonath</author><text>Last summer, family vacation. Tetons-Yellowstone-Glacier-Badlands region in particular, scenic backroads also. Was surprised at how extensive coverage (down to 3G) was, but there were large areas of zero connectivity as well. That&amp;#x27;s overlooking lack of wifi hotspots lest my cell tethering data cap run out. Kids were subject to &amp;gt;week of no TV&amp;#x2F;data&amp;#x2F;games, having no internet &lt;i&gt;and&lt;/i&gt; no power (solar-gathered electricity used only for lighting &amp;amp; mapping).&lt;p&gt;From that perspective, methinks Starlink.com will contribute to significant population shifts, making such low&amp;#x2F;no-connectivity areas viable to those dependent on internet connectivity. I&amp;#x27;d move to that region quick were data fast &amp;amp; reliable.&lt;p&gt;[ETA: &amp;quot;Midwest&amp;quot; as in &amp;quot;west side of mid&amp;quot; a la broad boundary of central plains and Rocky Mountains.]</text></item><item><author>chapium</author><text>&amp;gt; American Midwest, in part because of the no-tech&amp;#x2F;no-connectivity of large swaths&lt;p&gt;Wait, what?  When is the last time you went to the midwest!?</text></item><item><author>ctdonath</author><text>If you already have an inclination to travel to Mongolia, this makes for an interesting &amp;quot;last straw&amp;quot; to justify going. I like the relative desolation of the American Midwest, in part because of the no-tech&amp;#x2F;no-connectivity of large swaths; any excuse to go there is appreciated.&lt;p&gt;Once that hurdle is cleared, going to such an extreme for disconnecting helps hammer home the point to the kid: cellular connectivity isn&amp;#x27;t just a few feet of separation from phone, or a few miles outside cell service, it&amp;#x27;s far enough that disconnection is absolute &amp;amp; profound - you can drive (not just walk) for &lt;i&gt;days&lt;/i&gt; and still not get a connection.&lt;p&gt;The real horror is a society so deeply dependent on something they use so intimately yet so completely fail to understand. Getting kids &amp;quot;back to the Earth&amp;quot; is very important, full &amp;amp; complete disconnect from &amp;quot;technology&amp;quot; so they can grasp their own ability to live &amp;amp; thrive without it. Clarke: &amp;quot;any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic&amp;quot;; we&amp;#x27;re there, and while the benefits are good, the psychological dependency &amp;amp; mystery isn&amp;#x27;t. Go somewhere distant from technology, forage&amp;#x2F;hunt food, make a meal over an open fire, and sleep under the stars - so vital for a child&amp;#x27;s psychological well-being.&lt;p&gt;[ETA: &amp;quot;Midwest&amp;quot; referring to roughly the boundary between central plains and Rocky Mountains.]</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>andymcsherry</author><text>Wyoming and Montana are definitely not in the Midwest, and I’d even argue that the Western South Dakota where the Badlands are should be considered the Mountain West as well.  The majority of the Midwest is far more populated than this region</text></comment>