Augie HillGoogle Fiber For Ann Arbor
Updated August 28, 2011
Google chose Kansas City for the fiber experiment. Bummer!
Why do you support Google Fiber for Ann Arbor?
Google Fiber is the cutting edge infrastructure that will define the technology the world uses in the next century. The higher-fidelity information streams will enable a new family of tools for all industries. Making Ann Arbor the first place in the world for the next round of technological improvements would bring much attention, opportunity, and prosperity to the city and region.
How would this benefit the city?
Ann Arbor would undoubtedly see a rapid influx of hardware and software industry leaders as they seek to invent brand new technologies that require the fastest possible Internet connections. Ann Arbor and southeast Michigan's economy would get a big boost from the new offices that will be established and high-paying jobs that will be created or relocated to the area. Technical entrepreneurship incubators in Ann Arbor like the Tech Brewery and the TechArb, in which I participate as the technical lead for Bebaroo, will get a leg up on other incubators in the country, so we'll be growing our own businesses as well as bringing in outsiders.
The standard of living in Ann Arbor will be improved by the new technologies that only the people of Ann Arbor will get to be the first ones in the world to test. You'll be able to tell your friends outside Ann Arbor about all the great new futuristic (to them) products you'll get to try out months/years before they get to use them.
Why is Ann Arbor the best place for the project?
Ann Arbor is routinely one of the top five "smartest cities" in America according to Forbes, as well as one of the top ten "best cities to raise a family" in America according to Kiplinger, so industries would clearly find able-minded test users and a great place to set up offices. The University of Michigan and the Ann Arbor community in general are very enthused by the prospect of Google Fiber as shown by it's social networking statistics, so there will be full community support. The University of Michigan's top-tier hospital and research labs would be an amazing place to develop the next generation of e-medicine technologies, and it's top-ranked computer science and engineering school will be able to develop even better cutting-edge technologies for the future.
