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Hey kids, we're BAAAAAAAAAACK!!
You know, leave it to me to not waste any time. Besides, what do I have left but time, right?? Speakin' of wasting time...let's get to it, shall we?
Now, we're on:
Ranked #2 - Under the Radar Tech Hubs...in the country. Right about now, I'm sure a lot of you are wondering the the Hell a Tech Hub is, let alone an "Under the Radar" tech hub. The rest of you, I'm sure, are all wondering how this particular ranking got ahead of obviously more important ranks, such as "Best place to raise your family", or "Best Pay for Blue Collar Workers". Evidently this is more important. Well, according to the SpareFoot blog,
http://blog.sparefoot.com/6124-americas-top-under-the-radar-tech-hubs/
whoever the Hell THEY are (and , therefore, why would we care); a Tech Hub is defined as a "innovative startup culture"...for high tech. An example of a tech hub would be Silicon Valley, in California. Okaaayyy.....Well, I don't see us getting remotely close to a Silicon Valley rating, anytime soon.
The "SpareFoot blog" also says we have three of these hubs...and that they're all here, doing well...but are under the radar. To me, the phrase "Under the radar" means, that they're not being noticed...and then they're not all that great a deal to begin with, are they? Or else, they would be ON the radar, right??? Right there, that ranking then, is BS. Not very reliable information. Something I really didn't need to know about, as far as a possible new city to move to.
OK, so maybe that's not enough for you? Well, we can always jet back to "who is SpareFoot?", and how the heck is it that these people are notable enough to tell me what's so great about my city? I'd say the point of that question is the answer....they're NOBODY. Are they nationally recognized as an authority on tech hub rankings? I doubt it. Please, if you would, read on.
If that's STILL not enough for you, then let's go with their other rankings. Their #1 ranking is Boise, Idaho. They also have just three "under the radar" tech hubs. How are they better than Des Moines, if they have the same number of tech hubs? Do they explain why? Nooooooo.......not exactly. What about their #3 ranking? That'd be Little Rock AR. They have two tech hubs. OK, that one makes more sense - Less tech hubs, lower rating. #4? Baton Rouge LA. So that probably means they have the same number, or perhaps less. Oh, but wait...they have three tech hubs again...SO WHY ARE THEY #4? I have no clue...I think I can stop there. With all that, that ranking is OUTTTTA THERE..Don't know you, don't care, it's a bull-crap ranking, designed, for whatever idiot reason, to draw attention to Des Moines, Iowa, or to get people to move here. Nice try; please, call again.
Oh, and just in case you haven't figured out, as yet, who Spare Foot (www.sparefoot.com) is? It's the world’s largest, simplest and best marketplace for self-storage. They also provide leading web marketing solutions for storage operators. (See Sparefoot.com/about.html) How, then, does this make these people an authority, where ranking my city as a budding innovative tech hub is concerned? IT....DOES....NOT!!!! Thank you, have a nice day, and enjoy your life.
I've decided that we need to condense topics somewhat, mostly because some of these "Rankings" are way to easy to refute, per the authority that gives it. So, for every ranking I can eliminate as not kosher, in 5 paragraphs or less, I'm going to add a SENSIBLE reason to avoid this city like the plague.
Here's one that I happen to know a lot about. Monopolies. Now, according to our nationally recognized Federal Law on the subject, Monopolies are VERBOTTEN...a cardinal sin, not allowed to operate ANYWHERE within our borders. Really?
Ok, then explain to me, why it is, that we had, for easily three decades, only one cab company? One Energy Provider? One cable company? Oh sure, we have satelite companies...two to be exact. But if you're set on Cable, you only have a single choice. I've always thought that one to be wrong. Our cable company, Mediacom, has had its foot down on the neck of Des Moines, for a long time now. I also have a big problem with one energy provider. But then I always thought energy, like gas, water, etc...should always be free anyway. It's our earth too, and just because we ourselves in our time weren't bright enough to think of charging for it...should the remainder of us suffer? The most significant of these monopolies, however, is the Cab monopoly we've had here, for many a decade. This has ALWAYS been our best story.
John Ruan, the most powerful of Des Moines' residents for many years, finally died in 2010. His son, of course, took the reigns to this empire. Ruan Trucking is still going strong, and it's smaller group, the Cab Company, they called it, is still profiting well, now that it's on it's own. It used to be run, as a transparent monopoly, for a great many years. See, there were, for the longest time, only two cab companies. Yellow Cab and Capital cab. The problem was, the same man owned it. Everybody knew it, everybody just kind of accepted it. And he continued to own it, for a long time to come. Then he sold it to someone else...who also owned the rights to the city, and continued to monopolize it until they FINALLY let others in...under certain conditions. For one, they had to carry (get this) OVER 1 MILLION IN LIABILITY INSURANCE.
New York City, sporting one of the most expensive licenses in the union? Only requires that you have $80,000 in the same insurance. Another concession they required, is that they charge NO LESS than the current rates that the current order charged. So, no competition. Another condition was that you HAD to have a central dispatcher, even though the current system of cell phone dispatch is working just fine in other cities. All of this rests on the City Council, here in Des Moines. They keep others out, they still make ALL the money. Now, I don't know about you, but when a current system that keeps out competition is at the head of the class, I don't see that kind of city as a good place to start a Tech Hub, whether it's under the radar or not; or ANY kind of business, for that matter. Which is probably why these "tech hubs" are STILL under the radar...so they can be like a normal business, without a greedy City Council giving them crap about competitive pricing. :D
