5 ms·

When was Columbus, Ohio an internet and tech hub? Are you somehow referring to Batelle? https://www.battelle.org/about-us https://www.battelle.org/about-us Gen

When was Columbus, Ohio an internet and tech hub? Are you somehow referring to Batelle? https://www.battelle.org/about-us https://www.battelle.org/about-us Genuinely curious. I used to live in Columbus and knew it mainly for retailers (Express, Limited Brands, etc.), insurance co's, hospitals, some other big co's like Cardinal Health, Batelle, and Ohio State University. Columbus is bucking the trend in Ohio and other places in the midwest because it's growing. http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/business/2017/01/04/job-growth-to-continue-in-2017-in-central-ohio-but-at-a-slower-rate.html http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/business/2017/01/04/... They also just had a $1 billion exit for Covermymeds, a tech company in the healthcare field. http://www.dispatch.com/news/20170126/covermymeds-sale-for-11-billion-touted-as-seminal-for-central-ohio http://www.dispatch.com/news/20170126/covermymeds-sale-for-1... Anecdotally, just this weekend I was visiting Columbus and stopped by the old house I rented in Victorian Village. I paid $975/month 10 years ago and the same place is renting for $1875/month today. Anyways, I'm not here to cheerlead Columbus, just genuinely interested in reconciling the picture I have with the one you painted of "dilapidated warehouses" and an Internet/tech hub that lost its way. Thanks! P.S. I see your byline: "most of my comments are designed to provoke a response" so well played iamleppert.

iamleppert 9y ago
They were the home to CompuServe back in the day. FreeNet Columbus Ohio was an early WWW you could dial up to. UUNET had a big co-lo during the heyday, and there was a huge level3 POP. Lucent Technologies had a big old lab off Bethel rd that I took intro to Unix classes when I was 13. And, of course, Batelle. I worked for CallTech awhile when it was a startup and later bought by Teleperformance (remember Suzy Waud commercials??). And also I worked at Manta before the jig was up there. I know about Covermymeds, but I wouldn't call it a tech company either. It's a glorified paper pushing app and I doubt anyone doing anything interesting would want to work there. Cbusr.com was actually pretty cool and one of the last things I remember being interesting in the social space, but hardly revolutionary. TechColumbus is also somewhat of a joke. I know the downtown area has been growing, but I think thats just a function of millennials wanting to live in the short north/arena district and not in the burbs with their parents. I do have a dream that one day I'll return to Columbus, seasoned white hair, and actually start a real tech company...
- heymijo 9y ago
  Wow, I knew almost none of that! Thanks for the history. I hope you do make it back to Columbus one day to start that tech company.

iamleppert 9y ago

They were the home to CompuServe back in the day. FreeNet Columbus Ohio was an early WWW you could dial up to. UUNET had a big co-lo during the heyday, and there was a huge level3 POP. Lucent Technologies had a big old lab off Bethel rd that I took intro to Unix classes when I was 13. And, of course, Batelle. I worked for CallTech awhile when it was a startup and later bought by Teleperformance (remember Suzy Waud commercials??). And also I worked at Manta before the jig was up there. I know about Covermymeds, but I wouldn't call it a tech company either. It's a glorified paper pushing app and I doubt anyone doing anything interesting would want to work there. Cbusr.com was actually pretty cool and one of the last things I remember being interesting in the social space, but hardly revolutionary. TechColumbus is also somewhat of a joke. I know the downtown area has been growing, but I think thats just a function of millennials wanting to live in the short north/arena district and not in the burbs with their parents. I do have a dream that one day I'll return to Columbus, seasoned white hair, and actually start a real tech company...

heymijo 9y ago
Wow, I knew almost none of that! Thanks for the history. I hope you do make it back to Columbus one day to start that tech company.