6 ms·

I dunno. This is a topic I'm pretty passionate about. I'm extremely well-traveled within the US and have a lot of good friends from different states, and the ti

I dunno. This is a topic I'm pretty passionate about. I'm extremely well-traveled within the US and have a lot of good friends from different states, and the tiny regional differences that you're mentioning are frustratingly bland compared to, say, the cultural differences between northern and southern France. And even there, the relentless pace of branded technology and products is increasing, to the point where in historic Aix-en-Provence, in a famously beautiful town square, there's an entire metallic-and-glass Apple store. It pains me to see the same restaurants, architecture, road signs, vehicles, etc- because they're all slowly becoming the same, when they used to be so different. Houston, where I live, is a desert of strip malls, and the only reason you can tell it's Texas is because it's hot and sunny. Take away the sky and I could be in the same parking lot in any state in the US. Going to the "historic" neighborhoods of cities or the national/state parks and wilderness areas are really the only way to truly get a feel for the vastness and diversity of the US, and it didn't use to be that way.

pixl97 8y ago
>because they're all slowly becoming the same, when they used to be so different. Welcome to the modern world. This will eventually happen everywhere. It's easy for places to be different when they were separated by days or weeks of travel time. Now ideas can be transferred in seconds and the entire US can be traversed in days. Regional factories used to supply the area around them. Now one part made in China can be supplied anywhere on the planet. The past was like the past because of logistics. The future is looking much different.
- bobthepanda 8y ago
  Conversely, technology also allows similar people to refine their ideas about what makes them similar. Cultures will maintain their separate ideas and market strategies as long as there are enough people to pay for them. After all, Walmart is struggling in other markets as varied as China and Canada, because their model doesn't adapt very well outside the US. Likewise, visiting a KFC in China is actually very different from visiting a KFC in the US.

pixl97 8y ago

>because they're all slowly becoming the same, when they used to be so different. Welcome to the modern world. This will eventually happen everywhere. It's easy for places to be different when they were separated by days or weeks of travel time. Now ideas can be transferred in seconds and the entire US can be traversed in days. Regional factories used to supply the area around them. Now one part made in China can be supplied anywhere on the planet. The past was like the past because of logistics. The future is looking much different.

bobthepanda 8y ago
Conversely, technology also allows similar people to refine their ideas about what makes them similar. Cultures will maintain their separate ideas and market strategies as long as there are enough people to pay for them. After all, Walmart is struggling in other markets as varied as China and Canada, because their model doesn't adapt very well outside the US. Likewise, visiting a KFC in China is actually very different from visiting a KFC in the US.