Image by Ralf Schmerberg/Dropping Knowledge

On the Iced Coffee blog: “I think New Orleans is now one of the most technologically advanced cities in the U.S…”

Says the author, Aaron:

There is literally NO ONE I know in this city who does not have a cell phone, and I’m talking 8 year olds to 80 year olds. […]

Half of the city still doesn’t have land telephone lines and even more don’t have cable, so we have cell phones and we have to hop in the car to drive to a coffee shop (where I am now) if you need to check your email. And you do need to check your email, because many of your previously neighborhood friends are still spread out about the country, once because of evacuating, now because that’s where the new job is, and email might be the only way to stay in touch if you don’t want to talk to them late at night because of time zones and work. […]

The end product is a modern, shiny, 21st century New Orleanian, pretty much across the board. Even grandma learned how to answer the cell phone instead of looking at it like it’s something that might bite her. Crazy flip phones.

Read the full article for some other details, e.g. about how people started buying satellite radio because FM radio stations were scarce.

The screenshot above is from a short documentary by Ralf Schmerberg called “Chocolate City - We are here to stay”, shot on January 12th 2006. You can download this Copyleft-licensed movie at the Dropping Knowledge film gallery.