Mar 5 2013: The increased ease and decreased cost of both travel and communication will work to make the global more local. I think it is a net positive. I am not threatened by the McDonald's of the world because there is a Sushi restaurant in Grand Forks, North Dakota where I grew up. Imagine that. One of the most land-locked cities in North America, and you can eat raw fish prepared by Japanese immigrants.
I know kids these days who love eating octopus. 20 years ago, when I was their age, I didn't even know you could eat octopus, much less expect that anyone my age would enjoy it. And yes, they eat McDonalds, and yes, they drink Starbucks - but the breadth of their global knowledge is so far beyond what I grew up with, it is staggering.
To them, it is local.
Is there a risk of homoginization? Well, certainly Grand Forks has a sushi shop, but it will never be Japan. And Japan will never be North Dakota. They will transform each other and in that transformation, some things will be lost - but I think if it is worth preserving, it will be. And someday, maybe Japanese youth will all want to play Ice Hokey.
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A comment on Conversation: How will travel change local places in the future?
I know kids these days who love eating octopus. 20 years ago, when I was their age, I didn't even know you could eat octopus, much less expect that anyone my age would enjoy it. And yes, they eat McDonalds, and yes, they drink Starbucks - but the breadth of their global knowledge is so far beyond what I grew up with, it is staggering.
To them, it is local.
Is there a risk of homoginization? Well, certainly Grand Forks has a sushi shop, but it will never be Japan. And Japan will never be North Dakota. They will transform each other and in that transformation, some things will be lost - but I think if it is worth preserving, it will be. And someday, maybe Japanese youth will all want to play Ice Hokey.