Anyway, it was sort of funny watching all these folks building their cardboard box shelters out behind the Red Robin restaurant at the Rim, and running inside (like I did) to use the facilities or get something to eat and drink. Many of them sat or laid in their sleeping bags and boxes, checking their email on their Blackberry and Palm Pre’s.

I whipped out my laptop, turned on CLEAR, and walked around asking if anybody wanted to check their Facebook or MySpace accounts… It was mosly the younger crowd doing it, and several were amazed at how fast CLEAR was, and couldn’t understand how my laptop could be so fast (7mbps) when their Blackberry / Palm Pre wasn’t. I explained about the 3G vs. 4G speeds and passed out some brochures about CLEAR.

And yes, I’m an independent dealer for CLEAR, rather than an employee like your brother apparently is. I agreed with your comments regarding not everyone will be able to use it, depending on their signal strengths. That’s why I have been offering free signal checks prior to someone buying a subscription to CLEAR. If your signal sucks, why buy it and then have to cancel it? I have refused to sell to a few folks already, because I felt they would be unhappy customers. They may have bought it elsewhere (lots of choices, including on-line) but they won’t be coming back to me with their complaints about lack of service.

As for the rivalry, I’ll admit I see it as somewhat childish since both are experiencing growth but are handling it differently. Dallas and Houston, however, are different. I can speak more on Houston and say there is a pocket of “old money,” and once you’re out of that zone, you’re right–it’s new. I left Houston because I really loathed it, but in all honesty, I know Houston better than Dallas, my experience in Houston is definitely one I’ll never forget, and so I do find it more interesting than Dallas for that reason. The scenery is horrible though. I stayed in the northern suburbs, so I at least enjoyed a few creeks, a lake, and pine trees.

I appreciate your comment. I really would like more feedback from Austinites.

To me, the biggest difference between Austin and San Antonio is that it seems everyone in Austin is from somewhere else. I myself moved here in 1997 from (mostly) Montana and the Pacific Northwest. I’ve lived in a lot of different places (west of the Mississippi), but Austin is definitely home now.

And even though Austin is one of my two favorite places in the world (Yellowstone National Park being the other), I do like San Antonio a lot, too. To me, it’s strangely reminiscent of New Orleans – I’m assuming because they’re basically the two oldest cities in the Western U.S.

And finally, I personally find the “rivalry” or contrast between Dallas and Houston more intriguing than that of Austin and San Antonio. To me, Dallas is very clearly “old money” while Houston is “new money” – and new money is immensely more interesting and colorful than old money.

Here is the presentation I slapped together for FreelanceCampSA that Luis Pandaran and Jennifer Navarrete produced so well last Saturday:

http://www.slideshare.net/marc1919/what-the-heck-is-coworking-freelance-camp-san-antonio-2009