Seventy years ago, Detroit was the technology capital of the United States. Seventy years earlier, at the height of steel's golden age, it was Pittsburgh. During both periods, Steve Case points out, the stretch of California running from San Jose to San Francisco — what we now know as Silicon Valley — was mostly farmland. Its signature export wasn't computer chips or mobile apps. It was prunes.
In other words, the country's innovation landscape shifts over time. Question is, which unlikely city will emerge as the next technology hub?
Image: Steve Case, co-founder of AOL and CEO of Revolution, hopes to spread tech communities across Middle America with grants to startups. (Photo for The Washington Post by Jeffrey MacMillan)
