The Town That the Internet (Almost) Forgot

In the early 1890s, a series of brutal winters decimated the cattle industry. In the mid-1920s, the collapse of the wool market drove sheep farmers out of business. During the Depression, the local bank failed. The town nearly suffered the same fate, before mining took off. The Cordero Mine, located a few miles outside of town, became one of the country's chief sources of mercury for decades. But the government built up a surplus of mercury, the demand dropped, and in 1990, McDermitt's last remaining mine closed.

Having lost its chief industry, McDermitt has since become a 21st-century version of the Dugout. It is midway between Reno and Boise, a rest stop on U.S. 95. Truckers and tourists park their rigs and RVs outside the Say When Casino, a hulking gray building promising "25¢ Slots . . . 24 Hours . . . Family Restaurant . . . Cocktails . . . Blackjack."

The last time a new business opened was three years ago. That new business was M-HIP.

"You can do that?"

There are now more than 7,100 Internet-service providers in North America, according to some estimates. At one end of the spectrum is America Online, which has more than 27 million customers. At the other end is M-HIP, which has about 260, most of whom Goff and his students know by name. Creating an ISP in a town largely unfamiliar with the Internet was no small feat. Goff, who studied earth science and business in college, spent his summers attending technical school in Idaho and learning about operating systems. In the months before M-HIP launched, there were meetings and research that took up more late nights and weekends than he can count.

Despite the fact that there were about 2,000 people within the local calling area, it took two months to sign up the 74 subscribers needed to start the service. "My parents raised me to believe I can do something no matter what anybody says," says Goff, whose casual demeanor belies a stubborn streak. "People told me, 'You can't get Internet service in a place like McDermitt,' and we did."

Providing access to the Internet doesn't guarantee that people will use it, though. Unlike satellite TV, the Web wasn't widely embraced in the McDermitt area. "When the Internet first got here, everybody thought it was stupid," says Ron Conner, manager of the Desert Inn Casino. Conner couldn't wait to try it. Many others, however, greeted its arrival with a shrug at best; they didn't know what it was or what it could do, so they didn't think they needed it. Ron Mullanix, vice principal of McDermitt Combined and an M-HIP board member, remembers attending a meeting during which a prominent rancher expressed skepticism about the practicality of the Internet.

"What if I told you I could go on there and show you the latest cattle prices and reports on the genetics of cattle you're interested in?" Mullanix asked.

The rancher was incredulous. "You can do that?" he asked. Another customer for M-HIP.

Businesses in McDermitt are more concerned with targeting the 3,800 drivers who pass through town daily on U.S. 95 than they are with finding them on the information superhighway. In fact, other than M-HIP, the only business in McDermitt with its own Web site is the Desert Inn Casino. Conner, 56, who carries his laptop around with him at all times (even while he's riding on his Harley-Davidson), created the site a couple of years ago. When it comes to design, it's not likely to win any awards: It simply features a few photos, along with the following service policy: "We go all out to please so you will come back."

Mostly, he set the site up for fun, but he figured it might just boost business over the long term. "Anybody who came into the casino and mentioned the site got their first drink free," he says. The Desert Inn, the smaller of McDermitt's two casinos, has 15 penny, nickel, and quarter slot machines, a pool table, 2 TVs, and 2 pairs of antlers mounted on the wall. Truth be told, the 100 or so responses to the site were, well, confusing. People thought they were contacting the world-renowned Desert Inn Resort in Las Vegas, which, prior to its recent renovation, featured 715 rooms, 4 restaurants, a pool, a spa, a championship golf course, and a slot machine that paid out a record jackpot of almost $35 million last year. That Desert Inn.