| One of the most popular choices today among | | | | now," Osterhaus said. "We are in one of the most |
| those who like to spend a quiet evening playing | | | | beautiful areas of Wisconsin. I can see the cattle |
| old-fashioned family board games is "Apples to | | | | walking up and down the hillside right outside my |
| Apples." First introduced in 1999, it became a | | | | office window." |
| million seller by 2003-and has won several awards | | | | For people who want to take advantage of the |
| for its publisher, Mark Osterhaus. | | | | rural way of life and get out of the city, WildBlue |
| Osterhaus markets "Apples to Apples" and other | | | | is a practical option. When Osterhaus moved to |
| board games through his "virtual company," Out | | | | the area, he did not intend to do business in |
| of the Box Publishing. The company does not | | | | Richland County (pop. 18,000). But while meeting |
| have traditional offices. Instead, employees work | | | | with Richland Electric to plan electric service |
| out of their homes-some in California, others in | | | | installation for the new home, a cooperative |
| Illinois, Michigan and various spots in rural | | | | representative mentioned that a satellite |
| Wisconsin-communicating by phone and on the | | | | broadband option was coming soon. |
| Web. | | | | Soon afterward, Richland Electric set up a demo |
| Osterhaus can run his company from anywhere | | | | WildBlue installation in its offices. "I brought my |
| that he can plug his laptop into a broadband | | | | laptop down, hooked up and was able to do |
| connection. And since September 2005, he has | | | | everything that I normally would do out of |
| been working from a rural home 10 miles outside | | | | Madison," Osterhaus said. |
| of Richland Center, Wis. For Osterhaus and other | | | | "Apples to Apples" and other Out of the Box |
| professionals, high-speed Internet access is a | | | | products require quality graphics and other |
| business necessity. Yet in many rural areas, | | | | data-heavy materials that the company's |
| traditional broadband options, such as cable or | | | | employees share with each other over the |
| DSL, are simply unavailable. | | | | Web-and for this purpose, WildBlue's forward |
| For Osterhaus, the solution is satellite broadband. | | | | channel is more than adequate. |
| The game designer gets his service from a | | | | "WildBlue is freedom," said Osterhaus. "You can |
| company called WildBlue. | | | | move yourself wherever you want to be, and |
| "WildBlue allows us to be where we are living right | | | | that is priceless. |