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One concern would be connectivity. Maybe you could read Hacker News via an (expensive) satellite hookup but it seems like it would be more difficult to have s

One concern would be connectivity. Maybe you could read Hacker News via an (expensive) satellite hookup but it seems like it would be more difficult to have streaming video. Areas that are depopulating wouldn't seem like good candidates for cell service or wired internet, let alone fiber to the home. Also, there are definitely people whose ideal living circumstances would be on a farm without restaurants or other city amenities. My paternal grandfather retired from the city to a farm. But he did it after my grandmother died. And his kids were grown - no need for schooling. Articles here have talked about Japan having the same type of problem. And so do American farming communities in the midwest. For every farmer (or wannabe) there seems to be thousands or tens of thousands who don't want to leave the city. And that's accelerating.

dllthomas 11y ago
"it seems like it would be more difficult to have streaming video." And that's just one of the benefits!
lsc 11y ago
> One concern would be connectivity. Maybe you could read Hacker News via an (expensive) satellite hookup but it seems like it would be more difficult to have streaming video. I know this isn't really your point, but video is actually one of the better use-cases for satellite internet. The problem with Satellite isn't bandwidth (I mean, it is, but that's only because most of them are old and there aren't enough of them.) The fundamental problem with satellite internet is latency; the speed of light to get up to where we usually put 'em and back down is... significant. The only realistic way to overcome that is to put the satellite in a much lower (and thus much less stable) orbit, which means replacing them frequently; there have been a bunch of cool-sounding proposals to do this, but it hasn't happened. But... the point is that satellite is great for non-interactive stuff. If you can buffer, say, half a second without causing problems, there's no reason why you would be unhappy with Satellite, so streaming video would work beautifully. Games and skype would be unusable. Web pages would load noticeably slower. But your streaming video and large downloads, potentially, would be competitive with the shitty broadband we're used to here in the US.
icebraining 11y ago
My family comes from a small Spanish village just like those in the article, and they have more than one broadband provider offering service (ADSL, no fiber yet, IIRC). You can also get a decent 4G signal if you're lucky not to be blocked by any mountain. If you were to fill a full village with well-off people, I think you could get some ISP to connect you.
codecamper 11y ago
I think you might be pleasantly surprised by the level of connectivity in Europe. Nothing is too far from anything else. These "distant villages" are probably bathed in an easy to pick up 3g signal that you would share with precisely no-one. Your own 4 or 5 megabit connection.

dllthomas 11y ago

"it seems like it would be more difficult to have streaming video." And that's just one of the benefits!

lsc 11y ago

> One concern would be connectivity. Maybe you could read Hacker News via an (expensive) satellite hookup but it seems like it would be more difficult to have streaming video. I know this isn't really your point, but video is actually one of the better use-cases for satellite internet. The problem with Satellite isn't bandwidth (I mean, it is, but that's only because most of them are old and there aren't enough of them.) The fundamental problem with satellite internet is latency; the speed of light to get up to where we usually put 'em and back down is... significant. The only realistic way to overcome that is to put the satellite in a much lower (and thus much less stable) orbit, which means replacing them frequently; there have been a bunch of cool-sounding proposals to do this, but it hasn't happened. But... the point is that satellite is great for non-interactive stuff. If you can buffer, say, half a second without causing problems, there's no reason why you would be unhappy with Satellite, so streaming video would work beautifully. Games and skype would be unusable. Web pages would load noticeably slower. But your streaming video and large downloads, potentially, would be competitive with the shitty broadband we're used to here in the US.

icebraining 11y ago

My family comes from a small Spanish village just like those in the article, and they have more than one broadband provider offering service (ADSL, no fiber yet, IIRC). You can also get a decent 4G signal if you're lucky not to be blocked by any mountain. If you were to fill a full village with well-off people, I think you could get some ISP to connect you.

codecamper 11y ago

I think you might be pleasantly surprised by the level of connectivity in Europe. Nothing is too far from anything else. These "distant villages" are probably bathed in an easy to pick up 3g signal that you would share with precisely no-one. Your own 4 or 5 megabit connection.