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Take it for what it is: a cheap way to score PR points. Most Google "moonshot" projects not related to ads fall into this category. Fucking internet in Africa f
by melted 11y ago
Take it for what it is: a cheap way to score PR points. Most Google "moonshot" projects not related to ads fall into this category. Fucking internet in Africa from self driving robotic balloons.
- buyx 11y agoInternet in Africa from balloons would solve many issues. Mobile internet has far more penetration than fixed-line broadband because of infrastructure challenges. Providing another means of low-cost wireless connectivity to millions of people would be a powerful enabler, and drive costs down. I constantly find myself surprised by how quickly Africans, who are pretty much written off by most people, adapt to new technologies.
- melted 11y agoPolio, malaria, sanitation, nutrition should come first. A-la the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. On the priority list for those people getting showered with ads is somewhere towards the bottom. This whole situation very much reminds me of the scene from The Fifth Element where the deaf guy throws the protagonist a couple of billiard balls instead of a gun.
- dllthomas 11y agoPolio, malaria, sanitation, and nutrition are far more important, first order. However, improving communications (and I don't know whether self driving robotic internet balloons is the best way to do that) might reasonably make it quite a bit easier to address those.