4 ms·

I was talking about using Bittorent to distribute videos. I was also talking about the ADSL tragedy. We should have had SDSL from the beginning. (And yes, the

I was talking about using Bittorent to distribute videos. I was also talking about the ADSL tragedy. We should have had SDSL from the beginning. (And yes, the corresponding decrease in raw download rate would have been worth it).

digi_owl 9y ago
DSL had nothing to do with it, pervasive NATs on the other hand...
- loup-vaillant 9y ago
  How do you think pervative NATs were enabled in the first place? First came dial-up modems. Can't have a server with those without monopolising the phone. Then came the DSL. Providers noticed that nobody has a server, and deduced in their immense commercial wisdom that they didn't want a server. So they made the DSL Asymmetric. Now people could have a server, but the upload was so terrible it wasn't worth it. Conclusion: the ISPs were right: nobody wants a server. There was this P2P fluke, but the copyright lobby kindly explained this was only used for illegal stuff. Everything's mostly back in order now. Anyway, now we've established nobody needs nor wants a server, we can put NATs everywhere and nobody will notice. --- DSL was the first avoidable mishap in a long string of centralisation trends.
sp332 9y ago
Seeding a torrent from your phone is still a good way to kill your battery life.
- loup-vaillant 9y ago
  Phones don't have a puplic IP to begin with. That's not even an internet connection. (Not just my opinion, it's also the legal interpretation in France, and I suspect most of Europe: if you're hidden behind a big NAT, that's not an interet connection. Which is why our ads no longer talk about "unlimited internet", but about "data plans".) If your only connection is through your phone, I have to feel a bit sorry for you.
  - icebraining 9y ago
    That's increasingly the case, though. Even on HN I've often seen people saying they only use 4G connections. I had some hope that IPv6 would bring sanity to mobile connections, but that doesn't seem to be happening.
    - wbl 9y ago
      Radio has some unique properties that make symmetric connections tricky. Most people aren't hosting content locally and with good reason. Goodbye 1990s dreams of everyone has a server.
      - loup-vaillant 9y ago
        > Goodbye 1990s dreams of everyone has a server. One can still have an R-Pi at home.
  - Eridrus 9y ago
    Most of the world has a phone as their primary internet connection. But even laptops are battery powered. These devices are also thermally constrained. There's far more to this than upload speed.
    - deleted 9y ago
      [deleted]
- BatFastard 9y ago
  This is a good point though, phones are still second class devices. Which is a problem since they are becoming the dominate device. However 5G promises much higher bandwidth and more symmetric data rates

digi_owl 9y ago

DSL had nothing to do with it, pervasive NATs on the other hand...

loup-vaillant 9y ago
How do you think pervative NATs were enabled in the first place? First came dial-up modems. Can't have a server with those without monopolising the phone. Then came the DSL. Providers noticed that nobody has a server, and deduced in their immense commercial wisdom that they didn't want a server. So they made the DSL Asymmetric. Now people could have a server, but the upload was so terrible it wasn't worth it. Conclusion: the ISPs were right: nobody wants a server. There was this P2P fluke, but the copyright lobby kindly explained this was only used for illegal stuff. Everything's mostly back in order now. Anyway, now we've established nobody needs nor wants a server, we can put NATs everywhere and nobody will notice. --- DSL was the first avoidable mishap in a long string of centralisation trends.

sp332 9y ago

Seeding a torrent from your phone is still a good way to kill your battery life.

loup-vaillant 9y ago
Phones don't have a puplic IP to begin with. That's not even an internet connection. (Not just my opinion, it's also the legal interpretation in France, and I suspect most of Europe: if you're hidden behind a big NAT, that's not an interet connection. Which is why our ads no longer talk about "unlimited internet", but about "data plans".) If your only connection is through your phone, I have to feel a bit sorry for you.
- icebraining 9y ago
  That's increasingly the case, though. Even on HN I've often seen people saying they only use 4G connections. I had some hope that IPv6 would bring sanity to mobile connections, but that doesn't seem to be happening.
  - wbl 9y ago
    Radio has some unique properties that make symmetric connections tricky. Most people aren't hosting content locally and with good reason. Goodbye 1990s dreams of everyone has a server.
    - loup-vaillant 9y ago
      > Goodbye 1990s dreams of everyone has a server. One can still have an R-Pi at home.
- Eridrus 9y ago
  Most of the world has a phone as their primary internet connection. But even laptops are battery powered. These devices are also thermally constrained. There's far more to this than upload speed.
  - deleted 9y ago
    [deleted]
BatFastard 9y ago
This is a good point though, phones are still second class devices. Which is a problem since they are becoming the dominate device. However 5G promises much higher bandwidth and more symmetric data rates