3 ms·

Streaming 4k basically. It's definitely optional. But if you look at what most bandwidth goes to, it's streaming video. For games, latency now matters more. B

Streaming 4k basically. It's definitely optional. But if you look at what most bandwidth goes to, it's streaming video. For games, latency now matters more. Bandwidth has just outstripped most use cases. Streaming HD music is trivial. Applications maybe, but how many days do you download something new? Eventually you have your setup. I was hoping the hacker homes in gigabit areas would come up with some way to exploit the pipe, maybe Jevon's paradox would kick in. I'm not sure that's happening. The upshot is it means fiber's speed advantage might not matter long term, and we can close the gap with 5g and have the last mile problem solved, increasing competition, quality and availability for broadband, while all our connections become portable.

tzs 9y ago
For games, don't forget downloading the game. More and more, people are buying their games online for download instead of getting then on DVD or Blu-ray. Some games are over 50 GB nowadays. That would be something like a 12 hour download on 10 mbps. Rationally, that shouldn't be a problem, for a couple of reasons. First, downloading a game should be a relatively rare event, because between game downloads you presumably are playing the games which should take a lot longer than downloading the games. Second, even 12 hours to download a game is a lot quicker than buying it on DVD or Blu-Ray online and having it shipped to you. It's quite a bit slower than buying it in person at a local store (travel time plus an hour or so to copy from the discs to your computer depending on the speed of your disc drive), but buying in store has its own annoyances (especially if it is a hot new release that is hard to find in stock). But people aren't rational. They don't see waiting 12 hours to start playing the hot new game they just bought and happily think "Wow...this is way better than how it worked before I got this 10 mbps internet connection!". They see a 12 hour wait to get their game and think that their internet sucks.
- brownbat 9y ago
  I wish more ISPs found ways to offer temporary unthrottled pipes. Maybe off-peak speed increases, or a button where you can give them an extra dollar for a faster hour.

tzs 9y ago

For games, don't forget downloading the game. More and more, people are buying their games online for download instead of getting then on DVD or Blu-ray. Some games are over 50 GB nowadays. That would be something like a 12 hour download on 10 mbps. Rationally, that shouldn't be a problem, for a couple of reasons. First, downloading a game should be a relatively rare event, because between game downloads you presumably are playing the games which should take a lot longer than downloading the games. Second, even 12 hours to download a game is a lot quicker than buying it on DVD or Blu-Ray online and having it shipped to you. It's quite a bit slower than buying it in person at a local store (travel time plus an hour or so to copy from the discs to your computer depending on the speed of your disc drive), but buying in store has its own annoyances (especially if it is a hot new release that is hard to find in stock). But people aren't rational. They don't see waiting 12 hours to start playing the hot new game they just bought and happily think "Wow...this is way better than how it worked before I got this 10 mbps internet connection!". They see a 12 hour wait to get their game and think that their internet sucks.

brownbat 9y ago
I wish more ISPs found ways to offer temporary unthrottled pipes. Maybe off-peak speed increases, or a button where you can give them an extra dollar for a faster hour.