4 ms·

Saying Goodbye to Loon

18 points by dannykwells 6y ago

jpm_sd 6y ago
What goes up, must come down.
mleonhard 6y ago
Will they publish or sell the software, hardware designs, and documents of what they learned?
yagyu 6y ago
See also https://blog.x.company/loons-final-flight-e9d699123a96 https://blog.x.company/loons-final-flight-e9d699123a96
jpeg_hero 6y ago
Huh, I guess goog is going to have to go back to relying on ad words.
Melkman 6y ago
I think that was to be expected. They wouldn't have had a realistic chance of competing with LEO constellations. As long as it was uncertain those would be realized Loon stood a chance. With the current status and speed of Starlink development and deployment it has a high chance of providing regular service in a few years. In my opinion of course.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
jpm_sd 6y ago
NYT coverage https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/21/technology/loon-google-balloons.html?action=click&module=News&pgtype=Homepage https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/21/technology/loon-google-ba... The Information coverage (from November) https://www.theinformation.com/articles/alphabets-internet-balloon-subsidiary-loon-hit-financing-turbulence https://www.theinformation.com/articles/alphabets-internet-b... "Doubts are growing about one of the first and most high-profile efforts by Google owner Alphabet to show that it can be more than an advertising cash machine. Loon, a decadelong project to provide internet to rural areas and islands around the world using high-altitude helium balloons, earned the company years of fawning coverage in the press and photo-ops with government and telecom officials eager for the balloons to float over their lands. But after Loon spent all of the cash it raised from an external investor last year, Alphabet has had to float money for the project’s operations while it searched for new investors, said two people with direct knowledge of the situation. Like so many other Alphabet subsidiaries not related to online ads, Loon just didn’t turn into much of a business."
Melkman 6y ago
Further discussion in https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25868713 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25868713 apparently

18 points by dannykwells 6y ago

jpm_sd 6y ago

What goes up, must come down.

mleonhard 6y ago

Will they publish or sell the software, hardware designs, and documents of what they learned?

yagyu 6y ago

See also https://blog.x.company/loons-final-flight-e9d699123a96 https://blog.x.company/loons-final-flight-e9d699123a96

jpeg_hero 6y ago

Huh, I guess goog is going to have to go back to relying on ad words.

Melkman 6y ago

I think that was to be expected. They wouldn't have had a realistic chance of competing with LEO constellations. As long as it was uncertain those would be realized Loon stood a chance. With the current status and speed of Starlink development and deployment it has a high chance of providing regular service in a few years. In my opinion of course.

deleted 6y ago
[deleted]

jpm_sd 6y ago

NYT coverage https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/21/technology/loon-google-balloons.html?action=click&module=News&pgtype=Homepage https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/21/technology/loon-google-ba... The Information coverage (from November) https://www.theinformation.com/articles/alphabets-internet-balloon-subsidiary-loon-hit-financing-turbulence https://www.theinformation.com/articles/alphabets-internet-b... "Doubts are growing about one of the first and most high-profile efforts by Google owner Alphabet to show that it can be more than an advertising cash machine. Loon, a decadelong project to provide internet to rural areas and islands around the world using high-altitude helium balloons, earned the company years of fawning coverage in the press and photo-ops with government and telecom officials eager for the balloons to float over their lands. But after Loon spent all of the cash it raised from an external investor last year, Alphabet has had to float money for the project’s operations while it searched for new investors, said two people with direct knowledge of the situation. Like so many other Alphabet subsidiaries not related to online ads, Loon just didn’t turn into much of a business."

Melkman 6y ago

Further discussion in https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25868713 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25868713 apparently