5 ms·

A lot of these comments read kind of like the ones when dropbox did a ShowHN. "Why not just use rsync?" I suspect starlink will change the course of human hist

by MrLeap 6y ago

A lot of these comments read kind of like the ones when dropbox did a ShowHN. "Why not just use rsync?" I suspect starlink will change the course of human history in substantial ways. It already stands to be the most positive technological development for my life since I've been living. At the very least, until the market adjusts, it will provide a verdant field of lifestyle arbitrage.

ginko 6y ago
>It already stands to be the most positive technological development for my life since I've been living. Video streaming? Smartphones? Wikipedia? Google maps? CRISPR? mRNA vaccines?
- extrememacaroni 6y ago
  Superfast internet anywhere on the globe will intensify video streaming, Smartphones, Wikipedia, Google maps, CRISPR, mRNA vaccines everywhere
  - ginko 6y ago
    There's already sufficiently fast internet in most places. This is like comparing the societal impact of the Ford Model T to the latest race car.
- MrLeap 6y ago
  Some things about me are probably pretty atypical, but I'll say starlink beats every one of those (for me specifically!) handily. Wikipedia comes closer. Maybe I live long enough to benefit from CRISPR, but I suspect that's for other -- wealthier people. If I end up being able to afford any CRISPR treatments it'll be because of Starlink. Starlink is going to enable me to own a home without a mortgage. It will allow me to make good money while living in one of the cheapest places in the country. This lets me move the goalposts on success so I have to do significantly less just to feed myself and my family. Suddenly retiring by 35 seems conceivable. I can do work I want instead of what's available. Nothing else on that list comes close for me.
aaron695 6y ago
Worse than 'dropbox' There are 3 billion people without internet. It's not a human right, but it's the next tier. There's a clear path to hooking many of these people up. For instance aid organisations. Unlike installing the scam computer labs where they can just forget upkeep and training, it's known upfront costs they have to be accountable for. And better, small businesses like cafes. But the 1% are worried it might make their stars look less authentic and their bored ultrarich reddit life needs drama. Because in reality they don't want to actually go to space and be with the stars, screw that tech of cheap launches and using space, it's just about the books and TV and the appearance. People are both awful to others and so uninspiring as a default setting. [edit] For the Flagged reply, it's not logical. The now is a mass of high entropy. The battle forward is already reducing that. This is about caring about their healthcare as human beings for instance, not their crappy Facebook posts. We are about to be hit by AI to mass spam us all, can't you see that? I understand the 'I like real stars' and 'nice conversations', but this is bigger than that. They are people.
- HenryKissinger 6y ago
  > There are 3 billion people without internet. It's not a human right, but it's the next tier. The half of humanity without an Internet access is for the most part poor and uneducated people from third world countries. I don't want these people on the Internet. The state of online discourse outside of tightly moderated niche communities like HN is already awful. Cranks, bigots, conspiracists, and other trashy people abound. And that's with only the top half of humanity having access to the Internet. If the other half gets access then I see no choice but to balkanize the Internet into walled communities. Any discussion forum worth reading will become invite-only and be locked behind layers of passwords and access gates. Anyone with an Internet connection can google "HN" and land on this page. Now you're going to have 3 billion mostly illiterate people roaming the web, opening Facebook groups, posting anything that's on their mind on any forum they can.
  - ribas 6y ago
    God forbid poor people having access to something so pure as the internet, we should make a KYC before letting anyone use Google or Facebook
bob33212 6y ago
It is infrastructure expansion. Just like if someone built an electric grid or new road. Plenty of people may be happy with their existing roads, but making a new one opens up opportunities to people who do want to use the new infrastructure.
bloopernova 6y ago
RE: Starlink changing the course of human history. Exactly. We've already seen Russian authorities say that people will be arrested for using Starlink. All of a sudden, governments have lost the ability to shut off the internet without some serious jamming. Just thinking of the post-disaster communications potential is pretty staggering. (I feel compelled to mention that I'm not a "fan" of Elon Musk.) I'd love to see a multi-link mesh appear across the world, with Starlink stations, wifi, 4/5G, fibre and cable, etc etc. I honestly think that basic low-broadband speeds should be free to everyone in the world, and so should the ability to serve up content from a cheap Raspberry Pi.
- rkangel 6y ago
  > Exactly. We've already seen Russian authorities say that people will be arrested for using Starlink. All of a sudden, governments have lost the ability to shut off the internet without some serious jamming. I'm not sure that's the case. I believe you have to licence spectrum in the same way that you would if you were offering a terrestrial based service, and if you don't have a licence then you'd have to turn off the beams as the satellites passed over that part of the ground.
  - seniorivn 6y ago
    And what happens when you(the owner of satellites) don't turn it off? legally you are out of reach, so it becomes politics
    - rkangel 6y ago
      All international law is effectively diplomacy (politics) that has been pre-agreed. The current status quo (as I understand it) is that the US Gov is unlikely to allow a private company to breach international law by making unauthorised transmissions into another country. It would be a brave foreign policy decision for the US Gov to decide to permit that. A logical response from Russia or China (or any other nation with the capability) would be to start shooting down satellites. They would have reasonable grounds to do so, and I think it very unlikely that anyone wants to start a space war.
rakejake 6y ago
I know this example gets brought up many times but then, did the HNers get this completely wrong? Steve Jobs/Google/MS were right to consider remote storage as a feature and not a product. I see the comments from that time about rsync as a more technical variant of the same argument. Basically the argument is that remote storage alone is not going to cut it.
ppf 6y ago
The counterpoint to that is that Starlink is just the latest in a series of massively government-funded projects attempting to bring global comms coverage using LEO satellites (Iridum, Inmarsat, OneWeb).

by MrLeap 6y ago

ginko 6y ago

>It already stands to be the most positive technological development for my life since I've been living. Video streaming? Smartphones? Wikipedia? Google maps? CRISPR? mRNA vaccines?

extrememacaroni 6y ago
Superfast internet anywhere on the globe will intensify video streaming, Smartphones, Wikipedia, Google maps, CRISPR, mRNA vaccines everywhere
- ginko 6y ago
  There's already sufficiently fast internet in most places. This is like comparing the societal impact of the Ford Model T to the latest race car.
MrLeap 6y ago
Some things about me are probably pretty atypical, but I'll say starlink beats every one of those (for me specifically!) handily. Wikipedia comes closer. Maybe I live long enough to benefit from CRISPR, but I suspect that's for other -- wealthier people. If I end up being able to afford any CRISPR treatments it'll be because of Starlink. Starlink is going to enable me to own a home without a mortgage. It will allow me to make good money while living in one of the cheapest places in the country. This lets me move the goalposts on success so I have to do significantly less just to feed myself and my family. Suddenly retiring by 35 seems conceivable. I can do work I want instead of what's available. Nothing else on that list comes close for me.

aaron695 6y ago

Worse than 'dropbox' There are 3 billion people without internet. It's not a human right, but it's the next tier. There's a clear path to hooking many of these people up. For instance aid organisations. Unlike installing the scam computer labs where they can just forget upkeep and training, it's known upfront costs they have to be accountable for. And better, small businesses like cafes. But the 1% are worried it might make their stars look less authentic and their bored ultrarich reddit life needs drama. Because in reality they don't want to actually go to space and be with the stars, screw that tech of cheap launches and using space, it's just about the books and TV and the appearance. People are both awful to others and so uninspiring as a default setting. [edit] For the Flagged reply, it's not logical. The now is a mass of high entropy. The battle forward is already reducing that. This is about caring about their healthcare as human beings for instance, not their crappy Facebook posts. We are about to be hit by AI to mass spam us all, can't you see that? I understand the 'I like real stars' and 'nice conversations', but this is bigger than that. They are people.

HenryKissinger 6y ago
> There are 3 billion people without internet. It's not a human right, but it's the next tier. The half of humanity without an Internet access is for the most part poor and uneducated people from third world countries. I don't want these people on the Internet. The state of online discourse outside of tightly moderated niche communities like HN is already awful. Cranks, bigots, conspiracists, and other trashy people abound. And that's with only the top half of humanity having access to the Internet. If the other half gets access then I see no choice but to balkanize the Internet into walled communities. Any discussion forum worth reading will become invite-only and be locked behind layers of passwords and access gates. Anyone with an Internet connection can google "HN" and land on this page. Now you're going to have 3 billion mostly illiterate people roaming the web, opening Facebook groups, posting anything that's on their mind on any forum they can.
- ribas 6y ago
  God forbid poor people having access to something so pure as the internet, we should make a KYC before letting anyone use Google or Facebook

bob33212 6y ago

It is infrastructure expansion. Just like if someone built an electric grid or new road. Plenty of people may be happy with their existing roads, but making a new one opens up opportunities to people who do want to use the new infrastructure.

bloopernova 6y ago

RE: Starlink changing the course of human history. Exactly. We've already seen Russian authorities say that people will be arrested for using Starlink. All of a sudden, governments have lost the ability to shut off the internet without some serious jamming. Just thinking of the post-disaster communications potential is pretty staggering. (I feel compelled to mention that I'm not a "fan" of Elon Musk.) I'd love to see a multi-link mesh appear across the world, with Starlink stations, wifi, 4/5G, fibre and cable, etc etc. I honestly think that basic low-broadband speeds should be free to everyone in the world, and so should the ability to serve up content from a cheap Raspberry Pi.

rkangel 6y ago
> Exactly. We've already seen Russian authorities say that people will be arrested for using Starlink. All of a sudden, governments have lost the ability to shut off the internet without some serious jamming. I'm not sure that's the case. I believe you have to licence spectrum in the same way that you would if you were offering a terrestrial based service, and if you don't have a licence then you'd have to turn off the beams as the satellites passed over that part of the ground.
- seniorivn 6y ago
  And what happens when you(the owner of satellites) don't turn it off? legally you are out of reach, so it becomes politics
  - rkangel 6y ago
    All international law is effectively diplomacy (politics) that has been pre-agreed. The current status quo (as I understand it) is that the US Gov is unlikely to allow a private company to breach international law by making unauthorised transmissions into another country. It would be a brave foreign policy decision for the US Gov to decide to permit that. A logical response from Russia or China (or any other nation with the capability) would be to start shooting down satellites. They would have reasonable grounds to do so, and I think it very unlikely that anyone wants to start a space war.

rakejake 6y ago

I know this example gets brought up many times but then, did the HNers get this completely wrong? Steve Jobs/Google/MS were right to consider remote storage as a feature and not a product. I see the comments from that time about rsync as a more technical variant of the same argument. Basically the argument is that remote storage alone is not going to cut it.

ppf 6y ago

The counterpoint to that is that Starlink is just the latest in a series of massively government-funded projects attempting to bring global comms coverage using LEO satellites (Iridum, Inmarsat, OneWeb).