4 ms·

I’m not a researcher, and when I look at that photo, I feel like the sky is being stolen. It’s that it’s for one man’s company, not for all humanity. The lack o

I’m not a researcher, and when I look at that photo, I feel like the sky is being stolen. It’s that it’s for one man’s company, not for all humanity. The lack of internet coverage in the US is a solvable problem driven by idiotic politics, and land based solutions will always be lower latency/faster if built right.

ironmagma 5y ago
Playing devil's advocate, if a problem is solvable but politics prevent it from being solved, the problem is not solvable.
- noodlesUK 5y ago
  You’re totally right to an extent. It means that any solution to that problem is political of course, rather than technical. This is an interesting example where a company’s business model is effectively a technical workaround to a political problem
_Microft 5y ago
> not for all humanity Starlink does theoretically solve the problem of internet access for everyone, everywhere. At once.
- noodlesUK 5y ago
  For all those who can afford it, subject to the whims of a company controlled by one man. The sky is beautiful and free for anyone who can look up towards it.
  - gamegoblin 5y ago
    > subject to the whims of a company controlled by one man There are several other competitors with satellites already in orbit or launches scheduled. So, assuming there is no collusion, competitive pressure should ameliorate a lot of the concerns about concentration of control. Some of the competitors are even partly owned by governments (e.g. OneWeb and the UK govt) and thus look slightly more like a public utility.
  - truth_ 5y ago
    Generating employment and accessible education through internet is more immediate need of humanity than "beautiful sky free for anyone".
  - mlindner 5y ago
    > subject to the whims of a company controlled by one man. If we see said one man actually controlling who has access, I think that's an appropriate time to take issue, and I expect many people would take issue.
- tzs 5y ago
  No it doesn't. The full constellation of Starlink satellites will not have enough bandwidth for that. It can only provide access to a small fraction of the population, and they need to be in areas where the population density of Starlink users is not top high.
gamegoblin 5y ago
> The lack of internet coverage in the US is a solvable problem driven by idiotic politics Starlink/OneWeb/Kuiper solve a much bigger problem than just rural US coverage. > land based solutions will always be lower latency/faster if built right Not necessarily true due to the speed of transmission in fiber vs. speed of light in vacuum (once the Starlink laser links are set up).
- freemint 5y ago
  If Elon Musk aims sees building vacuum tunnels for trains as an option he could also build large enough vacuum tubes to send signal through. Those will be faster than a satellite.
- DoingIsLearning 5y ago
  > Starlink/OneWeb/Kuiper solve a much bigger problem than just rural US coverage. Such as? The only use cases it addresses are upper class users who want to go off-grid, and state/military operations (Already being tested by US forces btw). > Not necessarily true due to the speed of transmission in fiber vs. speed of light in vacuum (once the Starlink laser links are set up). Absolutely misleading argument. I can push a trickle of water at the speed of light it would still not allow me to watch netflix in 4k. The issue with satellite internet is channel capacity. Also bandwith wise the satellite has to keep plexing between all user nodes in it's range. You go beyond a few thousands users and your speed starts dropping. that can only be addressed by adding more and more satellites, where do you stop?
  - gamegoblin 5y ago
    > Such as? The only use cases it addresses are upper class users who want to go off-grid There are a lot of close-to-poverty-line indigenous communities in the US and Canada adopting Starlink. e.g.: [1] https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2020/10/remote-tribe-says-spacex-starlink-catapulted-them-into-21st-century/ https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2020/10/remot... [2] https://www.businessinsider.com/spacex-starlink-internet-first-canada-customer-indigenous-community-pikangikum-musk-2020-12 https://www.businessinsider.com/spacex-starlink-internet-fir... There are already loads of NGOs (e.g. [3]) operating in rural developing nations to install solar power for village community centers. It's a small step to install a shared satellite internet terminal at the same time. The jump in quality of life and opportunities from zero connectivity to a 100MBps shared village link is massive. You hugely expand access to telehealth, weather information, education opportunities, etc. [3] https://www.honnoldfoundation.org https://www.honnoldfoundation.org
mlindner 5y ago
> I’m not a researcher, and when I look at that photo, I feel like the sky is being stolen. Unfortunately photos often distort reality, (which is the author's intent here). They purposefully stacked the multiple images in such a way to amplify the satellites clarity, rather than stacking them in a way that would instead have resulted in a clear sky but a slightly elevated noise floor.

ironmagma 5y ago

Playing devil's advocate, if a problem is solvable but politics prevent it from being solved, the problem is not solvable.

noodlesUK 5y ago
You’re totally right to an extent. It means that any solution to that problem is political of course, rather than technical. This is an interesting example where a company’s business model is effectively a technical workaround to a political problem

_Microft 5y ago

> not for all humanity Starlink does theoretically solve the problem of internet access for everyone, everywhere. At once.

noodlesUK 5y ago
For all those who can afford it, subject to the whims of a company controlled by one man. The sky is beautiful and free for anyone who can look up towards it.
- gamegoblin 5y ago
  > subject to the whims of a company controlled by one man There are several other competitors with satellites already in orbit or launches scheduled. So, assuming there is no collusion, competitive pressure should ameliorate a lot of the concerns about concentration of control. Some of the competitors are even partly owned by governments (e.g. OneWeb and the UK govt) and thus look slightly more like a public utility.
- truth_ 5y ago
  Generating employment and accessible education through internet is more immediate need of humanity than "beautiful sky free for anyone".
- mlindner 5y ago
  > subject to the whims of a company controlled by one man. If we see said one man actually controlling who has access, I think that's an appropriate time to take issue, and I expect many people would take issue.
tzs 5y ago
No it doesn't. The full constellation of Starlink satellites will not have enough bandwidth for that. It can only provide access to a small fraction of the population, and they need to be in areas where the population density of Starlink users is not top high.

gamegoblin 5y ago

> The lack of internet coverage in the US is a solvable problem driven by idiotic politics Starlink/OneWeb/Kuiper solve a much bigger problem than just rural US coverage. > land based solutions will always be lower latency/faster if built right Not necessarily true due to the speed of transmission in fiber vs. speed of light in vacuum (once the Starlink laser links are set up).

freemint 5y ago
If Elon Musk aims sees building vacuum tunnels for trains as an option he could also build large enough vacuum tubes to send signal through. Those will be faster than a satellite.
DoingIsLearning 5y ago
> Starlink/OneWeb/Kuiper solve a much bigger problem than just rural US coverage. Such as? The only use cases it addresses are upper class users who want to go off-grid, and state/military operations (Already being tested by US forces btw). > Not necessarily true due to the speed of transmission in fiber vs. speed of light in vacuum (once the Starlink laser links are set up). Absolutely misleading argument. I can push a trickle of water at the speed of light it would still not allow me to watch netflix in 4k. The issue with satellite internet is channel capacity. Also bandwith wise the satellite has to keep plexing between all user nodes in it's range. You go beyond a few thousands users and your speed starts dropping. that can only be addressed by adding more and more satellites, where do you stop?
- gamegoblin 5y ago
  > Such as? The only use cases it addresses are upper class users who want to go off-grid There are a lot of close-to-poverty-line indigenous communities in the US and Canada adopting Starlink. e.g.: [1] https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2020/10/remote-tribe-says-spacex-starlink-catapulted-them-into-21st-century/ https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2020/10/remot... [2] https://www.businessinsider.com/spacex-starlink-internet-first-canada-customer-indigenous-community-pikangikum-musk-2020-12 https://www.businessinsider.com/spacex-starlink-internet-fir... There are already loads of NGOs (e.g. [3]) operating in rural developing nations to install solar power for village community centers. It's a small step to install a shared satellite internet terminal at the same time. The jump in quality of life and opportunities from zero connectivity to a 100MBps shared village link is massive. You hugely expand access to telehealth, weather information, education opportunities, etc. [3] https://www.honnoldfoundation.org https://www.honnoldfoundation.org

mlindner 5y ago

> I’m not a researcher, and when I look at that photo, I feel like the sky is being stolen. Unfortunately photos often distort reality, (which is the author's intent here). They purposefully stacked the multiple images in such a way to amplify the satellites clarity, rather than stacking them in a way that would instead have resulted in a clear sky but a slightly elevated noise floor.