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I’ve been fairly skeptical about Starlink since watching Common Sense Skeptic’s video, which I recommend: https://youtu.be/2vuMzGhc1cg https://youtu.be/2vuMzGhc

I’ve been fairly skeptical about Starlink since watching Common Sense Skeptic’s video, which I recommend: https://youtu.be/2vuMzGhc1cg https://youtu.be/2vuMzGhc1cg

wmf 5y ago
That video is mostly wrong (and I made a Starlink Reality Check video so I'm hardly a fanboy).
- taliesinb 5y ago
  Can you elaborate on what is wrong with it?
  - wmf 5y ago
    I watched it a while ago and I'm not motivated to re-watch it, but I remember the idea that Starlink needs to launch tens of thousands of satellites upfront. They don't. They can wait until they have demonstrated customer demand, then incrementally launch just enough satellites to service that demand. This dramatically reduces the financial risk of the system.
    - taliesinb 5y ago
      The video doesn't make that assumption. It has relatively straightforward calculations about the size of the market, the existing competitors, the number of satellites needed to support a customer base of whatever size given SpaceX's own numbers. And the economics don't make much if any sense. The only objection I had is that low latency internet is more useful than just to gamers. E.g. voip and video calls, even ordinary browsing are unbearable with high latency connections.
      - taliesinb 5y ago
        On rewatching it I'm certainly not as impressed. Maybe I was just enjoying watching some anti-hype for once. Currently reading https://caseyhandmer.wordpress.com/2019/11/02/starlink-is-a- https://caseyhandmer.wordpress.com/2019/11/02/starlink-is-a-... which seems more optimistic but http://tmfassociates.com/blog/2019/12/12/reality-and-hype-in-satellite-constellations/ http://tmfassociates.com/blog/2019/12/12/reality-and-hype-in... less so
        taliesinb 5y ago
        but http://tmfassociates.com/blog/2019/12/12/reality-and-hype-in-satellite-constellations/ http://tmfassociates.com/blog/2019/12/12/reality-and-hype-in... less so

I’ve been fairly skeptical about Starlink since watching Common Sense Skeptic’s video, which I recommend: https://youtu.be/2vuMzGhc1cg https://youtu.be/2vuMzGhc1cg

wmf 5y ago

That video is mostly wrong (and I made a Starlink Reality Check video so I'm hardly a fanboy).

taliesinb 5y ago
Can you elaborate on what is wrong with it?
- wmf 5y ago
  I watched it a while ago and I'm not motivated to re-watch it, but I remember the idea that Starlink needs to launch tens of thousands of satellites upfront. They don't. They can wait until they have demonstrated customer demand, then incrementally launch just enough satellites to service that demand. This dramatically reduces the financial risk of the system.
  - taliesinb 5y ago
    The video doesn't make that assumption. It has relatively straightforward calculations about the size of the market, the existing competitors, the number of satellites needed to support a customer base of whatever size given SpaceX's own numbers. And the economics don't make much if any sense. The only objection I had is that low latency internet is more useful than just to gamers. E.g. voip and video calls, even ordinary browsing are unbearable with high latency connections.
    - taliesinb 5y ago
      On rewatching it I'm certainly not as impressed. Maybe I was just enjoying watching some anti-hype for once. Currently reading https://caseyhandmer.wordpress.com/2019/11/02/starlink-is-a- https://caseyhandmer.wordpress.com/2019/11/02/starlink-is-a-... which seems more optimistic but http://tmfassociates.com/blog/2019/12/12/reality-and-hype-in-satellite-constellations/ http://tmfassociates.com/blog/2019/12/12/reality-and-hype-in... less so
      - taliesinb 5y ago
        but http://tmfassociates.com/blog/2019/12/12/reality-and-hype-in-satellite-constellations/ http://tmfassociates.com/blog/2019/12/12/reality-and-hype-in... less so