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Does anyone else get the feeling that Google Fiber is a "meme ISP"? They feel far short of their original ambitious goals. I stopped paying attention to them as

Does anyone else get the feeling that Google Fiber is a "meme ISP"? They feel far short of their original ambitious goals. I stopped paying attention to them as their plans got more and more de-scoped over time.

0cf8612b2e1e 4y ago
Were they unsuccessful? When they first started, gigabyte connectivity was rare in most of the country. The presence of threat of implementation feels like it did a lot to spur the entrenched players into offering better service.
matthewmcg 4y ago
Yes. However I have personally benefitted as other ISPs immediately announced competitive pricing and speed tiers when Google fiber was slated to come to my neighborhood. Google never delivered but we’ve benefitted from the other offerings anyway.
- ksec 4y ago
  I think that is the point of Google Fiber. It is basically the biggest middle finger to ISP, if you dont do it. I will do it.
  - iwillbenice 4y ago
    Given the progression of multiple transmission technologies (DOCSIS, 5G C-Band), I'm extremely skeptical of the claim that Google is responsible for the overall increase in bandwidth available to residential consumers. Additional bandwidth was coming either way you slice it. I had high hopes for Google Fiber, and still am disappointed that they pretty much silently scaled back their plans and declared victory in a self-congratulatory manner. Yes they are still around, but they are absolutely in the category of "meme ISP" based on how many households they cover versus other residential ISPs.
DangitBobby 4y ago
They were supposed to build out in my city and were stopped by legal hurdles from an incumbent. That's probably happened in a few places by now.
sumedh 4y ago
> They feel far short of their original ambitious goals. Is that Google's fault or the city officials/other ISPs who made their job hard or the voters who dont really care about this issue.
- iwillbenice 4y ago
  I fault Google. They were not realistic about how much it costs to build out such a network. Once they got a real taste of the cost, they got cold feet about any further expansion.

0cf8612b2e1e 4y ago

Were they unsuccessful? When they first started, gigabyte connectivity was rare in most of the country. The presence of threat of implementation feels like it did a lot to spur the entrenched players into offering better service.

matthewmcg 4y ago

Yes. However I have personally benefitted as other ISPs immediately announced competitive pricing and speed tiers when Google fiber was slated to come to my neighborhood. Google never delivered but we’ve benefitted from the other offerings anyway.

ksec 4y ago
I think that is the point of Google Fiber. It is basically the biggest middle finger to ISP, if you dont do it. I will do it.
- iwillbenice 4y ago
  Given the progression of multiple transmission technologies (DOCSIS, 5G C-Band), I'm extremely skeptical of the claim that Google is responsible for the overall increase in bandwidth available to residential consumers. Additional bandwidth was coming either way you slice it. I had high hopes for Google Fiber, and still am disappointed that they pretty much silently scaled back their plans and declared victory in a self-congratulatory manner. Yes they are still around, but they are absolutely in the category of "meme ISP" based on how many households they cover versus other residential ISPs.

DangitBobby 4y ago

They were supposed to build out in my city and were stopped by legal hurdles from an incumbent. That's probably happened in a few places by now.

sumedh 4y ago

> They feel far short of their original ambitious goals. Is that Google's fault or the city officials/other ISPs who made their job hard or the voters who dont really care about this issue.

iwillbenice 4y ago
I fault Google. They were not realistic about how much it costs to build out such a network. Once they got a real taste of the cost, they got cold feet about any further expansion.