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CIOs Beware: New Macbook Pro Will Be a Bandwidth Hog

18 points by jnorthrop 14y ago

balanceiskey15 14y ago
I don't understand how the WSJ published this.
jnorthrop 14y ago
I kept the title honest but I submitted it specifically because the article says, "But it may also wreak havoc on CIOs’ networks and connectivity budgets — better quality displays require more network bandwidth, which allows users to increase data consumption." How can the WSJ report such nonsense? Bigger displays do not increase bandwidth usage as far as I know.
- harryf 14y ago
  They might have accidentally stumbled on a real topic though - I've observed my iPhone bringing my home WLAN to a grinding halt with iCloud backups...
- acdha 14y ago
  It's page view trolling - I'd prefer not to have contributed a hit.
- wizzard 14y ago
  It all makes sense. Having a higher-resolution monitor increases the resolution of HD video! Somehow! Thanks for the laugh. Wow.
- fluidcruft 14y ago
  The best I can come up with is adaptive streaming video. But I doubt anything streams higher than for output to 1080p and you certainly don't need a retina display matrix on a laptop to display 1080p.
- tzs 14y ago
  There are sites that provide different images for different resolution devices. Bandwidth used when accessing those sites may in fact go way up when accessing from the Retina MBP compared to when accessing from a "normal" laptop.
bratsche 14y ago
Wait a minute.. today isn't April 1, is it?
wattjustin 14y ago
While the WSJ should be embarrassed by a posting an article like this, I am glad that comments are turned on.
chintan 14y ago
Seems like a Fox News writer got assigned to WSJ at News Corp.
recoiledsnake 14y ago
If the monitors are running off the network instead of DVI/HDMI/VGA/Display port, it's the CIO that must be fired. The only way this can be an issue if everyone's running off remote access and running it at the highest resolution without compression.
fleitz 14y ago
As far as I know youtube videos at 1080p use the same bandwidth regardless of whether you're displaying on 720p or a retina display. This is silly, is the reporter confused about HDMI/DisplayPort vs. network bandwidth?
- smackfu 14y ago
  You really think YouTube is downsizing them in the front-end, rather than rendering out multiple versions on the server? That doesn't really make sense, plus it would make it odd that changing the size of the video restart the playback.
abruzzi 14y ago
A few websites like Apple's are 'retina optimized' and the way Apple implements it, it is a bit inefficient--the web browser downloads the standard size image, then some js replaces those images with high-res variants. But sites like that are rare, and still don't account for a large amount of bandwidth used, so I vote: FUD.
hcarvalhoalves 14y ago
"(...) better quality displays require more network bandwidth, which allows users to increase data consumption" Whaaat?
bwh2 14y ago
The article is poorly worded. The point is that retina 2x graphics do require more bandwidth. As retina displays grow in popularity, bandwidth may become an issue. It's certainly something developers should consider when thinking about site performance. http://developer.apple.com/library/ios/#documentation/2DDrawing/Conceptual/DrawingPrintingiOS/SupportingHiResScreens/SupportingHiResScreens.html http://developer.apple.com/library/ios/#documentation/2DDraw...
eswangren 14y ago
I wonder if the WSJ would hire me to write about financial issues. I mean, I know nothing about the subject, but apparently that's not relevant.
there 14y ago
How bizarre... I thought this was going to be about the new Power Nap feature of Mountain Lion that continues to talk on the network while the laptop is suspended. http://www.anandtech.com/show/5981/mountain-lion-power-nap-connected-standby http://www.anandtech.com/show/5981/mountain-lion-power-nap-c...
deleted 14y ago
[deleted]
snorkel 14y ago
One case where he could be a little bit correct is screen sharing a large desktop would use more bandwidth, but I doubt he was thinking that.
ef4 14y ago
People with expert knowledge in any field will frequently notice "wow, the media does a terrible job of understanding and explaining my field." Too few take the next logical step: the media does a terrible job of understanding and explaining almost everything. You simply notice the problem more in areas where you know more.
- kmfrk 14y ago
  The media has gone from explaining stories to just sharing them. It's like a journalistic chain letter from hell. Hey! Did you see politician X's gaffe? Here is an interesting chart I found
- macavity23 14y ago
  Otherwise known as 'Gell-Mann Amnesia': http://seekerblog.com/2006/01/31/the-murray-gell-mann-amnesia-effect/ http://seekerblog.com/2006/01/31/the-murray-gell-mann-amnesi...
anebg 14y ago
Not sure if trolling or stupid
nopal 14y ago
>CORRECTION: An earlier version of this article incorrectly suggested that the higher resolution Retina displays of the new iPad and forthcoming Macbook Pro computers would increase consumption of network bandwidth, thus slowing performance of corporate networks. Higher resolution screens do not in and of themselves consume more network bandwidth. Some analysts have suggested that owners of devices with high-resolution screens will likely consume more video and HD video, which would result in higher bandwidth consumption. This article has been modified to reflect this change. Still a stretch in my opinion.

18 points by jnorthrop 14y ago

I don't understand how the WSJ published this.

I kept the title honest but I submitted it specifically because the article says, "But it may also wreak havoc on CIOs’ networks and connectivity budgets — better quality displays require more network bandwidth, which allows users to increase data consumption." How can the WSJ report such nonsense? Bigger displays do not increase bandwidth usage as far as I know.

harryf 14y ago
They might have accidentally stumbled on a real topic though - I've observed my iPhone bringing my home WLAN to a grinding halt with iCloud backups...
acdha 14y ago
It's page view trolling - I'd prefer not to have contributed a hit.
wizzard 14y ago
It all makes sense. Having a higher-resolution monitor increases the resolution of HD video! Somehow! Thanks for the laugh. Wow.
fluidcruft 14y ago
The best I can come up with is adaptive streaming video. But I doubt anything streams higher than for output to 1080p and you certainly don't need a retina display matrix on a laptop to display 1080p.
tzs 14y ago
There are sites that provide different images for different resolution devices. Bandwidth used when accessing those sites may in fact go way up when accessing from the Retina MBP compared to when accessing from a "normal" laptop.

bratsche 14y ago

Wait a minute.. today isn't April 1, is it?

wattjustin 14y ago

While the WSJ should be embarrassed by a posting an article like this, I am glad that comments are turned on.

chintan 14y ago

Seems like a Fox News writer got assigned to WSJ at News Corp.

recoiledsnake 14y ago

If the monitors are running off the network instead of DVI/HDMI/VGA/Display port, it's the CIO that must be fired. The only way this can be an issue if everyone's running off remote access and running it at the highest resolution without compression.

fleitz 14y ago

As far as I know youtube videos at 1080p use the same bandwidth regardless of whether you're displaying on 720p or a retina display. This is silly, is the reporter confused about HDMI/DisplayPort vs. network bandwidth?

smackfu 14y ago
You really think YouTube is downsizing them in the front-end, rather than rendering out multiple versions on the server? That doesn't really make sense, plus it would make it odd that changing the size of the video restart the playback.

abruzzi 14y ago

A few websites like Apple's are 'retina optimized' and the way Apple implements it, it is a bit inefficient--the web browser downloads the standard size image, then some js replaces those images with high-res variants. But sites like that are rare, and still don't account for a large amount of bandwidth used, so I vote: FUD.

hcarvalhoalves 14y ago

"(...) better quality displays require more network bandwidth, which allows users to increase data consumption" Whaaat?

bwh2 14y ago

The article is poorly worded. The point is that retina 2x graphics do require more bandwidth. As retina displays grow in popularity, bandwidth may become an issue. It's certainly something developers should consider when thinking about site performance. http://developer.apple.com/library/ios/#documentation/2DDrawing/Conceptual/DrawingPrintingiOS/SupportingHiResScreens/SupportingHiResScreens.html http://developer.apple.com/library/ios/#documentation/2DDraw...

eswangren 14y ago

I wonder if the WSJ would hire me to write about financial issues. I mean, I know nothing about the subject, but apparently that's not relevant.

there 14y ago

How bizarre... I thought this was going to be about the new Power Nap feature of Mountain Lion that continues to talk on the network while the laptop is suspended. http://www.anandtech.com/show/5981/mountain-lion-power-nap-connected-standby http://www.anandtech.com/show/5981/mountain-lion-power-nap-c...

deleted 14y ago

[deleted]

snorkel 14y ago

One case where he could be a little bit correct is screen sharing a large desktop would use more bandwidth, but I doubt he was thinking that.

ef4 14y ago

People with expert knowledge in any field will frequently notice "wow, the media does a terrible job of understanding and explaining my field." Too few take the next logical step: the media does a terrible job of understanding and explaining almost everything. You simply notice the problem more in areas where you know more.

kmfrk 14y ago
The media has gone from explaining stories to just sharing them. It's like a journalistic chain letter from hell. Hey! Did you see politician X's gaffe? Here is an interesting chart I found
macavity23 14y ago
Otherwise known as 'Gell-Mann Amnesia': http://seekerblog.com/2006/01/31/the-murray-gell-mann-amnesia-effect/ http://seekerblog.com/2006/01/31/the-murray-gell-mann-amnesi...

anebg 14y ago

Not sure if trolling or stupid

nopal 14y ago

>CORRECTION: An earlier version of this article incorrectly suggested that the higher resolution Retina displays of the new iPad and forthcoming Macbook Pro computers would increase consumption of network bandwidth, thus slowing performance of corporate networks. Higher resolution screens do not in and of themselves consume more network bandwidth. Some analysts have suggested that owners of devices with high-resolution screens will likely consume more video and HD video, which would result in higher bandwidth consumption. This article has been modified to reflect this change. Still a stretch in my opinion.