4 ms·

crazy that it's free for all classes. can't wait for it to be completely rolled out!

bangaladore 2y ago
That's the beauty of Starlink. Its dirt cheap. And it will only get cheaper as starship can launch many more satellites per launch. We are probably not very far off of starship launching them (even if it takes them a couple years to fully work out full reusability).
- baq 2y ago
  It'll take some time for cheaper, at least a few years until competitors arrive in force. SpaceX's investors need to see the return on those billions invested. ...but in general, it's amazing that something impossible 4 years ago is common today, both fast satellite internet and AI - feels like a whole another age.
  - bangaladore 2y ago
    > at least a few years until competitors arrive in force Nobody, and I mean nobody, will be able to compete the SpaceX on cost to orbit. Every other space company is screwed from purely a pricing perspective. Of course there are national security concerns in other countries, and R&D will continue, but commercially nobody will compete on the launch price. If you mean just simply a Starlink competitor, that seems possible, but SpaceX can certainly launch satellites cheaper than what they will charge companies to do so. At what point does this become an anti-trust issue?
- SketchySeaBeast 2y ago
  But that's just step 1 of enshittification, right? Get all the frogs possible in the pot before you turn up the heat?
  - baq 2y ago
    value extraction 101 on MBA courses
  - mschuster91 2y ago
    It may very well be that the US government nationalizes both Starlink and SpaceX for security reasons. There have been quite the instances with high-profile Musk technology ending up in Russian hands (in latest news, a Cybertruck for Chechen wannabe-dictator/strongman Kadyrow), and Musk's personal ... deep dive into madness, as well as his questionably legal voter bribery, just add fuel to the fire of both companies appearing not really trustworthy under Musk's control.
    - baq 2y ago
      Nah they're buying their own constellation (see Starshield) and installing eavesdropping equipment in the commercial downlink centers. What more could they want?
      - mschuster91 2y ago
        > What more could they want? The knowledge that even if Elon Musk goes completely off-script, Starshield/Starlink/SpaceX will still be there. Right now, there is nothing stopping Musk - whose shares control 78% of the voting rights [1] - to wind down shop at his will. Maybe he'll have to pay out the other investors, but like at Twitter he may just end up sticking the finger to anyone whom the company is in debt to. Having the future of space flight, low-latency civilian and military communication and low-orbit recon satellites all held together in the hand of one increasingly erratic billionaire is not something the US can afford to accept. [1] https://www.keeptrack.space/deep-dive/who-owns-spacex/ https://www.keeptrack.space/deep-dive/who-owns-spacex/
        baq 2y ago
        You seem to think the DoD and the NSA don't have anything to say in the matter. Frankly I'd be quicker to believe men in black suits and sad faces take over the operation before Musk manages to wind it down. It's worth as a military asset is simply too great to risk a madman have complete control, regardless of how many shares he's got.
est31 2y ago
Mobile websites used to be ad free as well.

That's the beauty of Starlink. Its dirt cheap. And it will only get cheaper as starship can launch many more satellites per launch. We are probably not very far off of starship launching them (even if it takes them a couple years to fully work out full reusability).

baq 2y ago
It'll take some time for cheaper, at least a few years until competitors arrive in force. SpaceX's investors need to see the return on those billions invested. ...but in general, it's amazing that something impossible 4 years ago is common today, both fast satellite internet and AI - feels like a whole another age.
- bangaladore 2y ago
  > at least a few years until competitors arrive in force Nobody, and I mean nobody, will be able to compete the SpaceX on cost to orbit. Every other space company is screwed from purely a pricing perspective. Of course there are national security concerns in other countries, and R&D will continue, but commercially nobody will compete on the launch price. If you mean just simply a Starlink competitor, that seems possible, but SpaceX can certainly launch satellites cheaper than what they will charge companies to do so. At what point does this become an anti-trust issue?
SketchySeaBeast 2y ago
But that's just step 1 of enshittification, right? Get all the frogs possible in the pot before you turn up the heat?
- baq 2y ago
  value extraction 101 on MBA courses
- mschuster91 2y ago
  It may very well be that the US government nationalizes both Starlink and SpaceX for security reasons. There have been quite the instances with high-profile Musk technology ending up in Russian hands (in latest news, a Cybertruck for Chechen wannabe-dictator/strongman Kadyrow), and Musk's personal ... deep dive into madness, as well as his questionably legal voter bribery, just add fuel to the fire of both companies appearing not really trustworthy under Musk's control.
  - baq 2y ago
    Nah they're buying their own constellation (see Starshield) and installing eavesdropping equipment in the commercial downlink centers. What more could they want?
    - mschuster91 2y ago
      > What more could they want? The knowledge that even if Elon Musk goes completely off-script, Starshield/Starlink/SpaceX will still be there. Right now, there is nothing stopping Musk - whose shares control 78% of the voting rights [1] - to wind down shop at his will. Maybe he'll have to pay out the other investors, but like at Twitter he may just end up sticking the finger to anyone whom the company is in debt to. Having the future of space flight, low-latency civilian and military communication and low-orbit recon satellites all held together in the hand of one increasingly erratic billionaire is not something the US can afford to accept. [1] https://www.keeptrack.space/deep-dive/who-owns-spacex/ https://www.keeptrack.space/deep-dive/who-owns-spacex/
      - baq 2y ago
        You seem to think the DoD and the NSA don't have anything to say in the matter. Frankly I'd be quicker to believe men in black suits and sad faces take over the operation before Musk manages to wind it down. It's worth as a military asset is simply too great to risk a madman have complete control, regardless of how many shares he's got.

est31 2y ago

Mobile websites used to be ad free as well.