4 ms·

I think you missed the core of their question: What has actually gotten better in practical terms for the average American?

JumpCrisscross 5mo ago
> What has actually gotten better in practical terms for the average American? Starlink has made connectivity cheaper and more available. Earth imaging has made various food production processes more efficient. Weather forecasts have become more accurate. If you’ve genuinely missed the massive economy that LEO has become, it will be a fun thing to catch up on.
- autoexec 5mo ago
  > Starlink has made connectivity cheaper and more available. Yeah that's working out great for the average American isn't it (https://natlawreview.com/press-releases/2026-consumer-trust-survey-73-americans-say-their-internet-bill-increased https://natlawreview.com/press-releases/2026-consumer-trust-...) > Earth imaging has made various food production processes more efficient. I'm not even going to bother sourcing the fact that food prices have only massively gone up negating any gains in productivity. The average American struggling to buy basics like eggs and meat aren't feasting on more efficient food production. > Weather forecasts have become more accurate. I'm sure the growing homeless population is happy to know they can better predict the weather they'll be sleeping in. This is all totally worth supporting a nazi billionaire
  - JumpCrisscross 5mo ago
    > that's working out great for the average American isn't it Yeah. It did. My neighbour’s rates went up. He switched to Starlink. > not even going to bother sourcing the fact that food prices have only massively gone up negating This is like arguing fertilisers are useless because prices went up. > homeless population Not super relevant! > all totally worth supporting a nazi billionaire Nobody said that. But it doesn’t mean the benefits go away.
    - dh2022 5mo ago
      weather forecasts is really good right now (in my experience forecast for rain/cloud cover/wind speed at hour granularity is amazingly good) and earth imaging for food production has been done for decades. I do not think SpaceX has improved nor will improve on these. SpaceX’s main customer is Starlink. With that in mind: if Starlink takes over all the ISPs in the world its market value should be comparable to Comcast - $89 Billion.
      - JumpCrisscross 5mo ago
        > do not think SpaceX has improved nor will improve on these It has massively improved both. The cost, resolution and frequency of imaging has decreased alongside launch cost. > if Starlink takes over all the ISPs in the world its market value should be comparable to Comcast - $89 Billion Why? Comcast isn't "all the ISPs in the world." (And Comcast doesn't get defence contracts to build and maintain military networks.)
airstrike 5mo ago
Stock prices indicate the present value of all future dividends, so it's not about what has happened but about the risk-adjusted expected value of all which is to come. What probability you assign to arrive at that expected value and how you adjust for risk is on you.
usef- 5mo ago
Do we apply a bar this high for any other company/job/business? Saving gov/tax money aka "billing NASA 1/20th what SLS does" doesn't count as worth it to you? Reusing rockets reliably rather than "throwing them away" is a great achievement and I'm surprised people have to justify it on HN
- mandeepj 5mo ago
  > Reusing rockets reliably rather than "throwing them away" is a great achievement and I'm surprised people have to justify it on HN You can milk a cow only a set number of times!
  - usef- 5mo ago
    Yes, because you're not designing the cow. Progress on rocketry (and reusability) is not completed, btw, there's a lot still to improve.

JumpCrisscross 5mo ago

> What has actually gotten better in practical terms for the average American? Starlink has made connectivity cheaper and more available. Earth imaging has made various food production processes more efficient. Weather forecasts have become more accurate. If you’ve genuinely missed the massive economy that LEO has become, it will be a fun thing to catch up on.

autoexec 5mo ago
> Starlink has made connectivity cheaper and more available. Yeah that's working out great for the average American isn't it (https://natlawreview.com/press-releases/2026-consumer-trust-survey-73-americans-say-their-internet-bill-increased https://natlawreview.com/press-releases/2026-consumer-trust-...) > Earth imaging has made various food production processes more efficient. I'm not even going to bother sourcing the fact that food prices have only massively gone up negating any gains in productivity. The average American struggling to buy basics like eggs and meat aren't feasting on more efficient food production. > Weather forecasts have become more accurate. I'm sure the growing homeless population is happy to know they can better predict the weather they'll be sleeping in. This is all totally worth supporting a nazi billionaire
- JumpCrisscross 5mo ago
  > that's working out great for the average American isn't it Yeah. It did. My neighbour’s rates went up. He switched to Starlink. > not even going to bother sourcing the fact that food prices have only massively gone up negating This is like arguing fertilisers are useless because prices went up. > homeless population Not super relevant! > all totally worth supporting a nazi billionaire Nobody said that. But it doesn’t mean the benefits go away.
  - dh2022 5mo ago
    weather forecasts is really good right now (in my experience forecast for rain/cloud cover/wind speed at hour granularity is amazingly good) and earth imaging for food production has been done for decades. I do not think SpaceX has improved nor will improve on these. SpaceX’s main customer is Starlink. With that in mind: if Starlink takes over all the ISPs in the world its market value should be comparable to Comcast - $89 Billion.
    - JumpCrisscross 5mo ago
      > do not think SpaceX has improved nor will improve on these It has massively improved both. The cost, resolution and frequency of imaging has decreased alongside launch cost. > if Starlink takes over all the ISPs in the world its market value should be comparable to Comcast - $89 Billion Why? Comcast isn't "all the ISPs in the world." (And Comcast doesn't get defence contracts to build and maintain military networks.)

airstrike 5mo ago

Stock prices indicate the present value of all future dividends, so it's not about what has happened but about the risk-adjusted expected value of all which is to come. What probability you assign to arrive at that expected value and how you adjust for risk is on you.

usef- 5mo ago

Do we apply a bar this high for any other company/job/business? Saving gov/tax money aka "billing NASA 1/20th what SLS does" doesn't count as worth it to you? Reusing rockets reliably rather than "throwing them away" is a great achievement and I'm surprised people have to justify it on HN

mandeepj 5mo ago
> Reusing rockets reliably rather than "throwing them away" is a great achievement and I'm surprised people have to justify it on HN You can milk a cow only a set number of times!
- usef- 5mo ago
  Yes, because you're not designing the cow. Progress on rocketry (and reusability) is not completed, btw, there's a lot still to improve.