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I worked on the Starlink program in the Redmond facility during the growth from a couple sats as proof of concept to thousands of sats regularly providing inter
by snohobro 3mo ago
I worked on the Starlink program in the Redmond facility during the growth from a couple sats as proof of concept to thousands of sats regularly providing internet. I’ve since moved on to other ventures, but I’m still incredibly proud of what I did there. Mostly because it brought internet to those unserved and those who no one was ever going to serve, at least any time soon. I believe the internet and access to the same knowledge and tools as everyone else is such an equalizer. My favorite was getting the monthly emails with stories from rural areas or countries with spotty to no internet and how many of those folks could now commune with the rest of the planet and take full advantage of the wealth of knowledge provided by the internet.
- cactusplant7374 3mo ago> take full advantage of the wealth of knowledge provided by the internet Seems like a bit of a stretch in modern times. Do you have any idea what percentage of traffic is TikTok/YouTube/Facebook?
- llbbdd 3mo agoAll places laden with useful information.
- cactusplant7374 3mo agoThat the average person doesn't consume. Yes, that is true.
- snohobro 3mo agoI mean yeah, it’s a ton and totally a topic worth discussing on its own. Those aren’t the only options though. There is still plenty of available data out there for people to access and do practical and educational things with outside of purely entertainment. That’s a choice anyone accessing the internet has to make, and I was able to help give them that choice. Better to have a choice to learn and grow vs scroll than have no choice at all I’d say.
- CursedSilicon 3mo agoHi, I'm a Youtuber. I talk about computer history. Is my knowledge not valid just because I'm "on youtube" ?
- cactusplant7374 3mo agoWhere did I target you specifically?
- CursedSilicon 3mo agoWhen you derided people using it for youtube :)
- cactusplant7374 3mo agoThat's not specific enough. Sorry.
- bathtub365 3mo agoYouTube has excellent creators for almost any topic you can think of and for almost any video style you can think of
- cactusplant7374 3mo agoThe average person isn't interested in that. They watch funny videos. We are talking about the average person here -- not HN commenters.
- snayan 3mo agoAhh yes, the ole throw the baby out with the bathwater retort.
- cactusplant7374 3mo agoAh yes, a snarky comment of no substance. Thank you.
- snayan 3mo agoYou're welcome!
- mips_avatar 3mo agoIf it hadn't been for Starlink I wouldn't have been able to work remotely from my parents house during covid.
- rayiner 3mo agoI have a Starlink shout out! My brother in law worked on a salmon fishing boat in Alaska a couple of summers ago. They are at sea for weeks and keep fishing until the boat is full. He's done crabbing trips before and was basically out of communication for a month. On this trip, they had Starlink and were able to send us pictures and even FaceTime. Starlink delivered a huge quality of life improvement to guys who work a hard, dangerous job. They really appreciated it!
- zuzululu 3mo agoman I am happy to hear that. in Europe there is still widespread cynicism and vitrol against anything Elon Musk especially Starlink. I think that many people appreciate Starlink in rural parts but your story is one of many that are just amazing
- from_memory 3mo agoI get that he is an ignoble dude, and I dislike him as much as anyone, but why do we judge an entire company by the largest shareholder's personal scruples? There are likely thousands of hardworking people making that ship sail, and it's really short sighted to just write them all off because he is a dumbass. We are SO ready to judge but so unwilling to THINK. Why?
- zdragnar 3mo agoMost judging isn't anything more than parroting other people, a mimetic reflex to help you fit in with the people around you. Thinking risks you forming an opinion that might not align with the zeitgeist. There was a student newspaper editorial not too long ago... I think maybe it was at Harvard?... the crux of the piece was there's no reason to debate or engage, because we know we are right. Having independent thought risks putting you in a position of staying silent, or publicly disagreeing with people who have this kind of mentality.
- deleted 3mo ago[deleted]
- ponector 3mo agoYou also brought internet to the long range kamikaze drones enabling hunting mode there.
- libertine 3mo agoWith the massive bot networks shoving misinformation and propaganda, it's also a new infrastructure that will destabilize a lot of countries unfortunately.
- threerouter 3mo ago[dead]