Comment on Be amazed by the uses of Tech...
Thorry84@feddit.nl 7 months ago
While the general message of this meme is true, almost none if the internet actually goes through satellites. There are huge cables all around the world connecting the whole thing. And while launching rockets and deploying satellites is really cool, I think ocean crossing cables are impressive all on their own. Image a cable not only long and strong enough to cross an ocean, but also resting on the ocean floor, exposed to the environment and expected to work for decades. And to think the first of these cables was deployed back in 1858.
rmuk@feddit.uk 7 months ago
some_guy@lemmy.sdf.org 7 months ago
The cables are flat!
pipe01@lemmy.pipe01.net 7 months ago
I guess the point still stands, I’m sure you need to account for the circumference of the earth when laying those cables
Thorry84@feddit.nl 7 months ago
Yeah that’s true!
But the cables aren’t exactly running in a straight line I think, so I would need to do some math and research to figure out if the circumference actually matters. Someone get on this!
dudinax@programming.dev 7 months ago
When all else was equal they must have gone straight.
jaybone@lemmy.world 7 months ago
Now we’re just encouraging the flat earthers.
ILikeBoobies@lemmy.ca 7 months ago
Worse for the eco-system than a satellite though
FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 7 months ago
Billy lives out in Bumfuck, Idaho and thus needs Starlink.
cogman@lemmy.world 7 months ago
We have high speed Internet here in bumfuck… But yes, statistically Billy is likely a dumbfuck if he lives here.
Bo7a@lemmy.ca 7 months ago
You might be bumfuck-nowhere-adjacent. But if you have DSL, fiber, or cable, you are not in bumfuck nowhere.
-Sent through my solar powered starlink connection from actual bumfuck nowhere. Where power lines don’t even exist.
ares35@kbin.social 7 months ago
i'm in the outskirts of bumfuck. there's areas here with maximum dsl speeds under 1 mbit/sec. which the telco naturally sells at a higher price than the 40-60 mbit dsl in other parts of town.
FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 7 months ago
Maybe in some parts, but HughesNet and Starlink wouldn’t exist if they didn’t have people using them.
Thorry84@feddit.nl 7 months ago
Well Starlink is yet to turn a profit, so I’m not sure it has any place to actually exist. I think it’s mostly there to fill up the SpaceX launch schedule. Especially since the Starlink stuff de-orbits in like 3 years, so they have to keep on launching.