I own property in a very rural place and I don’t want it messing up our night sky view.
Guess what, we also have great internet in this very rural place already, too, because they ran cable and put cell towers out there. That’s all it takes.
Comment on Starlink loses out on $886 million in rural broadband subsidies
troyunrau@lemmy.ca 9 months ago
In this thread. A bunch of people who’ve never had to use the prior remote internet solutions that existed prior to Starlink. For a good chunk of the world, Starlink is actually game changing.
I spent the better part of the last decade working in remote locations, including the high arctic and and rural indigenous communities. Starlink is both fast and affordable compared to the prior solutions. Hell, I even personally worked on hundred million dollar fibre optic line projects, that were hundreds of millions over budget, trying to get these communities connected. Starlink is hands down the better choice, unless you really wanted to put your data centre in Fort Good Hope for some unknown reason.
If Elon wasn’t attached to this project, I’d bet the ratio of negative comments would be lower.
crazyCat@sh.itjust.works 9 months ago
troyunrau@lemmy.ca 9 months ago
You are the very definition of privileged, compared to most remote users. And your comment is as close to textbook NIMBY as I’ve ever seen. Plus a healthy dose of “fuck em, I got mine”.
crazyCat@sh.itjust.works 9 months ago
What I’m saying is the most cost effective way to get internet to rural folks is to run cables, it works. You don’t have to put thousands of satellites up, it isn’t easier or better.
troyunrau@lemmy.ca 9 months ago
You sound like you’ve never been anywhere truly remote. For a lot of people in the world, it would be cheaper for the governmet to buy their rural property, bulldoze it, and then buy them a house in a town with internet service – than it is to run a line to their property.
Ilovethebomb@lemm.ee 9 months ago
You’re coming off as something of an out of touch asshole, to be honest. I know people for who getting mains power out to their house would cost them more than the property was worth. And there was mains available at the boundary. THAT’S what remote means, not what you’re describing.
JudahBenHur@lemm.ee 9 months ago
well when your backyard is the night sky for the entire globe you can call me a NIMBY when it comes to starlink’s glowing sattelite trains
Ilovethebomb@lemm.ee 9 months ago
That’s not “very rural”, in that case.
cameron_vale@lemm.ee 9 months ago
People think reality is a cartoon. Black and white. Good guys and bad guys. People are dumb that way. And they get played like a piano because of it.
Ilovethebomb@lemm.ee 9 months ago
There’s also a bunch who have never left the city, and have no comprehension of just how remote some communities are.
Patches@sh.itjust.works 9 months ago
Bro I’m 15 miles away from a major city of 150,000 people and they don’t run anything out “this far”. I can use Starlink, 4G internet, or pound sand.
shalafi@lemmy.world 9 months ago
Wow! Been there, done that, in BOTH scenarios. Starlink came along well after my ISP days, no idea what it’s like, but it’s gotta beat hell out of 56K and old-school satellite.
anlumo@lemmy.world 9 months ago
4G Internet implies that there’s a fiber connection to that tower, and that tower can’t be far away. This is more like an intentional decision by the providers.
shalafi@lemmy.world 9 months ago
Weird seeing this as a country-fried liberal. City people seem to have no comprehension of the issues facing us. And when confronting them about it, “Fuck all you conservative rednecks! You get what you deserve!”
And yet they have no idea why the countryside hates them and votes Trump. Self-defeating to say the least. Which is what they say of us! Rinse and repeat.
Patches@sh.itjust.works 9 months ago
Yep. You’ll see it here on Lemmy all the time. I’ve been told I should sell my truck and bike to work 15miles down a road that has no sidewalk, no shoulder, and a speed limit of 60mph.
Fuck FuckCars
lemann@lemmy.one 9 months ago
In the rural areas near where I am, gigabit fiber in underfunded areas is being installed, but sadly a vocal minority of residents keep burning up and sawing down the new fiber internet poles.
Of course we don’t hear about the good news from areas where it’s installed drama free, but the bad news where something goes terribly wrong is the one that sticks, and affects the general public’s impressions of a particular area or stereotype 😒
Admittedly the pole installation method for this is quite odd though, maybe a cost saving measure as usually it’s done underground
Ilovethebomb@lemm.ee 9 months ago
Hillary was a classic example of that effect actually, no attempt to empathise, understand, or try to gain the support of half the country.
Nope, better to just insult them.