From: barmar@alum.mit.edu   
      
   In article <0c53c51c-1002-463d-ac59-136aa80dd160@googlegroups.com>,   
    groovee@cyberdude.com wrote:   
      
   > Does playing a video locally hurt the environment less than playing that same   
   > video off of Youtube?   
   > Note that the Internet is on *anyway*, ie. all the routers and switches and   
   > whatever are *already* on - assuming that's so, is there an environmental   
   > cost to simply transporting that *one extra* file from point A to point B?   
      
   The number and size of routers that have to be deployed depends on the   
   total amount of network traffic. So if more people watch video online,   
   we need more routers and cables.   
      
   And modern electronic devices don't use a constant amount of power. When   
   they're active they use more power than when they're idle. So the more   
   bits a router has to transfer, the more energy it uses.   
      
   --   
   Barry Margolin   
   Arlington, MA   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)