TZUTC: -0700
MSGID: 1339.fido_internet@1:340/7 2349c566
REPLY: 2:221/1.58@fidonet e553ffe3
PID: Synchronet 3.18a-Win32  May 31 2020 MSC 1925
TID: SBBSecho 3.11-Win32 r3.173 May 31 2020 MSC 1925
CHRS: ASCII 1
-=> August Abolins wrote to Richard Menedetter <=-

 AA> Hello Richard!

 AA> ** On Thursday 11.06.20 - 10:10, Richard Menedetter wrote to Daniel:

 RM> Sorry ... I could not find any price information for their satellite
 RM> service there.

 AA> :( Likewise. It just seems suspicious that he got away with the project
 AA> without actually stating what the price of using the service would be
 AA> to a customer.  Wouldn't the bottom line price be the logical concern
 AA> before tossing 1000's of more space junk up there that can put other
 AA> people at the risk of falling debris?

They're not junk if they serve a purpose and especially if they deorbit when
done.

And on the price, it will be a worldwide service and would be open to a larger
subscriber base than a traditional provider. It would be much easier to provide
an inexpensive service when spreading the cost to a larger base of customers.
This is why many areas of the US lack broadband internet. The providers don't
see a value of laying fiber in rural areas that are so underpopulated that
they'd never get a return of investment.

 RM> How much more reasonably priced is the Space X offering?

 AA> I have to wonder too. I think the use of the satellite tech will
 AA> eventually be promoted as a premium service thus higher than current
 AA> prices for the same bandwidth.

Current satellite offerings are super expensive particularly due to the cost of
the satellites and the launch cost. They are also high latency and slow speed.
I have friends living in the mountains who had it and were forced to ditch it
in favor of really slow hotspot service. I send him dvd's of linux every few
months so he can patch his computers.

 AA> For example, the current home satellite-dish solution was heavily
 AA> promoted as "a solution at last!" for rural communities.  The initial
 AA> signup cost seemed reasonable. Some installations offered free hardware
 AA> setup, but the equipment for the home wasn't cheap. Now, many years
 AA> later, the sign up and equioment cost is a bit lower, but only for the
 AA> first 3 months.  This kind of presentation of "affordability" is
 AA> misleading.

SpaceX's solution will be a 'ufo on a stick.' No dish needed.

 AA> I just spotted "720 satellites for total coverage in 2020" in
 AA> wikipedia. Then its 1584 by 2021-2022.

 AA> And now I read that Daniel stated that Musk want's 20,000 of things in
 AA> the sky.

That would be an eventual goal, but I may be wrong on the number. I know it's
in the tens-of-thousands and recently got approval for more. The satellites are
really small compared to the ones you normally see in orbit. Each no larger
than my computer desk and less than a foot thick. Each blade have dozens of
individual computers in a mesh, powered by solar, and armed with autonomous
navigation.

This is the future.

Daniel Traechin
... Visit me at gopher://gcpp.world
--- MultiMail/Linux v0.49
 * Origin: Digital Distortion: digdist.synchro.net (1:340/7)
SEEN-BY: 1/120 123 14/5 15/0 18/0 19/36 90/1 103/705 106/201 116/18
SEEN-BY: 116/116 120/302 331 340 601 123/0 25 50 131 140 150 170 755
SEEN-BY: 153/757 7715 154/10 30 40 50 700 203/0 218/700 221/0 6 222/2
SEEN-BY: 226/30 227/114 201 702 229/101 424 426 452 664 1014 230/150
SEEN-BY: 230/152 240/5138 5832 5853 249/206 317 400 250/1 261/38 100
SEEN-BY: 266/512 267/155 275/100 280/464 5003 282/1031 1056 288/100
SEEN-BY: 291/100 111 292/854 8125 298/26 300/4 5 6 310/31 317/3 320/119
SEEN-BY: 320/219 322/757 340/0 7 200 201 202 400 800 341/66 342/200
SEEN-BY: 396/45 423/120 640/1321 712/848 770/1 801/161 189 2320/105
SEEN-BY: 2432/390 2452/250 2454/119 3634/0 12 15 27 50 119 5020/715
SEEN-BY: 5020/1042
PATH: 340/7 400 261/38 3634/12 154/10 280/464 240/5832 229/426