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Africans Are Turning to Starlink

economist.com

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Re: Africans Are Turning to Starlink

#251

Post by NetMageSCW »

mbreese wrote: post #174
dools wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> When you don’t have an established wired infrastructure, it becomes significantly easier to jump technology generations

For what it's worth, I was specifically thinking about DSL and 2000-2010s era DOCSIS technologies. The analogy is really that when mobile phones became popular in Africa, it was possible to skip the step of having wired landlines and cable TV. 3G/4G could be used for anything those would have provided. Starlink does the same thing, but it lets people skip DSL and cable modems. However, I actually think that the main…

There’s also the issue of man made damage to infrastructure that is very difficult for Starlink.

Re: Africans Are Turning to Starlink

#252

Post by NetMageSCW »

fluoridation wrote: post #127
sephamorr wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The max steering angles of the phased arrays are much higher, the diameter is at least 10x what you say. And for the last few years, lasercoms can route traffic inside the constellation so a given sat doesn't need to be within sight of a ground station.

>The max steering angles of the phased arrays are much higher You can't steer the antenna back and forth for every exchange between station and customer. What the steering may get you is increasing the coverage of an area currently underserved by the constellation, and maybe a slight increase in diameter of ground covered due to the geometry, at the cost of lower signal strength. >And for the last few years, lasercom…

Your ignorance is only exceeded by your unwillingness to learn.

“if that actually works”??? It has been working successfully for large parts of the Earth for years.

Re: Africans Are Turning to Starlink

#253

Post by NetMageSCW »

theoreticalmal wrote: post #68
colechristensen wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My parents in rural America had a local ISP that did long distance wireless (highly directional antenna mounted on the house pointed at the top of the grain elevator a few miles away) but it was an unreliable 20 Mbps because the ISP wasn't interested in upgrading their equipment.

This could have been a revolutionary way of accessing the internet before Starlink. Grain elevators are everywhere in the US Midwest. Can’t believe it wasn’t capitalized on

You’d have to run fiber to all the grain elevators and you are back to the same issues.

Re: Africans Are Turning to Starlink

#254

Post by NetMageSCW »

elcritch wrote: post #142
yoz-y wrote: post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One would argue that pre-Internet people prepared more, started on easier trails or went out with experienced people first.

My generation would prepare in advance for outing. We’d print the route from MapQuest. ;)

And MapQuest would show you that the suggested route is probably too dangerous to return on off-road?

Re: Africans Are Turning to Starlink

#255

Post by NetMageSCW »

angry_octet wrote: post #199

Starlink is going to completely gut the local telcos, terrestrial fiber is never going to have the $ to achieve critical mass. So when, eventually, SpaceX or the US Govt wants to apply leverage over Africa, they will have to bend the knee. Or we'll have a hiatus in launches or a space war, and as they constellation burns up so will internet access. Africa will be in the dark.

Anything that causes the constellation to be abandoned will effect a lot more than Africa and be a much bigger problem.

Re: Africans Are Turning to Starlink

#256

Post by CursedSilicon »

cactusplant7374 wrote: post #211
CursedSilicon wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hi, I'm a Youtuber. I talk about computer history. Is my knowledge not valid just because I'm "on youtube" ?

Where did I target you specifically?

When you derided people using it for youtube :)

Re: Africans Are Turning to Starlink

#257

Post by dreambuffer »

mothballed wrote: post #250
dreambuffer wrote: post #235

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Black people decide every few years by voting for representatives who uphold these policies. There has never been a motion supported by the majority of black south africans to get rid of B-BBEE, only foreign people like you seem to have a problem with it and that is because you don't understand what it is trying to do and you (probably) hate the idea of reparations for apartheid. Or at the very least you support aggr…

1) Majority of blacks and SA have been polled as not supporting (or reforming against racist elements of) current bbbee, including citing it being used instead as a vehicle of corruption. 2) You are rebutting a straw man. I said individual blacks deciding on starlink for themselves, not supposed collective decision of some against others via (corrupt) "representatives", precisely because I knew you'd try such decepti…

You can easily look up the lies he has made about white genocide, which even white south africans have debunked.

You accuse me of deception for arguing that, in a democracy, the law must be written by averages and not by a few individuals who want starlink. Ok.

I'm only addressing those points because you're showing some signals of bad faith conversation and general meanness so I don't want to respond to anything until I know you are good faith.

Re: Africans Are Turning to Starlink

#258

Post by rayiner »

overfeed wrote: post #195
dmix wrote: post #152

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Tax payers are already responsible for the fees paid to cancel the contract early, but won't tell the public how much it cost. They also already paid for a test run with a first nations community in 2020 https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/spacex-deal-ontario-s... I personally see more value in connecting poor and isolated rural communities. Plus I highly doubt a provincial government contract in Canada will be a…

> Plus I highly doubt a provincial government contract in Canada will be a major influence on a Elon's dumb twitter politics. I don't think the decision was meant to influence, rather, it's self-defense against said "Elon's dumb Twitter politics." Americans having challenges conceptualizing how problematic Starlink is to non-Americans: imagine the same satellite service was provided by Huawei - but helmed by Chinese…

Imagine Europe importing natural gas from Putin through 2027.

Re: Africans Are Turning to Starlink

#259

Post by dreambuffer »

xienze wrote: post #82
dreambuffer wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is easy to export electricity when you only need to serve 10% of the population.

Whose fault is it the electrical grid apparently, according to your thesis, hasn't been upgraded in the 30+ years since apartheid ended?

Although your claim is literally untrue as the grid has been upgraded, the answer is: mostly the apartheid government. They left the ANC with a grid that served only 10% of the population, which makes it very difficult to upgrade, especially in a country with rampant poverty leading to cable theft, corruption, and general lack of infrastructure.

Re: Africans Are Turning to Starlink

#260

Post by rayiner »

solid_fuel wrote: post #247
rayiner wrote: post #233

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It had turned into a state department front that was getting people killed by interfering in domestic politics. Even Mexico’s President, who is one of Trump’s strongest critics, agreed with that move: https://www.newsweek.com/trump-musk-unexpected-ally-push-shu... “During a press conference on Tuesday, Sheinbaum voiced support for shutting down USAID, criticizing the agency's role in funding organizations she describ…

You can make all the excuses you want, it doesn’t change the truth. He illegally cut food aid and directly killed vulnerable people around the world. It is that simple. > My dad worked on USAID’s maternal health and vaccine programs in Bangladesh. Your dad seems like a much better person than you, spending his time helping people while you spend your time here carrying water for a fascist. Maybe you should try being…

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