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The future of Fiber

fiber.google.com

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Re: The future of Fiber

#281

Post by 27182818284 »

davesque wrote: post #162
27182818284 wrote: post #35

I'm really, really glad they chose Kansas City as the pilot city despite not living there. If they had just gone and chosen San Francisco, Chicago or New York, it would have been no more of an experiment than offering more cable channels to the big cities in the 1990s—It just is completely uninteresting. On a side note, If you haven't been to KC's Startup Village, the climate is electric! It feels like something real…

"Meanwhile a sleepy hacker is waking up and making breakfast in the kitchen. The climate is wonderful." ...really? It sounds more to me like that hacker in the kitchen is being overworked and feels compelled to not even go home at night. Going straight from the bed to the computer (or vice versa) is an unhealthy, unsustainable lifestyle.

>feels compelled to not even go home at night

I don't think you're following. This isn't the company that has had a Series A and Series B.

The guy in that example lives there. There was another place that was hacking away with no air conditioning; It was just a bunch of passionate 18-year-olds with their baby of an idea. This isn't a W2-health-insurance-401k lifestyle, it is a Jobs-and-Woz-in-a-garage-we're-broke lifestyle—and that is one of the huge reasons it is exciting!!!

I implore you to visit. You can't walk away from a tour not feeling energized by everyone involved.

Re: The future of Fiber

#282

Post by tracker1 »

tracker1 wrote: post #225
JunkDNA wrote: post #141

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree, especially where I live I actually have a choice between Verizon and Comcast. I have FIOS and love it. Best internet service I've ever had. So fast you can almost hear the bits as they blast out of the pipe. But my point wasn't that Philadelphia isn't a competitive market. My point was that, as a Comcast executive, seeing Google fiber trucks all over your neighborhood and coffee shops is a bit of psychologic…

I've been pretty happy with Cox Cable in Phoenix/Tempe... I generally get 105-120mbps up and 20-35mbps down in speed tests. I'm generally limited to however fast I can get something from the server at the other end.

s/up/down/ .. just realized I transposed my up/down, but the point stands.

Re: The future of Fiber

#283

Post by friendzis »

bhousel wrote: post #185
Pxtl wrote: post #167

Earlier quoted context omitted.

... dangit, I wish I knew more about electrical work. Why was that so dangerous? I mean, besides 250 volts and rotted-out insulation. The writer makes it sound like he just discovered an unexploded bomb.

Good question! AC voltage is relatively safer because it crosses the zero point 120 times a second. If it passes through your body, your muscles will spasm but you will have an opportunity to pull away. Also, AC voltage will probably not sustain an arc at such a low voltage, again, because it is constantly switching polarity. On the other hand DC voltage, once a connection has been made, will continue to flow through…

AC is lethal at lower RMS voltages. Two reasons: (1) peak-to-peak voltage is higher (2) It is not synced to heart, so can cause more damage

Re: The future of Fiber

#284

Post by tanzam75 »

ericd wrote: post #280
tanzam75 wrote: post #269

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Large capital expenditures undertaken by municipalities are usually funded by bonds. A municipality would issue bonds to fund the replacement of their water mains, which are breaking and pouring water into the streets every winter. It would issue bonds to renovate their elementary school, which has a leaking roof, asbestos insulation everywhere, and drinking fountains that dispense leaded water. Municipalities have l…

Ah great, thanks for the concrete info! I imagine that a fiber rollout would create entirely new revenue, though, where upgrading water mains and other existing infrastructure wouldn't, so it might be viewed by the govt as offsetting any difference in interest rates?

Well, it's pretty common for municipal power companies to return a profit to the city, which is then used to offset property taxes. In fact, a number of successful muni fiber projects have been managed by the municipal power company, or the municipal cable provider.

The problem is that a lot of municipalities aren't run all that well. Local politics can sometimes be very ugly. Muni fiber only really works when the municipal government works. Sadly, that's not as common as it ought to be.

Re: The future of Fiber

#285

Post by ericd »

tanzam75 wrote: post #284
ericd wrote: post #280

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ah great, thanks for the concrete info! I imagine that a fiber rollout would create entirely new revenue, though, where upgrading water mains and other existing infrastructure wouldn't, so it might be viewed by the govt as offsetting any difference in interest rates?

Well, it's pretty common for municipal power companies to return a profit to the city, which is then used to offset property taxes. In fact, a number of successful muni fiber projects have been managed by the municipal power company, or the municipal cable provider. The problem is that a lot of municipalities aren't run all that well. Local politics can sometimes be very ugly. Muni fiber only really works when the mu…

Hm, that is a shame. I wonder if there's a way for technology to help change that. Maybe by offering a graphical budget breakdown of spending that the public can browse? I remember seeing something like that for the federal government, and it was pretty eye opening. I guess there's no incentive for a terribly run government to roll that out, though.

Re: The future of Fiber

#286

Post by bhousel »

friendzis wrote: post #283
bhousel wrote: post #185

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Good question! AC voltage is relatively safer because it crosses the zero point 120 times a second. If it passes through your body, your muscles will spasm but you will have an opportunity to pull away. Also, AC voltage will probably not sustain an arc at such a low voltage, again, because it is constantly switching polarity. On the other hand DC voltage, once a connection has been made, will continue to flow through…

AC is lethal at lower RMS voltages. Two reasons: (1) peak-to-peak voltage is higher (2) It is not synced to heart, so can cause more damage

Yes absolutely. I never said AC wasn't dangerous.

Re: The future of Fiber

#287

Post by soperj »

dubcanada wrote: post #226
soperj wrote: post #175

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No they don't. Only out east. I'm on Shaw. No caps.

Not sure what package you have, but Shaw has caps. http://www.shaw.ca/internet/plans/

Don't know why they put that on their website, maybe so people get used to it?? They suspended all caps.

Re: The future of Fiber

#288

Post by leviathant »

avlasov wrote: post #122
leviathant wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I live in Philadelphia, where we have a subway station named after AT&T and the tallest building is the Comcast center (until they build their new Comcast building, which will be even taller), and if Verizon can't get fiber to my house (never mind that free wifi movement that sputtered out six or seven years ago) there's absolutely no hope for Google fiber happening here. Between old infrastructure and big players, d…

I live in Philly and got FIOS fiber recently. Girard station area.

Which Girard station? :) Are you in an apartment building? My house is at about 12th & Poplar, and a couple of years ago I saw a lot of Verizon activity on the numbered streets, but nothing ever coming down to house level.
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