Google Pumps $2B into Africa’s Biggest Wind Power Project
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Re: Google Pumps $2B into Africa’s Biggest Wind Power Project
#2I think they've corrected the headline to remove the 2 billion figure.
Re: Google Pumps $2B into Africa’s Biggest Wind Power Project
#3I think they've corrected the headline to remove the 2 billion figure.
>Correction: This story originally misstated the size of Google’s investment. Google has not disclosed its investment in the Kenyan wind project.
Re: Google Pumps $2B into Africa’s Biggest Wind Power Project
#4I think they've corrected the headline to remove the 2 billion figure.
Yes, $2 billion figure is incorrect. Google's total investment in clean energy projects exceeds $2bn.
Re: Google Pumps $2B into Africa’s Biggest Wind Power Project
#5Very surprised to read google doesn't have a single datacenter in Africa.
The continent is huge and if latency is important, they would definitely need multiple locations there.
check this out for scale http://kai.sub.blue/en/africa.html
Re: Google Pumps $2B into Africa’s Biggest Wind Power Project
#6Now they'll be able to build mud huts at twice the speed.
edit: Oh come on it was a joke, like they won't use the electricity to help infrastructure, but use it to dry the mud quicker. I know at least one of you edgelords laughed.
Re: Google Pumps $2B into Africa’s Biggest Wind Power Project
#7Very surprised to read google doesn't have a single datacenter in Africa. The continent is huge and if latency is important, they would definitely need multiple locations there. check this out for scale http://kai.sub.blue/en/africa.html
The reason is simple. Basic network capacity is underdeveloped. Radio waves account for the bulk of communication. And most importantly, there's little to no direct connection between neighboring countries. So even if Google built a datacenter in Africa, it would not solve latency issues and might even make it worse because virtually all requests go outside of the continent.
Re: Google Pumps $2B into Africa’s Biggest Wind Power Project
#8Very surprised to read google doesn't have a single datacenter in Africa. The continent is huge and if latency is important, they would definitely need multiple locations there. check this out for scale http://kai.sub.blue/en/africa.html
The reason is simple. Basic network capacity is underdeveloped. Radio waves account for the bulk of communication. And most importantly, there's little to no direct connection between neighboring countries. So even if Google built a datacenter in Africa, it would not solve latency issues and might even make it worse because virtually all requests go outside of the continent.
So in the end it is a chicken/egg problem - no communication structure because there is nothing to transmit.
No datacenter because there is no communications.
But I've also read that mobile banking is MASSIVE in africa, more than the entire rest of the world combined.
Plus Africa is extremely diverse, I suspect there must be several cities that could benefit from a google datacenter.
Re: Google Pumps $2B into Africa’s Biggest Wind Power Project
#9Very surprised to read google doesn't have a single datacenter in Africa. The continent is huge and if latency is important, they would definitely need multiple locations there. check this out for scale http://kai.sub.blue/en/africa.html
The reason is simple. Basic network capacity is underdeveloped. Radio waves account for the bulk of communication. And most importantly, there's little to no direct connection between neighboring countries. So even if Google built a datacenter in Africa, it would not solve latency issues and might even make it worse because virtually all requests go outside of the continent.
mostly true, but there is at least some undersea cable infrastructure to and between the countries. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WACS_(cable_system) as an example. Bottlenecks tend to be within countries where fibre is often not built out further than the capitals, especially in the poorest ones like Guinea and Sierra Leone, where I was working on networks this year. On the other hand, Cote D'Ivoire has a very good infrasructure, and internet is much more accessible than elsewhere. I believe Senegal, the digital powerhouse of the West Africa region, at least, has the same. But much internet is still only point-to-point microwave if you're lucky (and that supports telephone and mobile data communication backbones too), or VSAT, if you're not.
Re: Google Pumps $2B into Africa’s Biggest Wind Power Project
#10Very surprised to read google doesn't have a single datacenter in Africa. The continent is huge and if latency is important, they would definitely need multiple locations there. check this out for scale http://kai.sub.blue/en/africa.html
The reason is simple. Basic network capacity is underdeveloped. Radio waves account for the bulk of communication. And most importantly, there's little to no direct connection between neighboring countries. So even if Google built a datacenter in Africa, it would not solve latency issues and might even make it worse because virtually all requests go outside of the continent.
Well, if you were going to attempt to invoke a super-intelligent being then a data-center in Africa might be just the right place to do it.