Re:Starlink Is a Big Deal
by Trombone12 on Wednesday January 29, 2020 @04:50PM
(#22186235)
Yeah, all that talk about free internet for all the poor and oppressed sounds pretty suspicious set beside the claims that starlink is supposed to make money too. How will a rural Guatemalan farmer that cooks on a three stones fire provide any sort of profit?
[ Parent
| on HN ]
He'll pay for Starlink using a microloan and pay back the loan using online gig work or influencing, obviously. :-/
Re:Starlink Is a Big Deal
by Trombone12 on Thursday January 30, 2020 @08:19PM
(#22198045)
Another poster pointed out that he will obviously pay it back by investing in bitcoin!
Don't underestimate how cheap smartphones + solar is and how cheap Starlink actually is.
Sure he cooks on a fire because it's practical. You don't need to fetch gas/fuel for your stove. Now with Starlink you won't need to go to town once a week to check your bitcoin transactions.
Re:Starlink Is a Big Deal
by Trombone12 on Thursday January 30, 2020 @06:33PM
(#22197184)
ITT:
> Too poor to make stove out of bricks
> Goes spend full day per week to go an check on their bitcoin transactions
Uh, are you sure you have a grounded understanding of what rural poverty means?
You’ve missed out on irony and bitcoin and guatemala farmer (cant find it right now). Also you are underestimating the needs of impoverished people. Part of impoverishment is lack of connectivity and facilities to charge phone. Not other way around.