Starlink WiFi Router FCC Approved

Re:Starlink WiFi Router FCC Approved by reaperducer on Tuesday July 14, 2020 @07:39PM (#23839451)

if you're implying that people in the developing world live without internet access, you'd be dead wrong

I imply no such thing. You're projecting your own biases.

I'm merely stating a fact: That not everyone uses Netflix and YouTube, and to consider those life essentials is absurd.

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Re:Starlink WiFi Router FCC Approved by deeviant on Tuesday July 14, 2020 @08:13PM (#23839723)

I think saying something that is not essential to you cannot be essential to somebody else is absurd.

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Re:Starlink WiFi Router FCC Approved by ajhurliman on Tuesday July 14, 2020 @07:58PM (#23839615)

I've used YouTube to learn a tremendous amount from programming to home improvement and beyond. I wouldn't consider it essential to my life, but I would certainly be worse off if I didn't have it.

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Re:Starlink WiFi Router FCC Approved by causality0 on Wednesday July 15, 2020 @02:00AM (#23841844)

Firstly, I didn't call them life essentials; I invited the typically nerdy and internet-focused HN audience to imagine life without two services which comprise over 25% of global bandwidth usage in order to remind them of the massive accessibility gaps which still exist even in wealthy countries. Secondly, why does something have to be completely universal to be considered a life essential?

Also, you tweet about streaming shows on FoodNetwork Go, so why do you act like that's any different from Netflix and Youtube?

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Re:Starlink WiFi Router FCC Approved by Dylan16807 on Tuesday July 14, 2020 @11:42PM (#23841046)

Did you forget the part where you said "several billion other people"?

If you're not talking about the developing world, and just look at the rural and those who don't want a connection, that's not nearly enough people. So it's not wrong at all for people to assume you meant the developing world.

And nobody said they were 'life essentials'.

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Re:Starlink WiFi Router FCC Approved by culturestate on Wednesday July 15, 2020 @02:48AM (#23842084)

To be fair to the other person, China alone (in which neither Netflix nor YouTube are widely available) is almost 1.4 billion people. That could easily be part of their calculus, though I guess you could argue over the meaning of “several” in this context.

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Re:Starlink WiFi Router FCC Approved by Dylan16807 on Wednesday July 15, 2020 @03:37AM (#23842335)

I see that as pedantry. We're talking about internet speeds, and the equivalent of youtube.

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Re:Starlink WiFi Router FCC Approved by culturestate on Wednesday July 15, 2020 @03:49AM (#23842411)

> We're talking about...the equivalent of youtube.

Well, you certainly are, but I don't think the person who originally brought it up was.

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Re:Starlink WiFi Router FCC Approved by rootsudo on Wednesday July 15, 2020 @06:35AM (#23843384)

I would say in many developing world regions, Facebook is the internet.

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Re:Starlink WiFi Router FCC Approved by ajhurliman on Wednesday July 15, 2020 @12:37PM (#23847709)

This. When I travelled to Vietnam I was shocked to find out access to Facebook was free (unlike the data plans, which seemed expensive to me and therefore likely out of reach for most of the folks there.

It was really nice to be able to communicate with my travel buddies reliably, but this is definitely the tiered internet people are afraid of.

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