I suspect starlink will change the course of human history in substantial ways. It already stands to be the most positive technological development for my life since I've been living.
At the very least, until the market adjusts, it will provide a verdant field of lifestyle arbitrage.
Exactly. We've already seen Russian authorities say that people will be arrested for using Starlink. All of a sudden, governments have lost the ability to shut off the internet without some serious jamming.
Just thinking of the post-disaster communications potential is pretty staggering.
(I feel compelled to mention that I'm not a "fan" of Elon Musk.)
I'd love to see a multi-link mesh appear across the world, with Starlink stations, wifi, 4/5G, fibre and cable, etc etc. I honestly think that basic low-broadband speeds should be free to everyone in the world, and so should the ability to serve up content from a cheap Raspberry Pi.
I'm not sure that's the case. I believe you have to licence spectrum in the same way that you would if you were offering a terrestrial based service, and if you don't have a licence then you'd have to turn off the beams as the satellites passed over that part of the ground.
The current status quo (as I understand it) is that the US Gov is unlikely to allow a private company to breach international law by making unauthorised transmissions into another country. It would be a brave foreign policy decision for the US Gov to decide to permit that.
A logical response from Russia or China (or any other nation with the capability) would be to start shooting down satellites. They would have reasonable grounds to do so, and I think it very unlikely that anyone wants to start a space war.
There are 3 billion people without internet. It's not a human right, but it's the next tier.
There's a clear path to hooking many of these people up. For instance aid organisations. Unlike installing the scam computer labs where they can just forget upkeep and training, it's known upfront costs they have to be accountable for. And better, small businesses like cafes.
But the 1% are worried it might make their stars look less authentic and their bored ultrarich reddit life needs drama.
Because in reality they don't want to actually go to space and be with the stars, screw that tech of cheap launches and using space, it's just about the books and TV and the appearance.
People are both awful to others and so uninspiring as a default setting.
[edit] For the Flagged reply, it's not logical. The now is a mass of high entropy. The battle forward is already reducing that. This is about caring about their healthcare as human beings for instance, not their crappy Facebook posts. We are about to be hit by AI to mass spam us all, can't you see that? I understand the 'I like real stars' and 'nice conversations', but this is bigger than that. They are people.
Video streaming? Smartphones? Wikipedia? Google maps? CRISPR? mRNA vaccines?
Starlink is going to enable me to own a home without a mortgage. It will allow me to make good money while living in one of the cheapest places in the country. This lets me move the goalposts on success so I have to do significantly less just to feed myself and my family. Suddenly retiring by 35 seems conceivable. I can do work I want instead of what's available. Nothing else on that list comes close for me.
video streaming, Smartphones, Wikipedia, Google maps, CRISPR, mRNA vaccines
everywhere