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> Since these streams are purely unidirectional, users don't have a way to notice that they're not literally live.

This can be a problem, for example when sports fans receive out-of-band notification of a goal before they see it happen on their "live" stream.

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No need for notifications even, you can literally hear latency varying up to 30 seconds by listening for cheers during important game in a block of flats on a warm summer night.

> cheers during important game in a block of flats

Yes, that is what rlpb wrote: soundwaves are richly descriptive out-of-band notifications!

It also makes it impossible to watch a live updating box score without spoilering yourself since it updates before the stream.

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