SpaceX projected 20 million Starlink users by 2022—it ended up with 1 million::Starlink has a fraction of the projected $12B revenue and 20M users, WSJ says.

  • scala@lemmy.ml
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    1 year ago

    Private infrastructure owned by that megalomaniac is not good.

    • makingStuffForFun@lemmy.ml
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      1 year ago

      If there was another option I’d take it. As it is though, I’m travelling around Australia and it’s freaking brilliant. Australia has zero coverage for most of the country outside of the towns and city regions. I can park up in total outback with no phone reception and get anywhere from 150 to 400 Mbps. I couldn’t do this without it, so I’ll take it, as it’s the only option

  • Sanctus@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Starlink is perfect for nationalization. Internet is. Infact, nationalize all utilities. Yes, internet should be a utility at this point. It should not be run for profit.

  • Donjuanme@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    I was the perfect target for the service, the wife and I went as far as downloading the app to get telemetry from our house, we were like 20% covered and decided to hold off just a little while longer. Then musk went jacking it on the corner in San Diego levels crazy, we pay just about as much for our current Internet (and it’s mobile hotspot backup plan in case the internet goes out and we have vital work that needs to be done, or I need some low latency gaming time) which is 5 mb/s on its best days, and we’re very happy to not be supporting that Russian stooge.

  • SpaceBar@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    My internet where I live is through cable and it’s terrible. Bad. Outtages all of the time. Down for days at times. So I switched to starlink. It’s fine. Works great EXCEPT WHEN IT RAINS HEAVILY.

    Heavy rain blocks the signal. Elon Musk owns it.

    Now, I have a t-mobile hotspot. It’s only $50 per month as opposed to the $110 for Starlink.

    If you have no other decent option, Starlink is amazing. If you have other options, don’t give Musk your money.

  • xts@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    “ I think that you will be able to fall asleep in a Tesla, is about two years away” Elon Musk, 2017

    Yeah you shouldn’t believe anything this guy or his companies say lol

  • KJ118@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    I was hyped when I first learned about starlink, finally I wouldn’t be stuck with 1 Mbps from ATT, then my power co-op announced it would be running gig fiber to all customers homes.

  • InvaderDJ@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    One thing this article doesn’t get into is whether it is an issue of customer demand or incorrect estimates on how many customers Starlink can handle.

    Musk is a dumbass, unserious douche. But from everyone I’ve heard from who has Starlink and NEEDS it, it’s a godsend. For rural and mobile users (van life, RVs, boats, etc) I don’t think there is a better option.

    Another question is whether this Starlink service should be nationalized or at least duplicated by other countries. I’m uncomfortable with it being used for war as it is honestly. It’s a supposed civilian, consumer aimed service that I think arguably can be considered a military target right now. Countries like Russia could make an argument for attacking these satellites. And for countries like Ukraine that are relying on it, having it being at the whims of someone like Musk also seems like it isn’t optimal.

    • SkyezOpen@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Countries like Russia could make an argument for attacking these satellites.

      Russia’s best shot would be accidentally crashing a lunar lander into one.

    • PFShady@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      My parents have it because of where they live. The only other option they had was century link DSL at 1.5Mbps. Now she can watch streaming services, work from home, etc. The service has been great, Musk is a douche.

    • dustyData@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      It’s a supposed civilian, consumer aimed service

      The internet was invented to wage war. It’s not an admirable goal, but it’s what it was made for. Only after the fact did we turn it into the banal meme stream it is now. When SpaceX requested permission to the FAA to launch its hundreds of thousands of garbage cans, military infrastructure backup was actually part of the pitch to justify the sky contamination. The Pentagon agreed to acquire Starlink for UA because it was part of the listed capabilities of the network. And military operations are not just about destroying things and killing people. Military operations include rescuing the wounded and safeguarding civilians from harm. Armies need to have good communications for this, to avoid destroying non-military targets, reduce the risk of collateral damage, coordinate evacuations and to defend themselves from the opposing force. A communication network should be a neutral channel, what Musk has done with it is to politicize and weaponize it, like the Russians weaponize medical care, judicial freedom and other things that should be basic human rights but are used to coerce individuals to commit atrocities against others.

  • Rajtinka@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    I had Starlink for over a year. They raised the price twice in that time. In addition, it would not play nice with my Uverse streaming service and I would randomly lose my sports and local channels. I live remote, but ended up switching to copper for $50/no and dumped the cable streaming. Since I don’t game, I have not noticed any difference in streaming quality on Netflix or Hulu or Prime. Paying way less than half for copper just made Starlink completely not worth it. The terminal is sitting on a chair in my office…

  • dsco@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    1 year ago

    I live less than an hour from Elon and ended up canceling my starlink preorder after eighteen months because I figured it was never going to come.