Google Fiber: More ‘Meh’ than Amazing
Craig the Rocket Scientist
August 1, 2012 “I have to find a job in Kansas City”
That was the first thought that entered my mind when I heard the news that Google Fiber was offering gigabyte download speeds for only $70! Immediately warm fuzzy feelings flooded my soul as I contemplated all the things I could do internet connections speeds of that magnitude.
- HD Netflix streaming
- Instant webpage loadings
- Faster YouTube
- Faster email
Then I realized that was pretty much it. A faster internet experience, but it wouldn’t be life changing. Sure, I could do all the same stuff faster, which of course is better, but there wasn’t much in the way of NEW and exciting. On top of that, a lot of these serves where my videos and emails reside would probably become bottlenecks themselves keeping me from my mental imagine of truly transcendent speeds!
Then the cold hard reality struck me: I don’t need internet speeds that fast. The realization struck like a hammer of ice to my heart.
No one needs speeds that fast.
Now there are lots of other places were this technology would be useful:
- HD video conference streaming
- Cloud computing for large businesses
- Live internet broadcasters
- Remote users connecting to their office machines
- Hospitals could have surgeons watch surgeries from around the globe in real time and provide consultations
These are all things that would actually impact our daily lives, speed up businesses in meaningful ways, and improve our general quality of living… Not that Grey’s Anatomy in instant HD isn’t wonderful… Just sayin.
No, Google’s Fiber program and their attempt to give an entire community is a noble one and I applaud them for pushing the technological boundaries in this country. However, I think everyone getting pie-in-the-sky fantasies about how such connectivity would revolutionize their daily lives needs to come back down to Earth a little.
Comments (1)
I think you have to look at it as Google taking the first approach into actually developing something of value to society. That is the way Google functions. All those specific reasons that you stated, are the actual reasons this will happen. What’s a better test bed then allowing the general public to QA and test for them at a small cost? Again, that is how Google functions. When they created tagging for images, they let the public do that for them. They let the public do all their work for them, then release it to the masses when its ready. As for the standard person, sure its just another means of getting to the internet, but Google just wants to test what infrastructure they’ve built.
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