Project Loony!

[Philipnet]

Google say,

The Internet is one of the most transformative technologies of our lifetimes. But for 2 out of every 3 people on earth, a fast, affordable Internet connection is still out of reach. And this is far from being a solved problem.

There are many terrestrial challenges to Internet connectivity—jungles, archipelagos, mountains. There are also major cost challenges

We believe that it might actually be possible to build a ring of balloons, flying around the globe on the stratospheric winds, that provides Internet access to the earth below. It’s very early days, but we’ve built a system that uses balloons, carried by the wind at altitudes twice as high as commercial planes, to beam Internet access to the ground at speeds similar to today’s 3G networks or faster. As a result, we hope balloons could become an option for connecting rural, remote, and undeserved areas, and for helping with communications after natural disasters. The idea may sound a bit crazy—and that’s part of the reason we’re calling it Project Loon—but there’s solid science behind it.

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So, are Google completely off their rocker?
Or do you think this might work?

http://googleblog.blogspot.nl/2013/0...ject-loon.html

[Stuart Wallis]

Possibly part of the reason that so many people don't have access to the Net may be due to people in the third world being unable to afford it? or am I once more missing the point?

[Rob McCow]

Well you need to have something to connect to the net first. It's not enough just to have 3G and 4G and Wi-Fi beaming at you, you need the equipment to receive!

On the other hand, the West is discarding PCs and TVs at an alarming rate:



So maybe there are enough to go around?

I'm a little worried about the global domination aspect of Google's plans too...

[Philipnet]

I'm a little worried about the global domination aspect of Google's plans too...

There's nothing new with Google's plans for domination


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[Stuart Wallis]

Well you need to have something to connect to the net first. It's not enough just to have 3G and 4G and Wi-Fi beaming at you, you need the equipment to receive!

On the other hand, the West is discarding PCs and TVs at an alarming rate:



So maybe there are enough to go around?

I'm a little worried about the global domination aspect of Google's plans too...

This is more or less what I meant; the cheaper the equipment... Though there are parts of the world where food and drinkable water would be somewhat higher up the wish list, though I don't doubt that the net would be able to supply farming info and the interweb equivalent of the flying doctor in the long term.

Talking of global domination, you do know the difference between ISPs and Ebenezer Wallis, don't you...?