Latest Summer Repeat: Wireless Broadband Blimps

from the same-old-song dept

Tue, Aug 22nd 2006 11:11am — Carlo Longino

The dog days of August bring about plenty of new versions of old tech stories, and this week is no different, with one of our favorite hot-air stories coming up again: the good old stratellite, a giant blimp that can supposedly blanket an area the size of Texas with wireless broadband. The story dates back nearly four years, and despite plenty of press releases, nothing much in the way of actual progess appears to have happened, the least of which being the claim last January that the company would launch the service in Peru. The only difference now is that supposedly tests are scheduled for later this month in the Mojave Desert, which doesn't make it sound like the stratellites are really any closer to a commercial launch than they've ever been. As an added bonus, the original story throws in a section about another, similar, long-promised idea: wireless coverage via reusable balloons. But, just like the stories about these technologies don't change, neither does our skepticism.

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6 Comments

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Anonymous Coward, 22 Aug 2006 @ 11:29am

Repeat this:
Am I supposed to post the same comment I did last time too?

I didn't have anything to say then, but at least dorpus would actually read the article and post something on-topic back then... now he just reads headlines and rants about his flavor of hate for the day.
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dorpus, 22 Aug 2006 @ 12:14pm

actually
I think this is a really good idea. Wouldn't it be nice if there *was* cheap and widely available Wi-Fi?
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Boris Jacobsen, 22 Aug 2006 @ 12:23pm

Superb... if it worked
If one balloon could serve an area the size of Texas, just a few hundred balloons could serve the whole world. Surely cheaper and more environmentally-friendly than laying cables everywhere or launching outer-space satellites.
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Faz, 22 Aug 2006 @ 12:49pm

as long as service providors, who own landlines, own the data flowing through baloons. Also have a way to keep data secure A) from hackers and B) from searches of personal transactions withought a warrent present
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Anonymous Coward, 22 Aug 2006 @ 6:00pm

A) nothing is secure
B) who needs a warrent the telcos hand it over willingly
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Anonymous Coward, 22 Aug 2006 @ 6:04pm

sad but true
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