Google's Project Loon: Visionary or stupid waste of cash?

[Cameron_R]

http://www.google.com/loon/

I think it's visionary. It's fucking crazy shit like this that changes the world.

I'm just not sure it's going to work. 

I didn't realise until today that it's already happening, and NZ is the first place it's being trailed!

 

[nate225]

Thinking outside the box for sure. Be interesting to see how this works - disposable transmitters must end up somewhere LOL

[Terrymundo]

100% stupidity!

 I like how the marketing approach is target soft spots like poverty and education. Google is a business, business only exist to make a profit. How google generate revenue? Advertising. With this ballon BS (horribly impractice) if they did reach new users it would only be to advertise to larger audience so google can increase advesting prices and volumes to their clients.

Do you actually think kids in Africa are magically get an education now? no. Are farmers going to be able to better adapt to the weather? No. Is google going to increase revenue and strangle the market of information for benefit of shareholders and their own agendas? Yes. 

If you have even a shred of knowledge of marketing you can pull apart this advertising.

First rule is create a problem then sell the solution. 

Just sit back and watch how Loon will NOT bring any good to the world. 

 

 

[AZIDE]

probably will be adapted to spy on people somehow or have a future military application. seems vaguely similar to the bomb baloons released by japan during ww2 to bomb the continental USA 

[GyzzBrah]

A lot of the things that we get are several thousand percent more expensive for us to buy than they are to make. This is due to companies hiding the real costs of production to maximise profit. For example, galvanising solution costs 50$, sold for 300+, Smartphones, Medication etc. I suppose the internet is no different either. There is no real reason for internet to cost anyhting at all tbh. Besides paying staff I suppose.

 

Watch_Dogs is a good example of how the Internet can have military / Government Applications, Azide.

[crazyfacials]

Heard a rumor that someone is going to be selling gear by attaching them to a balloon.... 

[Gym rat]

I was having a look at this thread early today thought a huge waste of time and cash by google

[AZIDE]

A lot of the things that we get are several thousand percent more expensive for us to buy than they are to make. This is due to companies hiding the real costs of production to maximise profit. For example, galvanising solution costs 50$, sold for 300+, Smartphones, Medication etc. I suppose the internet is no different either. There is no real reason for internet to cost anyhting at all tbh. Besides paying staff I suppose.

 

Watch_Dogs is a good example of how the Internet can have military / Government Applications, Azide.

wtf does your first paragraph mean? companies dont hide production costs...supply and demand, if someone can supply the same thing for less they will enter the market and do it. exceptions are obviously where theres a monopoly and entering the market is prohibitively expensive or where theres a patent etc. i doubt galvanising solution or smartphones satisfy these conditions though.

 

watch dogs? i googled it and it looks to be a game. dissapointed in you today bro. the internet was made initially for military puposes i believe and now aside from commercial purposes it is used by the govenmental organisations and/or large companies to gather information about people.

[Terrymundo]

I was having a look at this thread early today thought a huge waste of time and cash by google

I garrentee you google does not waste their time and "cash" easily. everything they do is carefully  mapped and calculated. there is always levels risk with every stragetic move but google does not f*ck around. If they launch this it is because the estimated level risk is porpotionatly lesser than the level of projected return multipled by probablity of failure. 

[Spacebound]

Seems almost similar to TOR where your ip won't be represented by your true physical address. Which is only beneficial for doing illegal shit in essense.

As azide said has military benefits, what purposes those are used for would be interesting. I can't really see it having any benefits listed in the video as terrymundo pointed out, probably commissioned by some benefactor for their motives.

 

 

[Cameron_R]

Google ain't doing it for humanitarian reasons that's for sure. If they can connect another 2, 4 or 6 BILLION people that means fucking super massive off the scale growth for the internet and therefore for Google!

That aside, imagine how the world would change, and how fast it would change, if 'all of a sudden' 1 billion extra people, say in Africa joined the modern world via fast internet. 

 

(We'd see all our call centers go from Asia/India to Africa pretty quick :-) )

 

[crazyfacials]

internet was made initially for military puposes i believe

.

You are correct there, we're still using TCP/IP a protocol that was invented over 40 years ago...who ever came up with it must have been a genius for it be working up to this day and not looked at as a legacy protocol.....

 

 

 

[Pseudonym]

 

companies dont hide production costs...supply and demand, if someone can supply the same thing for less they will enter the market and do it.

Or, as in the case with the Telecom/Vodafone duopoly, they both keep prices high, because to start a price war is in neither company's best interests.

[ohjoshua]

 

companies dont hide production costs...supply and demand, if someone can supply the same thing for less they will enter the market and do it.

Or, as in the case with the Telecom/Vodafone duopoly, they both keep prices high, because to start a price war is in neither company's best interests.

lol

ever heard of 2 degrees?

 

Best thing to happen to NZ telco market for consumers. Prices have drops heaps since they joined the market.

[AZIDE]

 

 

companies dont hide production costs...supply and demand, if someone can supply the same thing for less they will enter the market and do it.

Or, as in the case with the Telecom/Vodafone duopoly, they both keep prices high, because to start a price war is in neither company's best interests.

lol

ever heard of 2 degrees?

 

Best thing to happen to NZ telco market for consumers. Prices have drops heaps since they joined the market.

2degrees uses Vodafone infrastructure.