Duivenpost is sneller dan internet

[C2C]

Ik ben al lang gefascineerd door low-tech en no-tech denkers.

Jullie kennen misschien onze eigenste legendarische Kris De Decker wiens Low Tech Magazine intussen tot in Silicon Valley wordt gelezen.

Wat men vroeger "sneakernet" noemde (fysiek data transporteren zonder van het internet gebruik te maken) is blijkbaar aan een revival bezig. Dat komt omdat de capaciteit van digitale opslagmedia 3 keer sneller evolueert dan de snelheid van het internet.

De Decker toont in welke gevallen fysiek transport van data sneller is dan internet:

Truckloads of hard disks
Imagine you put a portable hard disk of 500 gigabytes in your backpack and start walking. In which cases are you faster than your internet connection?

Hier enkele quotes:

-“Sending 500 gigabytes goes faster by foot than by DSL from the moment the distance is less than 1,225 kilometres (761 miles)”

-“Ten years in the future, a carrier pigeon will be able to transfer 2 terabytes of information” -- want: “The capacity of storage media is evolving 3 times faster than the speed of internet connections”

Digital cargo

Digital cargo
However, the good performance of the sneakernet does raise a couple of questions. For example: is the internet suited for the large scale distribution of high resolution movies or television programs? Many people see this as the future, but it seems not so plausible. It might turn out that it will always be faster, cheaper and more practical to send high-res movies by postal service than by internet - companies like Netflix are already doing this.

The good performance of the sneakernet for sending large files is also another dent in the environmentally friendly image of the information society. Energy-guzzling datacenters, toxic production methods and mountains of e-waste have already stained this perception. Are truckloads of hard disks crossing the country another part of the 21st century information society? The virtual world seems to become more real every day.

De vraag blijft enkel: is sneakernet goedkoper dan data transfer via internet?

[Thomas-]

Leuke denkoefening maar praktisch nut nihil, het versturen van zeer grote hoeveelheden data naar één locatie is iets wat de gemiddelde persoon zelden of nooit doet.

Het centraal denkpunt van onderstaande quote uit 2009 is door de realiteit al onderuit gehaald. Streaming van films en TV series is aan een zware opmars bezig, met een goede internetconnectie trek je een TV serie van een uurtje binnen op nog geen 5 minuten tijd. Daar kan de postman of de postduif niet tegenop.

However, the good performance of the sneakernet does raise a couple of questions. For example: is the internet suited for the large scale distribution of high resolution movies or television programs? Many people see this as the future, but it seems not so plausible. It might turn out that it will always be faster, cheaper and more practical to send high-res movies by postal service than by internet - companies like Netflix are already doing this.