Slashdot Mirror
Bandwidth Demand at American Universities
Robert Rwebangira writes: "There is an article in The New York Times (free reg required), discussing college students 'insatiable demand for bandwidth.' Of particular interest is the continuing prominence of file-sharing (inspite of the demise of Napster) and the amount of bandwidth consumed in even 'legitimate' activities. It seems students demand for bandwidth just keeps growing."
mr. trudging through snow uphill both ways..
The undergrads at Stanford, for instance, are required to pay about $8000/quarter tuition, in addition to about $900/month room and board. What they get for that room and board money is (the plans vary) two meals a day and half of a small room with a sink and a closet. Many students --depending on their seniority-- are required to live in these rat holes.
You seem to think they are eating caviar and lounging in spas.
For all that money, they damn well better get gold plated 1MB/s bandwidth. Instead, the optical ring around campus is already stopped up on high traffic times, and download speeds are routinely around 5-6Kbytes/second.
You say they're spoiled, I say they're getting screwed.
And to those who laud schools which firewall out IM clients, or who complain about use of pr0n, remember: it's not like the terminal at your work. These people live on campus. They're adults, and they are paying a lot more per unit of square foot than 90% of the (non-student) slashdot crowd. Let them use the internet and download whatever the hell they want in their off-times. Just like you do, even though you are paying less.
When in doubt, have a man come through a door with a gun in his hand.