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Snail Mail Still Winning The Bandwidth War
LR_none writes "Today's New York Times has this short piece suggesting snail mail is the leading broadband technology, at least for video movies on demand. The article states that the 8 to 9 gigs of data on a DVD would take two weeks to download at 56kb, making Netflix' three-day distribution by mail seem speedy. (Since they can send three or more movies at once, Netflix compares favorably with DSL download speeds, too.) The author estimates Netflix alone distributes 1,500 terabytes a day, which is impressive considering the Internet carries 2,000TB a day (by estimates cited in the article). The 'immediate gratification' aspect of Internet consumerism has given a huge boost to companies like FedEx and UPS, but it's surprising to think of the post office as being the leading infrastructure provider for digital entertainment, in terms of market share and efficiency, for the forseeable future. (Disclaimer: I don't work for Netflix or the post office.)"
A rebuttal of what, exactly?
Is there some connection between the number of pirated movies available on the Internet and the number of non-pirated movies rented out by Netflix that's never been brought to light or something?
If I need it there Sometime Later This Week, I have no problem using the USPS for anything. They've never lost a piece of mail I was waiting for or sent out, and I have done a lot of business with patient buyers on eBay that were happy with the ship times and the handling with USPS. In fact, recently I have read about more issues with sending delicate equipment UPS/FedEx than with USPS Priority, for example.
Broadband just isn't a reality/necessity for enough people yet, and the size of applications and media in digital format is growing and is already too great for the Average Joe who has an affinity the Internet but doesn't know how to download 4 GB worth of video successfully (or patiently, for that matter).
- DDT
So long, michael. Don't let the door hit you...
I'm in Indiana - My NetFlix DVDs ship from and to Michigan, which is pretty consistently next-day service. I kind of assumed that they had several locations, and that they shipped out of the one closest to you, but I don't see specific info to that effect on their Web site.
NetFlix alone helped justify the cost of
;-)
getting an HDTV for me - I find I spend
more hours per week watching Netflix-supplied content than anything else, and most DVD's are in widescreen
formats.
It works out to be cheaper than Blockbuster if you like watching lots of
movies, and is more flexible than the
pay channels.
I wish they had more content though, as
you can pretty quickly run through all the
movies you haven't seen already.
What about Satellite?
I have a 40gb PVR and it's filled all the time.
From a +3 comment this morning to the front page! Nice! :-)
Ascalante: Your bride is over 3,000 years old.
Kull: She told me she was 19!
Write the DMA (see near the bottom of the page.) I did it and my junk mail was reduced, but not eliminated. I get a lot less national stuff though, most of what is left is local offers.
I've had enough abrasive sigs. Kittens are cute and fuzzy.
It's no wonder the bandwidth and latency of shipping DVDs is higher than the internet.
It's simpler to make a lower bits per packet protocol (like rs232 or SSA) than a higher bits per packet (uwSCSI).
you just make up for lower frequency with bigger packets.
the internet is an 8 data bit protocol compared to the (4.7GB * 8) data bit protocol of mailing DVDs.
my livejournal is interesting and worth reading - I swear. I know everyone thinks their blog is interesting. mine is.
It seems like Slashcode should be modified to automatically post a copy of the parent under any thread involving technology... would save everyone on /. (trolls, mods, humorists) a lot of time :)
"Destroy science and religion. Science would re-emerge exactly the same; but not religion." - Penn Jillette, paraphrased
Now, now, now, now, now, and I'm going to hold my breath until I get it!
*Thud*
In the words of Scotty, " I canna change the laws of physics Cap'n."
Honestly people, what sort of harm are you actually going to come to by having to wait to watch a movie until you receive it?
Hey, here's what I do. I walk to my library ( 5 minutes each way) and take out three videos. They already have more in stock than I can watch in what remains of my lifetime and the collection grows daily. If I do this early in the morning I can watch all three, return them, and take out three more, watch them and then repeat that one more time, making the last return the next morning when I return for three more to start my day. Repeat until death.
Pretty good "bandwith," and ecologically friendly too.
KFG
A former CS professor of mine always used the "truckload of tapes" analogy for an example of maximum bandwidth... and it's been valid for many years, and will be valid in the forseeable future. You simply can't beat a large physical media shipment for transferring large amounts of data. The problem that networks were invented to solve is not mass data transfer... it's latency.
People's reaction to electronic mail is astounding. The combined effect of government repression of cryptography and statements of "no expectation of privacy" can not be underestimated. How is it that people who expect to go to jail for intercepting the post also expect people to intercept and read their email?
DMCA, Hollings, Palladium. What might have sounded like paranoia is now common sense.