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Facebook Successfully Tests Laser Internet Drones
rtoz writes: At its F8 conference in San Francisco, Facebook announced the first hardware it plans to use to beam the Internet down to billions of people around the world. Codenamed "Aquila," the solar-powered drone has a wingspan comparable to a Boeing 737, but weighs less than a small car. It will be powered by solar panels on its wings, and it will be able to stay at altitudes of more than 60,000 feet for months at a time. Facebook says it'll begin test flights this summer, with a broader rollout over the next several years. The drones were tested over the UK recently, and everything worked as expected.
Mod me down into oblivion if you must, but not everyone lives in Seoul, Tokyo, Stockholm, or NYC with insanely fast fiber optics.
This is going to be great for people in rural areas, developing countries, and others who otherwise would remain hostages to the poor reliability and high latency of radio and satellite internet.
to beam the Internet down
*The internet in accordance with local and national regulations pertaining to censorship and surveillance.
to billions of people around the world.
Some restrictions apply, billions of people will be considered based on race, gender, social position and annual income as potential revenue factors when subscribing or continuing to use the product. underfunded schools and desolate post-capitalist urban areas wracked by systemic unemployment and without adequate starbucks will be avoided. Remember: you are the product, the drone is merely another way to deliver that product to consumer affiliate corporations.
Good people go to bed earlier.
I feel like an airship would be a lot more effective and safe for this purpose. Why doesn't anyone talk about that? Why always fixed wing drone technology?
Why, indeed?
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"