Google Global Cache Is Coming to Cuba (ap.org)

"The Associated Press reports that on Monday Eric Schmidt will be in Havana to sign a deal bringing Google Global Cache to Cuba," writes lpress. Here's some details from the AP's report on the deal. Cuba suffers from some of the world's slowest internet speeds due to a range of problems that include the convoluted, and thus slower, paths that data must travel between Cuban users and servers that are often in the U.S... home internet connections remain illegal for virtually all Cubans, forcing them to use public WiFi spots that are often shared by dozens of people at a time and run at achingly slow speeds... Both pro-detente forces and those arguing for a hard line on President Raul Castro's single-party government have been pushing for Cubans to have better access to information.
The article cites Slashdot reader Larry Press as "a California-based expert on the Cuban internet," who also shares some more thoughts on his blog. "I'd love to see a country -- even a small one -- in which Google Plus was more popular than Facebook."

Comments

Is there a Google Global Cache map?

[Anonymous Coward]

The best map I could find was a 2015 test that found 2383 "cache instances" in 800 locations around the globe.

I'm just wondering if we're headed to a future where the third world surf the web on Google's internet, while Google silently monitors their traffic to help calculating their page rankings.

Poor cubans

[Rosco P. Coltrane]

Before they had information filtered and warped by the Castro regime, now they'll have information filtered and warped by Google...

Re:Poor cubans

[93 Escort Wagon]

And, before that, the information was filtered and warped by the Batista regime.

Let's not pretend that, before Castro, Cuba was some wonderful place for most of its citizens.

Re:Poor cubans

[guestapoo]

Unlike N.Korea, which is a black hole of informations, so everyone can say everything about this country.
But, for the case of Cuba, there are tons of tourists here, so one want to say somethings must be 'careful'. Even the 'Reporters without border', despite painted Cuba in black color, but could not deny that:
http://web.archive.org/web/201...

At the Correos de Cuba and the hotels, you have access to practically all news websites such as lemonde.fr, bbc.com, El Nuevo Herald (a Miami-based Spanish-language daily) and even to dissident sites. This is also the case for government employees with a computer and Internet access.

“I haven’t opened Granma for years,” says Luis, who works for the culture ministry. “I get my news from Google and the BBC website and I have never had any problem getting to websites operated by government opponents.
In fact, of all the news stories I wanted to read on the Internet, only one has been blocked.

I do not say that Cuba has freedom of informations, when it's a totalitarian regime. But, saying that Cubans have limited access Internet because of Chinese-style informations filter is not correct:
* they don't have this kind of technology. Also, in fact, the Great Firewall does not works perfectly, I used Internet inside this curtain, and it's extreme annoying. That's why Chinese have been paying much money for VPN, proxy for accessing Internet outside.
* The main reason for this (limited access Internet in Cuba) is the price, the bandwidth.

Left-wing bias alert!

[Nutria]

Who does lpress first blame on Cuban internet slowness?

Not the fact that internet connections are illegal for the vast majority of Cubans.
Not the fact that they can only get it through a small number of overburdened public WiFi hot spots who's connections are slow to begin with.

No. As usual, The Liberal Blames America First.

Who needs fake news when distortion is soooo much more effective, and has the benefit of being... true?

Re:Left-wing bias alert!

[Ksevio]

Well Google isn't aiming to fix the first two issues, they're fixing the slow connection to the outside. The US embargo prevented telecom connections to the US so that seems like a pretty good candidate to blame.

Now if the article was about Google installing wifi balloons or something, then you'd have a point, but it seems like you're just trying to distort the issue to make some sort of misguided point.

Re:Left-wing bias alert!

[drinkypoo]

Not the fact that internet connections are illegal for the vast majority of Cubans.

No longer true, though they are subject to monitoring and scrutiny.

Not the fact that they can only get it through a small number of overburdened public WiFi hot spots who's connections are slow to begin with.

That part is still true.

"Castro's single-party government"

[jcr]

The word is "dictatorship". Or, if you prefer: "tyranny".

-jcr

Re:WTF is this BS Slashdot?

[93 Escort Wagon]

Associated and Larry are first cousins.

stop making excuses for yourself, america

[nimbius]

Cuba suffers from some of the world's slowest internet speeds due to a range of problems

Oh, i can think of only one. how about a 60 year embargo imposed by the United states and maintained solely as a talisman for other states to gaze into should they have the audacity to challenge or refuse Washingtons foreign policy. What cuba did was nothing short of goddamn heresy in the early sixties. While most south american countries enjoyed rule by one of washingtons satellite plutocrats, Castro had the gall to thumb his nose at more than a dozen attempts on his life. While Nicaraguan families cowered from American Contra soldiers, Castro nationalized industry and expanded healthcare. And when america realized their last entry into central and south american politics was through Cuba, they acquiesced and suddenly became best friendos with a nation that has almost never shared the policy of profiteering Google seeks to introduce.