MacRumors' Webcast Stats during the MWSF 2006 Keynote

[MacRumors]

http://www.macrumors.com/images/macrumorsthreadlogo.gif (http://www.macrumors.com)

On January 10th, 2006, MacRumors delivered live updates of the Macworld San Francisco 2006 keynote speech given by Steve Jobs. Since no live Quicktime stream (http://www.macrumors.com/pages/2006/01/20060103235134.shtml) was made available, Mac fans had to rely on live web text updates. MacRumors.com successfully delivered live-updates to a record number of users using the latest web technologies.

After analyzing the logs, we've posted a summary (http://www.macrumors.com/events/mwsf2006-stats.php) of the MacRumorsLive system and the traffic that it generated.

In short, we peaked at approximately 103,000 simultaneous web visitors and over 6,000 IRC viewers during the keynote speech and consumed over 32 GB of bandwidth during the three hours surrounding the event.

[oingoboingo]

Interesting statistics. I wonder how many Kleenexes were soiled when the Intel iMac and MacBook Pro were announced? :D

[EricNau]

Woa, that is a lot! :eek:

Good Job MacRumors! :)

[dornoforpyros]

:eek: 32gb of bandwidth? Jeeze the most my companies site has ever used is 60gb...in a MONTH

[BlueRevolution]

no wonder I couldn't post comments on the news stories... whoa! and that's 32 GB of mostly plain text I guess. mind-boggling.

what's the site hosting setup like? are you going to pay dearly for that bandwidth?

[poe diddley]

i was following along while it was going on. pretty good work actually. macrumors had the best coverage by far as i tried to bounce between a couple other sites that were a lil behind u guys. next best thing to streaming quicktime IMO:)

[Xtremehkr]

Excellent job, congratulations to all involved for providing the best user experience to be had in this corner of the web. Here's to many more to look forward to.

[Zweben]

That's pretty damn impressive. Good work guys. Very well designed site to be able to handle that kind of traffic.

[MacNut]

Of all the MacWorld events ever covered by MacRumors this was the best one yet.

[Trowaman]

You guys did a great job in the coverage. The format was great and I enjoyed the 1 minute updates as compared to the 3 in previous years.

Thank you!

[Dr. Dastardly]

Holy Jebus!

Thats a frickin TON of bandwidth for a product announcement no one was sure of.

Yeah you guys this one down pat! Great work!

[MBHockey]

Yeah, congratulations on being able to handle all that. I think you guys were the only site, out of the 10 or so regular ones i visit, that actually worked without a hitch the entire keynote. Thanks!

[arn]

:eek: 32gb of bandwidth? Jeeze the most my companies site has ever used is 60gb...in a MONTH

If we had used the old full-page refresh method instead of the new AJAX enabled site, it would have generated close to 196 GB of bandwidth during the same period of time.

arn

[joker2]

VERY nice work! (I'd hate to see the bandwidth bill! :eek: )

[SiliconAddict]

Again I want to thank the Macrumors forum server for almost giving its life so that Mac fans could continue to freak out, bitch, and worry before, during, and after (Most of the bitch after mind you.) the keynote. It took some real gonads to keep the forum server unlocked the entire time. Thanks.


If we had used the old full-page refresh method instead of the new AJAX enabled site, it would have generated close to 196 GB of bandwidth during the same period of time.

arn

Arn. Do you guys think you will ever bring back the Macrumors mugs?
http://www.macrumors.com/images/contribmug_thumb.jpg

I, and I'm sure many others, would be more then willing to plunk down some $$ to help MR's. Esp in times like this where you eat through bandwidth like a thirsty man in the desert goes through water.

[treblah]

Go MacRumors :D

By far the best coverage on the net!

Heres to the next Stevenote/WWDC/Paris coverage ;)

[quackattack]

Wow! Congrats MacRumors on surviving the storm! I know I sure appreciated the fantastic job MR did. It was a wonderful way to keep updated.

I had no idea so many others were enjoying it with me. :eek: :eek:

[Doctor Q]

Next year more fine-tuning will make MacRumors coverage even better, as Steve Jobs announces the secret plan for switching from Intel to AMD and the new MacBook nano.

[narco]

I visit a lot of Mac-related websites, and you guys had the best coverage without a doubt. In fact, some of the other sites were just copy/pasting what you guys were posting.

Fishes,
narco.

[jnasato]

Wow, that's really amazing... Impressive that the servers could handle it all.

Thanks for the coverage MacRumors!

[Menhir]

Kudos on a job wonderfully done!! I was following the keynote on multiple sites, including engadget, which covered CES keynotes pretty well, but even they couldn't sustain the hits like you guys did. Amazing responsiveness and perfect updates!!

Again, you guys were undoubtedly the best!

[greg555]

I was totally impressed by the way the site held up. Well done.

Greg

[mad jew]

Nice work. I was surprised how dead the forums were despite all those logged-on people though. Awe-inspired silence maybe?

[iEdd]

Wow. Nicely done. Those messages of 'overwhelming interest' certainly weren't lying. :)
I'd also like to say thanks for this site not having pop-ups or annoying advertisements. It's understandable that some pay the hosting fees, but I'm glad you guys have kept it tame :)

[hscottm]

its scary to think that there are 100,000 of us hard up for rumors.

No wonder steve made special mention of "super secret mac rumors" in his fake keynote podcast.

I wonder if internal marketing estimates think of this (e.g., "we could make an ipod toilet and those rumor-ons would buy 100,000 of them, so lets do it").

I just thought there were 500 or so of us wackos.

[sw1tcher]

Thanks MR.

Why have some people rated this negatively though? MR did an outstanding job.

[sethypoo]

Wow!:eek:

Thank God for AJAX! I had no idea that so many other people were on MacRumorslive at the same time I was.

Thank you Arn, and all the mods who help keep MacRumors so.....rockin'.

[After G]

Interesting statistics. I wonder how many Kleenexes were soiled when the Intel iMac and MacBook Pro were announced? :DI wonder how many people crapped their pants.

[yippy]

Wow, great job. I had no idea MacRumors was so big and professionally run.

Upset I missed it though. Had a flight that left LA at 10:30 so I didn't get to see anything live:mad: .

So what did the macrumorslive website look like? Got a screen shot or just a good description:o .

[netmonkey]

Excellent. I think that the crew running the site did well this time around... there was no downtime like last year and unlike certain sites that think secret this year. :cool:

I thought that AJAX was all about pretty flashy stuff that makes web apps easier to use. But now looking at how much bandwith was saved, it seems like a pretty strong tool for the web, just like switching to web standards saved some bandwith years ago.

[Peace]

WoW!:eek:

Fine job gentlemen!!

And thanx :)

[blasto333]

Great job macrumors, this by far is my favorite site on the internet. It has everything I want to know about macs and great information, great interaction, and a clean simple look.

I can't belive there were 100,000+ users reading the text updates for the keynote. The site speed was great and AJAX is a great technology.

[pascalpp]

as one of the IRC listeners, i'd like to thank MacRumors for providing the IRC feed. it was really great - and fast.

that said, I can't wait until Apple figures out how to stream video LIVE OVER THE INTERNET. man, that will be awesome when that happens. :)

[blasto333]

as one of the IRC listeners, i'd like to thank MacRumors for providing the IRC feed. it was really great - and fast.

that said, I can't wait until Apple figures out how to stream video LIVE OVER THE INTERNET. man, that will be awesome when that happens.

If I remember correctly I think apple use to stream their keynotes live. Maybe 2-3 years ago was the last time.

[xPismo]

...I thought that AJAX was all about pretty flashy stuff that makes web apps easier to use. But now looking at how much bandwith was saved, it seems like a pretty strong tool for the web...

Totally. I always put off ajax as more flash than anything else. Now I know better. Oh, and I'm down for some schwag purchases to help offset the bandwidth (since I was, um, in IRC and had the ajax page open :eek: :D ) but it seems like Arn & the rest have it covered.

[sethypoo]

I'm all for the return of the MacRumors mugs! Either that, or some other sexy apparel to buy to help support MacRumors.

Any chance of this happening?

[Phat_Pat]

I'm all for the return of the MacRumors mugs! Either that, or some other sexy apparel to buy to help support MacRumors.

Any chance of this happening?
macrumor thongs

[thumper]

latest web technology..?

wheres the live VIDEO???
i found more joy in waiting 3 hours for Apple
to post the video then coming on here and spoiling it.

it was only 3 hours i had to wait then i could watch
the video and be surprised like how everyone eles there was.

by far the best way to learn about new apple stuff.!

i was a little upset cuz i heard thru macrumors that
apple wasnt doing a live cast but i thought i read somewhere on here
that mac rumors was gonna do it... so naturaly i came on here to
look and WAM! SPOILERS ALL OVER THE FRECKEN PLACE!

AHHHHHHH!!!:eek:

[the.snitch]

Good work guys! Wow, 103,000 unique viewers :eek:
There must be a lot of silent types on here, just for reading but not posting.

And I second the notion for Macrumors mugs. I would pay for one of them to support you guys ;)
(that, and i just broke my 9 year old south park mug an hour ago :(

[macosxuser01]

32gb of bandwith thats crazy:eek:

[Mr.Hey]

Good work guys! Wow, 103,000 unique viewers :eek:
There must be a lot of silent types on here, just for reading but not posting.

And I second the notion for Macrumors mugs. I would pay for one of them to support you guys ;)
(that, and i just broke my 9 year old south park mug an hour ago :(

aawww

I'm curious how MR makes its money to pay for all this...sounds very expensive for an enthusiast site. And get some shirts out already. But with newer MR logos(read- badass design) and I'll buy some. I'm sure many would also. I'm looking for the Apple version (black one) of the Intel Duo logo.

[Doctor Q]

I'm all for the return of the MacRumors mugs! Either that, or some other sexy apparel to buy to help support MacRumors.Do T-shirts and stickers (http://www.cafepress.com/macrumors) count?

[BlueRevolution]

Nice work. I was surprised how dead the forums were despite all those logged-on people though. Awe-inspired silence maybe?

didn't get the "server busy" notices when you tried to post then?

of course, if it was up during the keynote there would be 10s of thousands of posts on the news stories.

[EricNau]

Wow, great job. I had no idea MacRumors was so big and professionally run.

Upset I missed it though. Had a flight that left LA at 10:30 so I didn't get to see anything live:mad: .

So what did the macrumorslive website look like? Got a screen shot or just a good description:o .
What we got was this...
http://www.macrumors.com/events/mwsf2006.html

Every minute the text would update with several new entries. It was similar to a chat-room, but only one person was posting.

[Mr.Hey]

Do T-shirts and stickers (http://www.cafepress.com/macrumors) count?

Those are cool. But it's time for an upgrade.

[mad jew]

didn't get the "server busy" notices when you tried to post then?


Surprisingly, I got very few and they all redeemed themselves when I refreshed the page. :)

[nagromme]

The forum did bog down badly for several hours--probably creating the appearance of stunned silence when in fact people were trying to post and just bottlenecking eachother?

But I'd MUCH rather have live coverage than comments any day :)

BTW, if MR ever wants to use AJAX to accelerate the forum side of things, I'd be happy to supply a script. I'm thinking something that would automatically post so humans don't have to... just a random assortment of "no modem?," "no plasma TVs?," "ordered mine!" and " :eek: "

I think it would work. People wouldn't even realize the posts were automatic :)

[AdeFowler]

Many thanks to all at MR. It was a great experience compared with previous feeds. The one minute countdown completely removes the irresistible urge to refresh :rolleyes:

[Random Avenger]

I don't think that the bandwidth is going to be a problem. They had google ads, which will *easily* cover the (at most) $10 in bandwidth.

[aswitcher]

32,000,000 KB :) Not bad for 90 minutes...

[Dalriada]

MacRumors rules the waves... kudos. Must find time to sign up as a contributor... but would really like a Mug... :p

[sconline]

Yours was the only feed that stayed up right the way through the proceedings - fantastic job!

[Jaunty]

I was able to read live updates on my Treo 650 over GPRS on the train home, no problems whatsoever. Excellent work

[bugfaceuk]

I won't go on, but a huge thank-you for doing it. It was a stunning service, and certainly maintained the excitement for me over here in blighty.

Kudos to you all for organizing.

AJAX, not bad for sink cleaner is it?

[bugfaceuk]

I was able to read live updates on my Treo 650 over GPRS on the train home, no problems whatsoever. Excellent work

LOL me too! I was going to mention that but I thought "pah, no one will care" but at least I know one other person would have. It was great.

[Knox]

It's interesting that most people notice the 32GB number. For the servers, 32GB in a few hours is actually not that much - they could do 3x that amount without any problem if they were serving bigger files to fewer people. The problem comes from the number of simultaneous visitors and therefore the hits/second they have to do - it's the 3,812 hits/second number that is the most impressive for me.

Slightly technical, but the bandwidth figure only includes the "file" data sent, and not the bandwidth used to initiate the connection and all the other protocol stuff that needs to be done to request a file from the server. It's a less accurate figure, and one that most people don't look at, but if you look at the raw data going through the servers it's actually closer to 70GB.

no wonder I couldn't post comments on the news stories... whoa! and that's 32 GB of mostly plain text I guess. mind-boggling.

what's the site hosting setup like? are you going to pay dearly for that bandwidth?

Probably about 75% text. MacRumorsLive was hosted on different servers from MacRumors itself, nothing particularly powerful to be honest, just set up to be very efficient :) (and no, they weren't Xserves :p) In itself, the bandwidth used won't cost anything over and above the charges for the servers, but of course you have to pay for the servers in the first place.

[lexfuzo]

here's to you!

[dermotg]

Just wanted to add my congratulations to MacRumors for the great coverage of MWSF.

[angelwatt]

Kudos to those involved. AJAX is definitely a great technique for this style of information delivery, and you wielded it like a sword.

[Lacero]

Perhaps next year, Macrumorslive can provide us with real-time H.264 HD video streaming at 512 Kbit/s. I'll pitch in one rupee for bandwidth costs. :p

Here's to the Crazy Ones http://forums.macrumors.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=35452 (http://www.uriah.com/apple-qt/movies/think-different.mov)

[running]

i tried to make a torrent, it should be here (http://ts.searching.com/torrent/511778/2006_Macworld_Keynote_Steven_Jobs) now, but i am still the only sharing one, so download please (it will maybe take a lot of time)

[osprey76]

Nice work guys. I had no glitches at all with your live coverage while I was at work.

[Lepton]

Unlike past years, there were no glitches. I didn't stall, didn't get disconnected from IRC... Very good!

Really though, Apple should figure out some way to get their announcements out live, even in low bandwidth text form.

[Dicx]

Hi,

I would like to thank everyone for the kind comments. I was one of the helpers at the keynote to get it out to all of you. I was sitting in the audience and was using my 15" PB with a Verizon WAN card and typing in iChat to arn as fast as I could. Kudos to arn for putting up with my mis-spellings!

I look forward to next year if I am going, to repeating the same feat with even more visitors.

Thanks again.

Rob

ps. I do have a Macbook Pro ordered. If anyone would like anymore observationns from hands-on with the Macbook, you can email me at: rmassung@gmail.com.

[717]

Hup Ajax !! Ajax Kampioen !!

[whooleytoo]

If it takes 32GB to deliver a text feed, the mind boggles on how much it must take to provide a video feed! I think we may be a long, long way from seeing live video feeds again.

[TheMasin9]

If we had used the old full-page refresh method instead of the new AJAX enabled site, it would have generated close to 196 GB of bandwidth during the same period of time.

arn
wow, just be happy you dont have to foot that kind of bill...

[TheMasin9]

Nice work on the keynote presentation. I would have been with you all the way but my battery on my pb was in the red right before the mbp announcment....

[magic]

Just wanted to add my voice to the chorus. It was not only the best MacRumors keynote coverage, but the best keynote coverage period. The one-minute updates were great -- the format and AJAX setup was clean, professional, and solid all around.

A hearty thanks to everyone who was involved! :)

[Sunrunner]

You guys did a great job in the coverage. The format was great and I enjoyed the 1 minute updates as compared to the 3 in previous years.

Thank you!


The counter was a great touch, and Im sure it kept the amount of manual refreshes down to a minimum.

I was wondering, what method did you guys use to get the announcements out of the keynote hall? I know Apple typically asks for cellphones off and disables network access... carrier pigeon perhaps?

[winmacguy]

Again I want to thank the Macrumors forum server for almost giving its life so that Mac fans could continue to freak out, bitch, and worry before, during, and after (Most of the bitch after mind you.) the keynote. It took some real gonads to keep the forum server unlocked the entire time. Thanks.




Arn. Do you guys think you will ever bring back the Macrumors mugs?
http://www.macrumors.com/images/contribmug_thumb.jpg

I, and I'm sure many others, would be more then willing to plunk down some $$ to help MR's. Esp in times like this where you eat through bandwidth like a thirsty man in the desert goes through water.

Tea and coffee lover here. Count me in on a MR mug if you bring them out a again:) And great job on the webserver department during the keynote speech. There was only about 3 times when I got the server to buisy message. I'm still on dialup in NZ - its slow but very cheap. We do have 256k broadband but it is a ripoff at this stage

[winmacguy]

Perhaps next year, Macrumorslive can provide us with real-time H.264 HD video streaming at 512 Kbit/s. I'll pitch in one rupee for bandwidth costs. :p

Here's to the Crazy Ones http://forums.macrumors.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=35452 (http://www.uriah.com/apple-qt/movies/think-different.mov)
Speaking of rupees Lacero, you could keep us updated with your travels as well, although I dont expect that you would see too many MacBooks in India...:p

[winmacguy]

I'm all for the return of the MacRumors mugs! Either that, or some other sexy apparel to buy to help support MacRumors.

Any chance of this happening?
Maybe Lacero could model the apparel:cool: :D <covers head and runs>

[Dicx]

I was wondering, what method did you guys use to get the announcements out of the keynote hall? I know Apple typically asks for cellphones off and disables network access... carrier pigeon perhaps?

Read my post above.

Thanks again.

Rob

[ender78]

Do T-shirts and stickers (http://www.cafepress.com/macrumors) count?

How about a logo or t-shirt design contest ? The current shirt is a little plain.

[arn]

For reference, Apple's 2002 Quicktime Live Stream of MWSF attracted 81,000 simultaneous viewers (http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2002/jan/09quicktime.html).

No official stats available from the 2003 Quicktime Stream (which was the last quicktime stream made available Live), but they mention that it had reached 150,000 streams (http://birdhouse.org/blog/archives/2003/01/steve_jobs_keyn.php) during the keynote.

[mobility3]

It's nice to be on the other side of the planet from MWSF and keep up pretty much in real time on IRC. Great work guys!

I also noticed a huge amount of internet news media coverage after the event, as much, if not more than the CES keynotes in Vegas...

[SiliconAddict]

i tried to make a torrent, it should be here (http://ts.searching.com/torrent/511778/2006_Macworld_Keynote_Steven_Jobs) now, but i am still the only sharing one, so download please (it will maybe take a lot of time)


Not to get too personal but how's your pipe? ;)

I'm willing to download and share as long as it doesn't take 6 months to download. :eek:

[Superhob]

I wanted to commend MacRumors on the fantastic coverage of the Macworld keynote. You simply had the best coverage with no interruptions or failed page refreshes. I simultaneously watched on several of the "other" sites that claimed to have live coverage but they were bogged down and never recovered until well after the end of the keynote.

Good Job Macrumors!!!!!:D

[Mitthrawnuruodo]

That's really impressive numbers. I actually had Conversation running to follow the IRC channel in case the live page became sluggish, but I was very impressed with the new live page. Now after hearing the number of visitors I'm even more so... :)

Very, very nice work!

So next year maybe a little upgrade on the forums, too... in an hour or two after the keynote I barely managed to get a post or two submitted in all the "Server to busy" messages... ;)

[doogle]

it's amazing how fast those minutes kept ticking over, even at 4.00AM in Australia.

Great job MR!
The guy who was typing the comments is to be commended - he/she was direct, short and sharp- no stupid comments, it would be so tempting to put your own spin on the info and he/she resisted commendably. Well done.

[winmacguy]

it's amazing how fast those minutes kept ticking over, even at 4.00AM in Australia.

Great job MR!
The guy who was typing the comments is to be commended - he/she was direct, short and sharp- no stupid comments, it would be so tempting to put your own spin on the info and he/she resisted commendably. Well done.
I am assuming by the way the post was written that the poster is a guy. I have noticed that some of the females (my assumption) on this forum such as Applespider(Demi-goddess is a bit of a giveaway ;) ), summerbreeze, vniow and Lacero are females by the way they word their posts. Females tend to write somewhat differently than guys.

Edit: I have noticed that my MR number seems to be going through the Intel chip number models a bit lately. Hopefully something significant or Demi-god like is going to pop up shortly...;) :cool:

[Dicx]

I am assuming by the way the post was written that the poster is a guy. I have noticed that some of the females (my assumption) on this forum such as Applespider(Demi-goddess is a bit of a giveaway ;) ), summerbreeze, vinow and Lacero are females by the way they word their posts. Females tend to write somewhat differently than guys.


Yes I am a guy :)

Thanks for the comments. I had thought about putting something special in the comments, but I got about as far as "Applause"

Later,

Rob

[doogle]

Yes I am a guy :)

Thanks for the comments. I had thought about putting something special in the comments, but I got about as far as "Applause"

Later,

Rob

Was there any discussion between the gods about how you should type the comments...I mean did you go in with a plan that simple and direct was best?

Perhaps the pressure and speed of the keynote just did not give you the luxury to be too creative?

Did you feel any pressure that some thousands of people were hanging off your every word?

[Doctor Q]

Was there any discussion between the gods about how you should type the comments...I mean did you go in with a plan that simple and direct was best?It's clear that members want whatever we can provide, particularly a blow-by-blow report of announcements as they are made. Since details and analysis can't be provided live, that information is posted in the form of news stories once we switch from live coverage back to the regular news page.

[Dicx]

Was there any discussion between the gods about how you should type the comments...I mean did you go in with a plan that simple and direct was best?

Perhaps the pressure and speed of the keynote just did not give you the luxury to be too creative?

Did you feel any pressure that some thousands of people were hanging off your every word?

To tell you the truth, I never even thought about it. I am a bad typer (as arn can attest to) and he was in a group with my co-workers on iChat. I typed the way I knew my co-workers would understand. I did embellish some but arn cut that out as right he should have. Especially when Steve was on his "one more thing.." intro.

I had no idea that so many people would be watching, I did know that other rumor sites had the same deal going on but not that arn's would be the best. I was just helping out. Hell, I never even logged on at the keynote until 3 min before Steve came on, I wasn't sure how my battery would hold up.

[arn]

I had no idea that so many people would be watching, I did know that other rumor sites had the same deal going on but not that arn's would be the best. I was just helping out. Hell, I never even logged on at the keynote until 3 min before Steve came on, I wasn't sure how my battery would hold up.

Getting a live feed from Macworld was a bit of a touch and go proposition this year. We had a few different sources... as it turned out RMassung gave us the best feed this year, and it was greatly appreciated. :)

I never go into too many details about how the feeds are actually gotten, as I don't want to draw an undue attention to the feeds from Apple/IDG or whatnot... but a couple of our primary feeds didn't work out, and we ended up relying almost entirely on rmassung's typed feeds. We had two typed feeds coming it at one point, but lost one mid way due to connectivity issues.

:)

arn

[doogle]

Getting a live feed from Macworld was a bit of a touch and go proposition this year. We had a few different sources... as it turned out RMassung gave us the best feed this year, and it was greatly appreciated. :)

I never go into too many details about how the feeds are actually gotten, as I don't want to draw an undue attention to the feeds from Apple/IDG or whatnot... but a couple of our primary feeds didn't work out, and we ended up relying almost entirely on rmassung's typed feeds. We had two typed feeds coming it at one point, but lost one mid way due to connectivity issues.

:)

arn

Fascinating stuff, thanks guys.

[Subliving]

I'd just like to say a huge thank you to MacRumors. Fantastic coverage and not one glitch!

Thank you!

Subliving