Apple Satellite...

[puffmarvin]

i read someone mention a few months ago what a great idea it would be for an apple satellite network...im beginning more and more to believe in the benefits apple could get from it...
imagine... a satellite network which provided wireless internet access to any apple computer...consider it airport X. could one even guess the amount of windows pc users who would switch over to the mac just to have this access. internet access anywhere in the country, any time, any place. apple could even charge for the new airport cards ($199) and then a monthly feee of say $39.99.
i would be more than willing to pay this price if i were able to use my ti-book in my car on the road, at a friends place, in the library, etc. im sure someone over at apple has mentioned it to the product development team. i wonder how feasible it would be. im sure there would be problems at first such as bandwidth but look at XM radio and how well they are doing with satellite radio in just two months of service. i wish i had some money...i mean a LOT of money where i could do something like this... imagine the possibilities

 

[eyelikeart]

which category does indifferent fall?

 

[whfsdude]

That would be cool but then I would have to sell my gf.

 

[Tomasz]

That's not a bad idea.... but how much would it really cost to implement? Also how many people would have to sign up for it to be profitable? Another thing to consider is that there may be a need for more than one satelitte if you really want to have acces anywhere.

Regarding the price, I think that 39.99 is really good. If this idea ever materiallized (which most likely will not happen for a long, long, long time) I probably would switch. But if the speeds are less than that of current broadband (as most satilite services are) then it may be a good idea only for people that just need portable internet access constantly. Or people that can't get cable lines hooked up to their homes (my neighbors....). But if it is slower than cable, and you don't necessarily need to use the internet on the go constantly, then you probably would keep your current service.

Tomasz

 

[Andrés]

For shure that could be something big, really big. Im shure that's the future, not so far from now. But if apple has the iniciative... IMAGINE

Steve's mail is sjobs@apple.com why dont we all ask him for it. He is the man!

 

[pc_convert?]

It's a nice dream but financially impracticle. Anyone remeber the Iridium global phone network?

The cost of getting satellites into orbit, manning a control centre 24/7 is just too much.

But you can still dream...

 

[evildead]

we all voted

we all voted for "yes, wish it were true"

Chasing rainbows is fun I guess... but this is just not something Apple could do any time soon

 

[mischief]

Cost.

Don't discount unless you've read the article. Average launch cost as built traditionally is about 5 billion all told. Launch cost for this "gossamer" method is about 5 million. That's dirt cheap. Irridium failed because it used technology that was never mass-adopted and because they implemented it at full scale at full cost. IEEE 802.11b is mass adopted already. The low to-orbit cost and existing market base is enough to outclass Irriduim with no further analysis. I'm upset because I don't have the $$$ handy to buy out Skycom! If only 1 in 100 Americans signed on at $40 a month (basic), that's an income of: 60 million/100*40*12=$288,000,000.00 per year!!!! (please, check my math)

"Flame On!!"

 

[cryptochrome]

Satellites are great for sending information to earth, but not so good at recieving it - especially when there are so many of them. In other words, download=fine, upload=crap. You have to have a very strong or focused reciever for upload not to be crap. Plus there are latency issues, and the hassle of getting approved/stable/good orbits which offer complete coverage and won't make your network another piece of space junk, etc.

So while satellite sounds great, there are a lot of issues. It might be worth it.

 

[jaredbbauer]

I think that it would be awesome. I would buy it even if it cost double the amount you people are talking about!!! I would love it!