[homebrewer]

I think they will have enough clients from other parts of the world to make it work. Large areas of my country can't really be covered with wired networks, it's too expensive to make it economically feasible without massive government subsidies, for which there's no money.

Starlink has already been used to connect very remote rural schools which previously only had dial-up connectivity (enough to send text email, but not much else).

And nobody here cares about American politics, we have enough of our own problems.

[izzydata]

It's not really American politics when Elon decides to turn off your countries internet for personal gain. Having such critical infrastructure in the hands of someone unstable wouldn't be a choice I ever make for something so important.

[iknowstuff]

You are probably referring to ukraine and you should know that this was entirely fake news. It was never disabled. It had never been enabled in Crimea in the first place, in accordance with US gov policy.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starlink_in_the_Russian-Ukrain...

    In 2022, Elon Musk denied a Ukrainian request to extend Starlink's coverage up to Russian-occupied Crimea during a counterattack on a Crimean port, from which Russia had been launching attacks against Ukrainian civilians; doing so would have violated US sanctions on Russia.[18] This event was widely reported in 2023, erroneously characterizing it as Musk "turning off" Starlink coverage in Crimea.

But you’re right of course that it might be in a sovereign country’s interest to build out their wired infrastructure instead of relying on external actors.

[gbriel]

The vast majority of the international community, including the United Nations, the United States, and the European Union, recognizes Crimea as a sovereign part of Ukraine. :)

[iknowstuff]

Sanctions were in place because russia controlled crimea regardless of international recognition, so what's your point

[renewiltord]

Oh damn, you’re right. The US should provide a portion of the Ukraine aid to the government in Crimea.

Perhaps we can drop off some Abrams for the Donbas region next time. It’s part of Ukraine after all.

[skinnymuch]

Nice to see what the colonizer imperialist state actors that love Zionism and unequal exchange side with.

[ingenieros]

USAID was ironically a significant customer for Starlink. People are probably already familiar with the 5,000 Ukraine terminal scandal, but pretty much all their offices (in Colombia at least) had 1 or more terminals. What does USAID have anything to do with this conversation? Well, DOGE was largely responsible for putting the final nail on that coffin. If you think he cares about remote rural schools having connectivity you better think again.

[arjie]

I actually prefer the economic system where providers don't have to care about the use cases and we're able to use the exchange of money for services to get things. I doubt Subaru cares about a yuppie couple going on a road trip to the redwoods. They just want my money. That's the sort of relationship I want with most vendors.

If Subaru started talking to me about how much they like that I take road trips with their cars I'd probably switch to a different vendor.

[quietsegfault]

Subaru literally tells me they like that I take road trips with their cars, and offer me swag to share other swag with people while I travel around. “Subaru Ambassador” program.

[arjie]

Well, that's opt-in, right? I don't think it should be illegal for people to have relationships with vendors. I just prefer our current system where vendor relationships don't require anyone to care.

[taytus]

It’s not “American politics” when a guy does a Nazi salute on live TV. So thanks for showing your political inclination.

[gunalx]

Not to be pedantic. But facism is politics.

[taytus]

Fascism isn't just American. If you're going to be pedantic, at least be accurate. My point: supporting an American fascist normalizes fascism everywhere