Photo: Facebook
As we are writing this text, there’s a live counter that tells us a little over 3,092 billion people are using the internet in the world and growing. That’s around 40% of the world population. Does that surprise you? If not, it should. It definitely worked that way for Google and Facebook, who are working on flying unmanned aircraft that will end up providing internet coverage to remote areas. Mark Zuckerberg just made an interested announcement about that.
Hey, when you say this planet is populated by more than 7 billion people while only half of them are actually connected it could mean a lot of things. It could mean freedom for activists, not a big deal for hipsters or even some sort of victory over technology for others.
But for giant IT companies it means but one thing: more business. Money, loads of cash that are not being spent, millions of people that could become buyers, consumers and, in the last place, internet users their own interest.
“Today, I’m excited to share that we’ve successfully completed our first test flight of these aircraft in the UK. [...] Aircraft like this will help connect the whole world because they can affordably serve the 10% of the world’s population that live in remote communities without existing internet infrastructure,” the founder of Facebook wrote in a post on...well, Facebook.
Zuckerberg says the final design of this huge drones will have a wingspan greater than a Boeing 737 but will weigh less than a car. It will be powered by solar panels, of course, which will be mounted on its wings. Believe it or not, these puppies will fly for months at a time, reaching altitudes of more than 60,000 feet (18,288 m).
Take that Google!
But for giant IT companies it means but one thing: more business. Money, loads of cash that are not being spent, millions of people that could become buyers, consumers and, in the last place, internet users their own interest.
“Today, I’m excited to share that we’ve successfully completed our first test flight of these aircraft in the UK. [...] Aircraft like this will help connect the whole world because they can affordably serve the 10% of the world’s population that live in remote communities without existing internet infrastructure,” the founder of Facebook wrote in a post on...well, Facebook.
Zuckerberg says the final design of this huge drones will have a wingspan greater than a Boeing 737 but will weigh less than a car. It will be powered by solar panels, of course, which will be mounted on its wings. Believe it or not, these puppies will fly for months at a time, reaching altitudes of more than 60,000 feet (18,288 m).
Take that Google!
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