Great Power Technology

The grandmother who couldn't get through the phone thanked Ye Zhou and his party profusely in dialect. Ye Zhou learned from the guide that she didn't understand the word "no service" on the phone and thought her son wasn't answering the phone. I was abandoned.

For her, this was probably the most terrifying thing that had ever happened to her in her twilight years.

After making the call, Ye Zhou taught her how to listen to the notification tone on the phone. Her mood immediately improved, and she even asked the guide to insist on letting him stay for dinner. However, Ye Zhou's trip was not over yet, so everyone could only refuse. .

After leaving Grandma's home, Ye Zhou and his party continued to other residential areas. The maintenance and repairmen had to conduct road tests at each residential area, so they happened to be on the same road with them. After seeing several typical left-behind elderly people, Ye Zhou The boat set off to return, while the maintenance man continued to do his routine road test work.

After returning to the river valley, Ye Lan, who had been holding back for a long time, finally spoke.

"Brother, now I know why Starlink is a waste."

Ye Zhou glanced at her and felt a little funny.

In fact, before setting off, Ye Lan argued with himself about the practicality of the star chain.

From her point of view, although Starlink has various problems, its coverage advantages in remote areas exist objectively. We should not reject it, but should find ways to seize the opportunity.

Ye Zhou disagrees with this view, but what he gave Ye Lan before were all technical solutions, such as insufficient effective channels, poor stability, infrastructure construction difficulty is no less than that of ground base stations, Starlink ground base stations have high energy consumption and are difficult to maintain, etc. , these reasons are persuasive if presented in a data-based way, but if you say them in vain, others really can't listen.

"Why are you calling it waste again? Come on, tell me?"

"The first one is the issue of cost. Brother, you said before that the cost of a Starlink satellite is 2 million dollars, but the channel width is only 40G. Now an ordinary 4G base station has 20G, and I just heard that People say that the construction cost of a small station is only 200,000 yuan at most.”

"Although there is a certain gap in coverage, if the gap in coverage is made up by quantity, it is actually not a big problem."

Ye Zhou nodded and added:

"In fact, most base stations now have microwave solutions. In remote areas, the distance between two base stations can be extended very far. If this technology continues to develop, it will further offset the coverage advantage of Starlink."

Ye Lan hummed and continued:

"And it's not just that, I think, it's mostly the difference in route."

"Let's hear it in detail?"

"That's right, you see, Starlink's PPT claims to solve the network coverage problem in remote areas, but in fact, they only solve the network coverage problem."

"Maybe the residents there can use the Internet, but they don't enjoy the additional dividends of infrastructure at all."

"There is no need to build roads, no inspections and maintenance, no exchange of personnel and materials, so what if there is a network?"

"If I buy something online, can it be delivered to me through the air? Don't I have to rely on the postman? Since I rely on the postman, why not also build the ground infrastructure?"

"Starlink's thinking is fundamentally different from our current thinking. We really want to build a fully connected world, but if Starlink is built, all it will create is one information island after another. .”

Hearing Ye Lan's explanation, Ye Zhou nodded first, then shook his head.

"That makes sense, but it's not entirely correct. The Starlink system has natural benefits for the Ugly people, because they essentially don't have 'low-level needs' like us."

“When we see an area without network, we will further think that they also have no water, no electricity, and no commodity circulation. Therefore, when we solve the problem of no network, we will consider how to solve it simultaneously with the highest efficiency. All other questions.”

"But they don't need to. On the one hand, their transportation network and lower living standards are higher than ours; on the other hand, to be honest, they don't care that much about the life and death of that small group of people."

"Can't eat? You're hungry. Who told you that you can't drive to buy food yourself?"

"Under their system, the best solution is to treat headaches and foot pains. That's why Starlink is going so smoothly. But we can't. If we want to do it, we have to do it right at the first time. This is to seek temporary peace. The essential difference is to plan for the world.”

While they were talking, the group had returned to the Tekes River that straddled the "tourist area" and the "non-tourist area". They bumped into a State Grid maintenance worker. As expected, it was just as the previous maintenance man said. The net already uses exoskeletons.

He is carrying a tall storage box on his back. Against the background of snowy mountains and rivers, it really looks exactly like the scene in Death Stranding.

The only difference is that he and the group he represents are not just running for rewards and benefits.

Ye Zhou emotionally took out his mobile phone and took a picture of this scene. Ye Lan even ran up to take a photo with him. Looking at his back as he walked away, Ye Lan said:

"Brother, the exoskeleton you made is quite useful."

Ye Zhou smiled and replied:

"Whatever thing I made is useless - no, the exoskeleton is not my credit. Only the battery part is related to me. Don't exaggerate my contribution."

"I know, I know, you are all good comrades anyway!"

"You also want to be a good comrade. Well, try to get the old man to call you comrade!"

"Hmph, just wait, that day will come sooner or later."

After six hours of hiking, the group finally returned to the camp. Others had prepared dinner. Ye Lan ran to the old man and told him what he had encountered today. When talking about bones and other topics, the old man inevitably wiped some tears emotionally.

He never thought that this kind of problem could be solved in this way.

Don't talk about him, Ye Zhou actually didn't expect it.

The impact of technological progress on this country is far greater than what he can see from his high position.

At the very least, relying on the results of the development of a series of industries such as communications, electricity, infrastructure, etc., some people can truly make a living.

And this is just the first step. When cross-terrain vehicles are further developed, the difficulty of ground transportation and the cost of material transportation will be further reduced, and the so-called coverage advantage of Starlink will become a complete joke.

As for the equipment cost of the communication system?

Let Huaji give you a 0.5% discount first. Anyway, they often offer 20% or 30% off.

The most expensive thing is never the equipment, but the construction process. Just like the lowest profit in domestic communication equipment is not the equipment, but the maintenance service.

It was now four o'clock in the afternoon. Everyone in the camp set up a fire and cooked noodles. They were planning to have a special afternoon tea to replenish their strength, but the guards outside suddenly brought someone over.

It was the maintenance man responsible for communication coordination.

He was holding a large bag of things in his hand and looked a little embarrassed. He was obviously frightened by the battle in this camp. After seeing Ye Zhou, he said:

"Leader, I have something to give you. If it's inconvenient, forget it."

"what?"

Ye Zhou walked forward curiously and asked.

"Well, grandma gave me the bacon. She said she couldn't eat it anymore. Part of it is for you, part of it is for that old man, and some of it is for me - I don't want it."

The guide on the side also quickly stood up. He took the bag from the maintenance man's hand and opened it. It was full of blackened bacon.

"This is all brought to us."

Ye Zhou nodded slightly and said:

"It's a little bit of kindness from me, just accept it. After the service point is built, you can help arrange it and pay attention to her daily life."

The guide nodded quickly, and then Ye Zhou invited the maintenance man to eat noodles together. After the latter declined for a while, he finally came over.

The washed bacon was cut into slices and thrown into the pot. Mixed with the soup, it gave off a strange smoky aroma. Ye Zhou picked up a piece of bacon from the bowl and threw it into his mouth, chewing hard.

It's really hard and not something an old man can bite.

But, it also smells really good.

He looked beyond the tents in the camp to the rolling mountains in the distance, then to the still blue sky, and finally stopped at a place in the sky high in nothingness, and a question suddenly came to his mind.

Will users of the Starlink system send bacon to Musk?