Because a LOT of people are missing the point:

[jackwilliambell@rustedneuron.com]

@cstross @ApostateEnglishman

NOTE: Those rules used to be much simpler. More along the lines of, "Not anything using Microsoft or Oracle software."

ETA: Insert joke about, "Blue Screen of Death."

[brainsmoke@mastodon.social]

@cstross When Kessler syndrome happens, do I get fractional shares?

[emma@orbital.horse]

@jackwilliambell @cstross @ApostateEnglishman

A few years back, Bruce Sterling was doing his thing on stage and talking about how fucked anyone with an implant would be under the DMCA and planned obsolescence.

[micron@mastodon.social]

@cstross Data centers in orbit are the new "Solar roadways" scam.

[jackwilliambell@rustedneuron.com]

@emma @cstross @ApostateEnglishman

And now we have proof of that on the ground with audio implants and heart defibrillators stopping working because the company went out of business.

Really? DRM should be banned from *anything* medical related for incredibly obvious reasons; although banning DRM altogether isn't a bad idea either.

[lazarou@mastodon.social]

@jackwilliambell @cstross @ApostateEnglishman I like technology you can take off when it goes wrong.

[johnzajac@dice.camp]

@jackwilliambell @cstross @ApostateEnglishman

We know so little about the brain's real mechanics that brain implants can't be any more sophisticated than plugging a phone into a potato.

Brain implants today are like using a railgun to crochet lace.

[chip_unicorn@im-in.space]

@polypunk

@bitterkarella just transcribes what's happening. Reality has lapped satire.

[frog@frogdrool.net]

@jackwilliambell @cstross @ApostateEnglishman I'd add to that a physical bypass. I want a switch that I can flip that will completely disable the device. This switch can't be flipped with software, and it is impossible for the device to function (think "airgap in the power supply") without the switch in the on position.

Still probably a "no" for me.

[jackwilliambell@rustedneuron.com]

@frog @cstross @ApostateEnglishman

Yeah, adding that to the list.

NOTE: I use a phone with physical switches for the mic, GPS, and network connections for reasons.

[7666@comp.lain.la]

@cstross @ApostateEnglishman I would argue that it is the tireless work of engineers and not leadership that allows for his success, which, thinking about it, is true for most companies actually.

[supermoosie@mastodon.au]

@hermlon @cstross

Or to have it structured, so profits and content are outside the jurisdiction of any country.

Why have your ai create digital pedophile and invastive non consensual images here on earth, where you are subject to laws about such stuff, when you can do whatever you want in space.

[jb@masto.hackers.town]

@woozle

Space is a little more hostile than the deepest parts of the ocean. Except in one way: there's no atmosphere to block the nastiest bits of radiation out there.

Computers really do not like radiation. They like it less than DNA does, and are more sensitive to it. And the smaller the fab size of the chip is, the more sensitive it'll be to ionizing radiation.

@cstross

[jb@masto.hackers.town]

@woozle

So, if you put a bunch of computers in orbit, ignoring the hard problems like heat, cooling, moving heat away from sensitive components, per KG fuel costs to get it in orbit, fitting the shit in to geostationary, or other high orbit.

You still have "how do you deal with equipment failures and loss of components" and "get enough up there to ensure redundancy".

I don't know if you've built a datacenter, but that's a bunch of mass to move.
@cstross

[woozle@toot.cat]

@jb Yep, Manley discusses that issue -- specifically mentioning the visible degradation of external cameras on the ISS as an example.

@cstross

[jb@masto.hackers.town]

@woozle

Take a standard "household" laser, and point it at the sensor of a normal digital camera. That'll simulate the degradation of a CMOS in orbit pretty effectively, and slightly faster.

@cstross

[woozle@toot.cat]

@jb

Short answer: there are also some major advantages, which right now are very much outweighed by the disadvantages.

It all depends on the pricing of space access, and whether it gets cheap enough fast enough to make this idea pay off.

@cstross

[jb@masto.hackers.town]

@woozle

It'd have to be as cheap as shipping a fully laden 40ft intermodal (ISO 668) container from Oakland to Shanghai before its actually economical. That's about $3000 USD for the container, not counting cargo, insurance, etc.. Max capacity is about 30500 kg.

That's getting a datacenter in orbit, securely, with cooling, radiators, shielding, power, and redundancy for under $3/kg.

That's not going to happen.

@cstross

[jb@masto.hackers.town]

@woozle Even then, it's not actually economical if the customers aren't willing to pay extra for the resources, which will be highly latent in a world that despises latency.

You end up with Sealand all over again, where the idea is better than the implementation ever can be.

Eventually, you have orbiting scrap, cluttering the sky, slowly decaying in orbit.

@cstross

[carnildo@indieweb.social]

@axx @cstross He's succeeded twice: the Tesla Model S was the first mass-produced electric vehicle that wasn't a compliance car, and the Falcon 9 brought the cost of spaceflight down by at least an order of magnitude. If he didn't keep over-hyping his goals and doubling down on his failures, he'd be remembered as a genius -- Edison, for example, had numerous flops for each wild success.