Re: Greening of Streaming

I understand the concept behind this assertion but it seems bizarre to me. This is basically saying that content is being served even when there is no call for it. How can that be true?

> Also the core infrastructure is on 24/7 - this is an observation that many miss. A webpage user can attribute energy to their actions for microseconds. A video user for a few hours. But the actual energy being consumed in making the service available is being consumed 24/7 - when you add up all that availability it is usually much more than the time spent actually browsing / streaming by end users. But that availability-energy is rarely if at all every included in any research… 

I can think of a couple of ways to possibly reduce demand:

1/  Cache more popular content on the periphery of the internet
2/  Educate content producers about the environmental cost of producing gratuitous video content. A contact sent me a ’song’ today that consisted of pirated video footage from various entities, overlaid with text and singing. I could only think about the environmental impact of such needless and senseless use of video content, and I shared my thoughts with him. IMO we all need to do more of that. 
3/  Convince the social platforms to condense their video streams more
4/  Accustom the public to not always demanding the sharpest and most resource intensive images on their screens

I also think about the following:

Currently, I think maybe 2/3 of the US has broadband access, and a lot of effort and money is beginning to be pumped into bringing broadband to all households and businesses over the next five years, along with lessons in how to navigate and use the internet and its resources.

Many of the households lacking access are low-income, low education families which are more comfortable with video than written communication. How much will demand be impacted by those households suddenly coming on board in a wave of onboarding equivalent to tsunami proportions? I’ve also noticed that increasingly, low education family and friends are sending voice and video messages rather than messaging me by text – mostly through Whatsapp. How is this affecting utilization?

I’ve also noticed an increase in the number of zoom calls and meetings in which my contact participate, which in many cases have completely replaced audio calls and in-person meetings. What is the impact of this trend? 

Peace and blessings,

Kimi Wei
The Wei LLC | A proudly certified MWBE/SBE
LAN Business & Entrepreneurship Chair
kimi@thewei.com  @kimiwei   m 862-203-8814
facebook.com/thekimiwei

Received on Tuesday, 14 November 2023 03:59:27 UTC