PC Magazine - USA (2021-03)

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tarlink is catnip for PCMag readers. Just

say the word, and they come a’clicking in

the tens of thousands. The satellite ISP’s

mystique is a combination of Elon Musk (an

unappealingly named men’s cologne) and

Americans’ hopeless desperation for better home

internet choices. And at this point, it’s getting way

out of hand.

“SpaceX is aiming to one day deliver 10Gbps

internet speeds over its satellite internet system,”

our story reads, couching SpaceX’s ambitions in

similar terms to my ambition to have ripped abs.

Americans are desperate for better connectivity.

They’ve given up on regulators, incumbent ISPs,

and their own communities to provide them.

They’re holding out for a hero (‘til the end of the

night). They want Musk to be their streetwise

Hercules, but he’s Loki. But not hot. Kind of

moist. Damp Loki.

Putting up satellites is the most expensive,

lowest-capacity way to spread internet access,

except in very rural regions. Whether your

satellite is a Virgo or a LEO doesn’t change this.

The fact that anyone in a suburb thinks it’s a

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few hundred yards speaks only to the complete

Why Is Everyone So

Starstruck by Starlink?

Sascha Segan is the

lead mobile analyst

for PC Magazine. His

commentary has

also appeared on Fox

News, CNBC, CNN, and

various radio stations

and newspapers

around the world.

COMMENTARY