Netflix can now serve 100Gbit/s of video (so something like 12,500 individual 4K streams) with an appliance using 100 watts of power. That’s 8 milliwatts for each 4K stream.
Remember that number the next time someone tells you that watching a Netflix show is as bad as driving an SUV or some shit.
@karppinen That's true, but the actual externalized cost of streaming is the network route between Netflix and you, not their servers.
@dalias @karppinen So the externalized cost of streaming is... internet access? If that's true, this doesn't seem like an interesting topic. No one's giving up internet access, or suggesting others should give it up.
@agocke @dalias @karppinen the point is maybe our internet accesses wouldnt need to be that gigantic if it wasnt for video? I mean, as a nerd I'm happy to have gigabit fiber to my home for my servers, but the reason I benefit for this, is actually video delivery...
@f4grx @agocke @dalias for fiber specifically, I don’t think the bandwidth matters much, the fixed power usage is going to be the pretty much the same. Note that the average Netflix 4K stream is only 8Mbps apparently, so it’s hard to find a commercial internet offering that’s too slow for it.
Again, wireless is different, and there video streaming causes capacity issues which are then dealt with by building more towers -> some of the fixed costs of wireless are directly attributable to video
@karppinen @agocke @dalias that is very right, thanks for the precision.