We have come a long way from the dark ages of slow Internet. With Google Fiber, Google is reinforcing towns in the US with powerful Internet speed—sending others jockeying to do the same. We take a look at the the speed of internet through the times and how Google’s innovative technology is changing the way we connect with the world.
Cable Connected
We have come a long way from the dark ages of slow Internet. First, we all started out with dial up. Slow, phone line based and was impossible to use one without compromising the other. Then, broadband Internet came. Not only was it a whole lot faster, but you didn’t need to sacrifice your phone line for it. It steadily became popular, especially among users highly dependent on the Internet and didn’t want to deal with all the issues that dialup had, such as tenuous connectivity and dragging speeds. Still, the connections were still dependent on cables and lines.
Wireless
When broadband Internet finally made the jump to wireless, things started developing at a faster pace. Wireless made it so much more convenient for everyone, with multiple computers capable of accessing an online network. Internet speed was also not compromised. Soon, it wasn’t necessary to have a landline phone system—3G, 4G, and LTE soon followed for mobile devices. One could access the Internet as long as they had a service provider and a mobile device.
Innovations
It was then possible for networks to be joined together through wireless connections, able to connect users through IM, email, virtual PBX, VoIP, and more. All of it has been made more efficient by the ever increasing speed of Internet connections.
Now, it looks like we are entering a new stage of development when it comes to Internet connections as Google tries to take the Web to the next level with fiber optics.
Google Fiber
The use of fiber optic cables for Internet is not really a new development but it was highly unlikely that they would be accessible to home setups. This kind of heavy duty cabling was only used by service providers themselves and in intercontinental undersea lines. This is how the world-wide-web best connected to one another.
But as the cost began to drop and the demand for even faster Internet increased (multiple users, complex online processes, faster browsing speeds, video speeds, and more), fiber optics became more accessible.
This is what Google aims to achieve with Google Fiber. Of course, it’s not available to just anyone who wants it. On the contrary, Google seemed to be limited to hopping from one small town to the next small town, providing them with blazing fast Internet.
The competition may be doing the same with their own fiber Internet, but these are usually incredibly expensive for the public at large. But Google has somehow made it possible to make the service more affordable.
How Google Fiber will change everything
Google has always aimed to make things so much more accessible, proving that it is possible to provide high-quality service to users without a high price tag. As Google Fiber continues to provide dazzling high-speed access to the web to places that aren’t even really known for fast Internet, a buzz is being created about fiber Internet. This is sending their competition jockeying to raise their own Internet speeds and accessibility.
Faster Internet everywhere means the end of the dreaded “buffering,” when you have to wait for your video to load a little bit before you can keep watching. Hopefully, Google Fiber’s efforts will also lead to lower prices from the competition—making Internet connection much more accessible to the common man.
In addition, this can lead to an even faster Internet connection and the applications it can be used for is virtually endless. We’re accustomed to LTE already, what could fiber have in store for us and innovative development online?
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