What 6 members of the Digerati make of Google Fiber

With the launch of Google Fiber, we think it’s safe to say that never before has Kansas City Missouri seemed more of an attractive destination. With a gigabit network — think 100 times faster than today’s average broadband — we’re about to have a vicarious look into what the future holds for the rest of us, as about 500 000 people log onto Google’s new network.

While we wait to see if Google Fiber manages to upend the telecommunications and broadcasting industry with its cost saving DIY approach, we collected some opinions from the digerati.

For more on Google Fibre check out the video below.

Frederic Lardinois
Veteran tech reporter Frederic Lardinois, now working for TechCrunch, reckons that the technology means that internet speeds in the US might now catch up with Moore’s Law:

We currently have lots of computing power and storage capacity (and thanks to Moore’s Law, they continue to increase quickly). Internet speeds in the U.S., however, have lagged far behind other countries. That’s despite the fact that the technology has actually evolved quickly. The choice we have today, says Google, is to get network speeds onto the same exponential growth curve or risk lagging behind and missing out.

MG Sielger

Former TechCrunch shit-stirrer MG Siegler, reckons says that Google Fiber is the “very best of Google“:

Amazing. Bravo, Google. Now please bring this everywhere in the U.S. and force the cable companies to get busy innovating or get busy dying.

Peter Kafka

Peter Kafka from AllThingsD has a point when he says that people ought to remind themselves that Google is capable of what its doing in Kansas, whenever they complain about “wacky side projects like goofy goggles and robot cars”:

And this is a good reminder that when people talk about Google spending time and money on wacky side projects like goofy goggles and robot cars, it would be good to at least mention that the same company is wiring an entire metropolitan area with fiber, just to see what it would be like.

James McQuivey

Forrester analyst James McQuivey told Ars Technica that Google Fiber is great for Kansas in the short term but probably won’t affect the TV industry in the long run:

Even if it proves to be amazing, it’s really not cost-effective and won’t be widespread for a decade. So the TV industries won’t be affected at all for the next several years because no one will redesign a global business because the economics of it have changed in one city. Unless Google has recently announced plans to roll out in 10 cities, this is just a really neat thing for Kansas City that every industry will watch closely in case it has the potential to spread.

Nilay Patel

Former Engadget managing editor and Verge co-founder Nilay Patel also wasn’t really enthused by the TV offering:

Google’a Fiber TV sounds super slick, but also sadly like another proprietary cable box. theverge.com/2012/7/26/3188…

— nilay patel (@reckless) July 26, 2012

Eric Schonfeld

Former TechCrunch editor-in-chief Eric Shonfeld seems to love the product, but thinks there’s way too much hardware involved:

Not only does Google Fiber offer a 1TB Google Drive in the cloud, you also get a 2TB local “Storage Box” as a DVR. fiber.google.com/plans/resident…

— Erick Schonfeld (@erickschonfeld) July 26, 2012

The only thing wrong with Google Fiber is too many boxes. Couldn’t the TV Box, Storage Box, and Network Box all be in one box? #simplify

— Erick Schonfeld (@erickschonfeld) July 26, 2012