[ih] Internet without entrenched factions?

[vinton cerf]

john is correct about hollow core - still somewhat limited by how long a
strand can be produced but probably good for internal data center vs subsea
cables.
v


On Fri, May 15, 2026 at 2:24 PM John Levine via Internet-history <
internet-history at elists.isoc.org> wrote:

> According to John Gilmore via Internet-history <gnu at toad.com>:
> >This a funny statement, but it's obsolete, since the speed of light
> >varies based on the medium, and Moore's Law *has* improved the speed of
> >delivery of packets.  Sending packets to orbit and back (through air and
> >vacuum) is much faster than sending them through a (glass) fiber optic
> >cable covering a similar distance.
>
> That used to be true, but now there's hollow core fiber where the signal
> goes through air rather than glass.  I understand it also is lower loss
> than conventional glass fiber so it needs fewer repeaters.
>
> See, for example
> https://www.nokia.com/blog/hollow-core-fiber-not-just-for-low-latency/
>
> R's,
> John
> --
> Regards,
> John Levine, johnl at taugh.com, Primary Perpetrator of "The Internet for
> Dummies",
> Please consider the environment before reading this e-mail. https://jl.ly
>
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