[ReducedToZero]

Basic question: Will Peakoil.com, and for that matter, large scale internet communication, exist post peak and during the peak?

[mos6507]

Yes. I expect the grid to stay up through the vast majority of the collapse. I also expect the powers that be to protect the internet as a vital peak oil mitigator (i.e. telecommuting, teleconferencing vs. travel). If it gets so bad that the internet goes down for the count I think few of us will care anymore because we'll be beating back zombies.

[yesplease]

$50-100 can pick up something that'll browse the interwebs and crack/hop on any available AP given a reasonable amount of time. Toss in a solar panel, inverter, and a couple dry lead acid batterie for another few hundred and that should do anyone for 5-10 years.

[Tyler_JC]

It will survive but we will need your help.

Servers aren't free and we need donations to keep this boat afloat.

Next time Dan puts out the digital collection plate, please send a few bucks.

Thanks!

[btu2012]

for that matter, large scale internet communication, exist post peak and during the peak?

Unknowable about PO.com (likely no).

About internet: yes, but not in current form. Much less privacy by default.

[KingM]

Unknowable about PO.com (likely no).

Don't you know that in the time of crisis and revolution, the first thing to do is to find "defeatists" and either execute them or herd them to a concentration camp? You guys have left useful records that will be used to track you down when PO.com is shut down for its subversive content.

[cualcrees]

Sorry to hijack this thread but I've been trying to post a new one and I keep getting error messages.

Can anyone recommend a good PO-related website in spanish?? I want to share this info with my friends and family here in Mexico.

thanks, and again sorry for the hijack.

[Sys1]

Internet will be wiped out by 3 things :

1st stage) End of advertising as capitalism will collapse. Servers are expensive to maintain. Far less connections as far less people will be able to have internet at home : Computers will become very expensive, just as connections. Population will be too busy trying to spend money on food.

2nd stage) Ending of democracy. Internet is a tool usable to make a revolution or to allow people to organize themselves against politics/police/army... In order to avoid the loss of their power, the governments will want to control or forbid Internet. Peak oil forums could be considered as crowded by terrorists.

3rd stage) Grid collapse. Look to Olduvai theory. Lack of oil/uranium/gaz will end in longer and longer blackouts until electricity becomes history.

[cube]

I think PO.com will not necessarily collapse but instead be abandoned.
Once the word gets out to the point that EVERYBODY is talking about it from the coffee shops to the Oprah Winfrey show what purpose will this website serve? If you can get information about PO everywhere else then why go to this website?
Furthermore once PO becomes totally accepted, what's the point in having theoretical debates about the effects of PO when you'll literally be living it in real time.

[Daniel_Plainview]

Anyone know whether internet porn will continue post-PO?


(not that I've ever used it ........ or ever had a familiarity with it's contents)

[yesplease]

I dunno about that. People seem to like shouting matches, and if it's in the interest of someone who stands to make a lot of money, they will be encouraged. Definitely hasn't stopped discussion of GHG emissions.[video width=400 height=350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mF_anaVcCXg[/video]

[mos6507]

Lack of oil/uranium/gaz will end in longer and longer blackouts until electricity becomes history.

Electricity will be the last technology we lose. There are just too many ways to make it. Even if the grid goes down, people will rig their own minimal power generating solutions.

[Ayoob]

PO.com will not survive.

[davep]

I think that eventually, we will lose the infrastructure of the internet as we know it. If we end up in some sustainable utopia post-peak (after the initial tumult), I don't see how we will be able to replace ageing routing hardware. I guess we would be able to make some form of equipment from transistors etc, but the current high-speed stuff may eventually disappear.

[Ghog]

PO.com may not last if the topics become mainstream, but I believe it will because there is a wealth of 'survival' information here.

The Internet will surely survive, because it is still a great way to communicate, share research, etc. I don't expect it to be filled with advertising for products we no longer need/can afford. Porn will do well as the depressed masses will need entertainment. Gaming and chat rooms will be popular for the same reason.

The Internet will be all of the social interaction many people get, (kinda like now, but compounded) and the rest will be working together in post-Peak communities farming, crafting, etc.

I for one, would give up so many other things to keep my Internet, short of food, H2O, shelter, clothing. They can keep the cars, McMansions, TVs, and China-made techno-crap.

[Daniel_Plainview]

The Internet will surely survive, because it is still a great way to communicate, share research, etc.

To the extent that the Internet is extremely energy intensive, the ONLY way it will survive is if it has the substantial support of TPTB (including government, military, academia, technology sector, and private enterprise).

[mos6507]

To the extent that the Internet is extremely energy intensive, the ONLY way it will survive is if it has the substantial support of TPTB (including government, military, academia, technology sector, and private enterprise).

Have there been any studies to determine exactly how energy intensive the internet is? It seems to me the internet at least has the potential to save a lot more energy than it takes to run it if you factor in the reduction in travel.

Also, the internet has the potential to eliminate other technologies. For instance, Skype replacing the telephone, or streaming video replacing TV, downloads replacing the need to produce and distribute physical media.

The big problem with the internet is that it's a utility on top of a utility. Just as the electric power plants need to run above the load to absorb spikes in demand, server farms need to be deployed in enough strength to accomodate peak loads. During times of low load, you have massive standby server overkill. I really don't think a lot of effort has been spent maximizing the energy efficiency of servers farms, and so there is a lot of improvement that can and surely will be made, and a lot of prioritized powerdown measures that can be instituted to the cruftiest and least accessed parts of the internet before there is any measurable end user impact.