“So much has changed, and so little has changed. ” That well-known phrase comes to mind when comparing a recent vacation on water to one from a human generation ago. The addiction to connectivity is the same as it was then. Still, the ease and speed of connection are so much simpler now, thanks to multiple generations of technological improvements over that 20-year timespan.
Two decades ago, connecting to the Internet on a houseboat meant a 2.5G connection, Bluetooth and being in just the right spot, as documented in this August 31st, 2005 Viodi View trip report (yes, exactly twenty years ago to the day). Fast-forward to the present and enabling Internet was as simple as accidentally selecting the cruise ship upgrade package.
Access to the Internet took away from the disconnectedness that is one of the benefits of a vacation. Oh well, at least a bulky video camera wasn’t needed to capture the videos referred to in the Korner, below. And, thanks to the refinement of satellite to airplane communications, the finishing touches of this issue of the Viodi View are being made 35,000 feet above our blue world.
Thanks to the Broadband Forum, my employer, for supporting this newsletter. The content, views, and opinions expressed herein are not those of the Broadband Forum.
Creating a Digital Twin to Improve the Real-World Fiber Build
At Fiber Connect 2025, TKI’s President and CEO, Thomas Köhler, explained its approach for scanning and documenting a fiber project build. Using a combination of the iPhone’s software, camera, and lidar, combined with their highly accurate GPS tool, they capture the physical data in digital form. TKI’s software creates a digital twin. This enables managers to assess a fiber build’s quality remotely, eliminating the need for in-person audits.
High-Performance Computing & Heating as a Service
Miroslav Sviezeny, COO and co-founder of Qarnot, discusses the company’s evolution from providing distributed computing in homes to a larger-scale operation for high-performance computing (HPC). The Qarnot compute modules are installed in locations that need significant amounts of heat year-round. These include large swimming pools, spas, and district heating networks. The company’s business model involves selling the recovered heat to these sites and also selling the computing power to clients.
Some Tweets and Short Thoughts
- The Qarnot interview touches upon the idea of utilizing wasted energy, which is further explored in this Viodi article about the opportunity for broadband providers. USC Professor Matthew Kahn also discusses the topic in his podcast published this week. Efrat Fenigson interviews Bob Burnett, former Gateway, Inc. CTO, about how his current company is converting wasted energy (e.g., from abandoned gas wells) into digital gold. Communications pipelines, not gas pipelines, are central to his approach. Finally, this example will convert landfill methane into energy to drive bitcoin miners.
- Societal interaction with robotaxis may be the most important determinant of their success, according to Andrew Miller in his thought-provoking blog post, Robotaxis Have a Bullying Problem (spoiler alert: the robotaxis are not the bullies). Are our interactions with chatbots an early indicator of how we will treat roving robots? That is, if we do not use our manners with chatbots will that misbehavior be extended to physical robots (e.g., expecting them to stop for us, when they have the right-of-way)?
- Updating a story from earlier this summer, Lightship RV announced that production is underway for the sold-out AE.1 Cosmos Edition. They also announced the the rollout of two new trim models for its Aero-Electric travel trailer lineup– the Atmos ($184,000) and Panos ($151,000) – bringing additional price points and features to broaden their target market.
The Korner – Glimpses of Summer 2025 #
In a world of AI-generated images, here are real videos that provide glimpses of the Summer 2025 from a Viodi View perspective. There was a touch of AI editing magic, such as the music that was automatically generated for the Glacier Bay video and the enhancement of the sound (incredibly, the AI extracted the sound of the billowing gas propelling the hot-air balloon forward and up).
The short video represented by the left thumbnail was filmed over the course of about an hour in Glacier Bay, Alaska, where there are several glacier calvings. Around 32 seconds into the video, an interesting secondary wave forms from another wave that hits a submerged piece of ice.
The pilot of the balloon, seen in the right thumbnail and associated video, does an amazing job of skimming the water and delighting the crowd as part of the Spirit of Boise Balloon Classic. It takes a deft pilot to kiss the water, but to glide over it represents next-level skill. The water that spills out of the basket as the balloon ascends appears close to providing a free shower to the mom and her son on the dock.
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