Replies to post #146293 on World Surveillance Group Inc (fka WSGI)

[WildWest]

Yes, I remember reading the Chairman's letter with excitement long ago :-)...ha, ha, we were all duped!

I don't agree with your analysis of the Google Loon Project. It's a very expensive experiment but certainly interesting. No one can control the weather, it's not possible to compensate for all the variables (no matter how much compute power you throw at it) and it's not practicable to have 1,000s of balloons floating around for 55 days. Just think of the labor involve in just retrieving them when they land in the ocean, mountain top or other. Google's investment in o3b networks is much more practicable...imo.

Google has the funds to make the same mistakes as DOD who spent $7B on HAA Airships...balloons is not the answer- communications balloons have been around for 60 years. Electric HAA planes make much more sense.

The segmented airship strat is certainly much more high tech than balloons, carry a high payload (200lbs plus)and station keep for a very long time. ...IMO.

[Trashboy]

Monti,

Thank you very much for saving that shareholder letter. As I age, with this company, I frequently forget parts - or entire communications from them. Sometimes I look at my balance sheet and scratch my head. "What was I thinking?"

Re-reading these company releases, from what I thought, were people of substance and integrity, reminds me why I chose to make the decisions that I did. It really does.

Was it P.T. Barnum...?

[WildWest]

Monty, I'm not the only skeptic...


Another Orlando-based firm, World Surveillance Group, sells similar equipment to the US Army and other government agencies.

However, they typically remain airborne for up to a few days at a time rather than for months, and are not as wide-ranging. One expert cautioned that Google might find it harder to control its fleet than it hoped.

"The practicalities of controlling lighter-than-air machines are well known because of the vagaries of the weather," said Prof Alan Woodward, visiting professor at the University of Surrey's department of computing.

"It's going to take a lot of effort to make these things wander in an autonomous way and I think it may take them a little longer to get right than they might believe."