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theEvilOne · 06/02/2010 05:56 PM

I've been trying to figure this out for myself, but I can't really find anything conclusive.

I need to know what would happen to services such as internet/phones if tomorrow everyone in America was gone. Would the services keep running for a short while until there's no one there to keep it going, or would it just keep running forever? I'm assuming power plants and the like would eventually stop working, but my concern is the internet services and such.

tl;dr: Would the internet/phone services keep running if everyone in America disappeared instantly?

S7* · 06/02/2010 06:15 PM

I somehow doubt it would last long.

Things fudge up on a daily basis..

Mobile networks would probably be first to fall [starting with high-speed networks, 3G, EDGE, etc]

I'd imagine Telecoms [and by that I mean landline phone] would last the longest.

The internet itself is decentralized.. but standard internet usage relies on an ISP and DNS server..

As long as the ISPs servers are functioning as they should, internet access should continue - if the DNS server of your ISP - or which your ISP uses - were to go you would need to access purely by IP address - so a DNS resolver cache would come in useful at that point.

theEvilOne · 06/02/2010 06:22 PM

Senseito7 Wrote:I somehow doubt it would last long.

Things fudge up on a daily basis..

Mobile networks would probably be first to fall [starting with high-speed networks, 3G, EDGE, etc]

I'd imagine Telecoms [and by that I mean landline phone] would last the longest.

The internet itself is decentralized.. but standard internet usage relies on an ISP and DNS server..

As long as the ISPs servers are functioning as they should, internet access should continue - if the DNS server of your ISP - or which your ISP uses - were to go you would need to access purely by IP address - so a DNS resolver cache would come in useful at that point.

Thanks, this is extremely useful. Madwin

But,

I forgot to ask about television. I assume it would work for a while until the scheduled shows come to an end?

Assassinator · 06/02/2010 06:24 PM

Would run for a while (short while), then stop. Even if the power lasts long enough, which wouldn't be the case (ha, probably wouldn't even last 1 day without humans manning the powerplants), eventually errors will occur, stuff will crash, and everything will fall apart. And even if it does last that long, all the server/internet contracts will time out, and everything will be locked off.

Almost nothing can last "forever", non-natural and heavy maintenance things like internet even more so.

theEvilOne · 06/02/2010 06:27 PM

Well since this is a fiction book and takes place in the near future, maybe internet/phone/cable services have advanced and don't need people to work them. I think I'll have everything slowly stop working, but I think I'll let the power stay on for a while (maybe forever?).

Don't mind me, I'm just rambling now. Thanks for the help guys.

S7* · 06/02/2010 06:30 PM

Now you're starting to remind me of stories about cities that do run themselves...

Really depends if Artificial Intelligence breaks through or not.

Assassinator · 06/02/2010 06:32 PM

theEvilOne Wrote:I've been trying to figure this out for myself, but I can't really find anything conclusive.

I need to know what would happen to services such as internet/phones if tomorrow everyone in America was gone. Would the services keep running for a short while until there's no one there to keep it going, or would it just keep running forever? I'm assuming power plants and the like would eventually stop working, but my concern is the internet services and such.

tl;dr: Would the internet/phone services keep running if everyone in America disappeared instantly?

Actually, most things would still work just fine, because there's still the rest of the world.

Heh, Americans thinking they are everything.

theEvilOne · 06/02/2010 06:40 PM

Assassinator Wrote:
theEvilOne Wrote:I've been trying to figure this out for myself, but I can't really find anything conclusive.

I need to know what would happen to services such as internet/phones if tomorrow everyone in America was gone. Would the services keep running for a short while until there's no one there to keep it going, or would it just keep running forever? I'm assuming power plants and the like would eventually stop working, but my concern is the internet services and such.

tl;dr: Would the internet/phone services keep running if everyone in America disappeared instantly?

Actually, most things would still work just fine, because there's still the rest of the world.

Heh, Americans thinking they are everything.

I knew this would come up, I should have said so from the beginning.
Yes, the rest of the world is still there, but they have not a clue as to what is happening in America (at least not until a long while later). (Also, who's to say every other country in the world isn't in on it? --You'd have to read the book to understand what they'd be in on).

S7* · 06/02/2010 06:50 PM

*america goes off

Woa.. Googles not working..

[Yeah, I checked and even localizations point to US servers so.. no Google]

theEvilOne · 06/02/2010 07:27 PM

Senseito7 Wrote:*america goes off

Woa.. Googles not working..

[Yeah, I checked and even localizations point to US servers so.. no Google]

Oh noes!

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