# 17 Days, 14 Hours Remaining on Download **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 13, 2011, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/17-days-14-hours-remaining-on-download/599532 "2011-10-13T14:29:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2011, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/17-days-14-hours-remaining-on-download/599532/21 "2011-10-13T22:41:36Z")
If you want to witness the power of slow, come visit me on my oil rig in the Falkland Islands. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2011, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/17-days-14-hours-remaining-on-download/599532/22 "2011-10-13T23:40:53Z")
I was in library school from '82 - '84. We had a MOdulator-DEModulator (as they always felt the need to explain it in those days) in our department library with the 300-baud connection. This is when some of the important academic and medical bibliographical databases were coming online; the idea that you could enter your search query on a teletype machine and reach the database of the National Library of Medicine in DC was a marvel. To use the modem you had to fit the telephone handset into the two suction cup-like receptacles on top of the machine. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2011, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/17-days-14-hours-remaining-on-download/599532/23 "2011-10-14T00:35:46Z")
> [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](#): > > I am paying for the fastest internet connection over here. I really do not know where to look to tell you my connection speed. In any case, I am downloading the update to Civ V. The updater says I have 20 hours and 46 minutes to go. This skips around wildly, with the record being the 17 day figure. > > So I hope I win the contest for slowest ISP. The worst part is when the 17 days are up you’ll still have a shitty game. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2011, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/17-days-14-hours-remaining-on-download/599532/24 "2011-10-14T03:02:26Z")
7 Hours and 27 Minutes, why didn’t this thing finish overnight? ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2011, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/17-days-14-hours-remaining-on-download/599532/25 "2011-10-14T03:14:07Z")
> [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](#): > > To use the modem you had to fit the telephone handset into the two suction cup-like receptacles on top of the machine. And if you dialed the wrong number, you wound up getting a hair breadth from causing global thermonuclear warfare. How about a nice game of chess ? ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Crap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.crap/32/3131_2.png) [@Dr.Crap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Crap)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2011, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/17-days-14-hours-remaining-on-download/599532/26 "2011-10-14T03:53:22Z")
Is your download region in Steam’s settings listed as ‘Middle East’? ---
**Author:** ![Omg\_a\_Black\_Conservative](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7ba0ec/32.png) [@Omg\_a\_Black\_Conservative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omg_a_Black_Conservative)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2011, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/17-days-14-hours-remaining-on-download/599532/27 "2011-10-14T04:46:33Z")
Your first mistake was playing Civ V. Stick with Civ IV. It’s a much better game. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2011, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/17-days-14-hours-remaining-on-download/599532/28 "2011-10-14T04:54:14Z")
6 Hours and 27 minutes to go, 1.9GB downloaded. I do not think I am using Steam, but Apple App Store. Civ IV was fun, but I pretty well mastered it. In Civ V I just now won my first war. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2011, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/17-days-14-hours-remaining-on-download/599532/29 "2011-10-14T12:25:07Z")
1 hour and 46 minutes to go. Gosh, this sucks. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2011, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/17-days-14-hours-remaining-on-download/599532/30 "2011-10-14T14:17:12Z")
OK, got the main file. Now it is downloading some sort of editor program, 14 minutes to go! ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2011, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/17-days-14-hours-remaining-on-download/599532/31 "2011-10-14T14:21:53Z")
There I got it, it says “installed.” Now I need the Angry Birds update. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2011, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/17-days-14-hours-remaining-on-download/599532/32 "2011-10-14T14:36:20Z")
Keep us posted. I’m on the edge of my stool. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2011, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/17-days-14-hours-remaining-on-download/599532/33 "2011-10-14T14:56:23Z")
> [@Omg\_a\_Black\_Conservative](#): > > Your first mistake was playing Civ V. Stick with Civ IV. It’s a much better game. Finally, a point on which you and I agree. Which means we aren’t even in YMMV territory here. CIV IV is better, it’s just a fact. ---
**Author:** ![sachertorte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sachertorte/32/3727_2.png) [@sachertorte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sachertorte)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2011, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/17-days-14-hours-remaining-on-download/599532/34 "2011-10-14T14:59:41Z")
I wonder if the Apple App Store uses the same pipes as for people downloading iOS5. If so, you picked a particularly shitty time to try and download something from Apple. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2011, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/17-days-14-hours-remaining-on-download/599532/35 "2011-10-14T15:06:55Z")
I get about 700k down and maybe 200k up. Satellite. But the kicker is the download allowance. 200mb in a 24 hour period. If you exceed that you get throttled down to dialup speeds. About 14k. Great fun let me tell you. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2011, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/17-days-14-hours-remaining-on-download/599532/36 "2011-10-14T15:49:46Z")
All done, but it does show you the idea that everyone has good internet is a poor model to build computer system on. Cloud computing? Not here, not yet. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2011, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/17-days-14-hours-remaining-on-download/599532/37 "2011-10-14T15:54:14Z")
> [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](#): > > All done, but it does show you the idea that everyone has good internet is a poor model to build computer system on. Cloud computing? Not here, not yet. Well, in fairness to the company, they probably don’t assume that _everyone_ has good internet. More likely, they assume (and probably correctly) that enough people have good internet to make their distribution model financially viable. ---
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2011, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/17-days-14-hours-remaining-on-download/599532/38 "2011-10-14T17:29:40Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > Keep us posted. I’m on the edge of my stool. It’s OK. The file will still be downloading when you get back from the bathroom. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Canadjun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/76d3ee/32.png) [@Canadjun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Canadjun)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2011, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/17-days-14-hours-remaining-on-download/599532/39 "2011-10-14T20:33:45Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Yeah; I remember watching text come in and appear letter by letter. Remember acoustic couplers? For the ankle-biters in the audience, you dialed the computer system on your own phone (traditional any color you want as long as it is black phones only please) and then crammed the headset of the phone in some rubber cups on the modem. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2011, 11:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/17-days-14-hours-remaining-on-download/599532/40 "2011-10-15T11:23:15Z")
> [@Sitnam](#): > > Finally, a point on which you and I agree. Which means we aren’t even in YMMV territory here. CIV IV is better, it’s just a fact. I’m really surprised they haven’t released a proper "_Beyond The Sword_- type expansion for Civ V. It took Civ IV from being an outstanding game already to One Of The Best Games Of All Time IMHO. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/17-days-14-hours-remaining-on-download/599532.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/17-days-14-hours-remaining-on-download/599532.md?page=3)