A Dystopian Script Links the Great Famine with Bandwidth
The narrative The Great Famine (of Bandwidth) establishes a parallel between a tragic historical event and a possible technological future. It proposes a world where a megacorporation dominates the global network and, to launch an ultra-high-definition simulation experience, hijacks the most precious resource: connectivity. 🖥️➡️🚫
The Digital Divide as a Social Catastrophe
The act of diverting bandwidth to the so-called Elite Sectors creates an instant artificial scarcity. This completely deprives access to the areas called Low Sectors. The degradation suffered by their inhabitants is not physical, but digital: their virtual realities disintegrate in real time.
Consequences in the Low Sectors:- Images and videos lose definition until they are completely pixelated.
- Sounds and communications are interrupted and distorted.
- Actions get stuck in perpetual lag, freezing digital life.
This situation represents a slow and silent death in virtual space, a direct reflection of the abandonment and suffering during the historical famine.
Bandwidth as a Vital Resource in the Metaphor
The script builds its critique using bandwidth in the same way food was used in the 19th century: as an essential good for survival. By prioritizing traffic for the luxury simulation, the global infrastructure collapses for the rest. The servers that sustain the basic virtual world run out of capacity to process data, deepening the gap. 💡🔌
Key Elements of the Narrative Irony:- The ultra-luxury simulation for a few requires that the majority be disconnected.
- It stratifies digital society by creating a connected elite and an isolated majority.
- Inhabitants of the Low Sectors might try to watch a documentary about the real Great Famine, but the stream freezes at the crucial moment.
Final Reflection on the Connected Dystopia
This narrative proposal transposes the catastrophe of the Great Famine to a futuristic context, where the scarce resource is no longer food, but the capacity to be online