We spent three days without internet. Well, not completely. Only without our normal 1 Gigabit Fiber. We could use our mobile hotspots, but pretty quickly we found out that there are bandwidth caps on them. We started thinking about saving bandwidth by not watching videos and loading what we don’t really need.
I asked Claude.ai to write a story where internet bandwidth is a precious resource and people have to save it. Some people share the leftovers with friends and neighbors.
Jake sat at his kitchen table, staring at the tiny screen of his data meter. The numbers flickered: 2.3 GB remaining. He’d have to make it last another week.
A knock at the door. It was Sarah from next door, clutching her tablet like a precious gem.
“Hey, Jake. Got any spare gigs?”
He hesitated, fingers tightening on the meter. “How bad?”
“Bad. Tommy’s got a school project due. Need about 500 megs.”
Jake nodded, remembering when Sarah had slipped him some data last month for a job application video. He pulled out a cable, linked their devices. “There. 600 megs. Should see him through.”
Sarah’s eyes lit up. “You’re a lifesaver. I’ll hit you back next allotment.”
As she left, Jake glanced at his meter again. 1.7 GB. He’d have to be careful now.
That night, he dreamed of endless streams of data, flowing like rivers through the air. When he woke, the harsh reality of scarcity hit him anew.
At work, conversations revolved around data conservation tips.
“I hear the Johnsons down on 4th are sitting pretty,” whispered Tom from accounting. “Word is, they’ve got an uncapped line.”
Murmurs of disbelief rippled through the break room. Uncapped lines were urban legends, whispered about but never seen.
Jake’s mind raced. If it was true, the Johnsons could be living in a world of unlimited information, streaming videos, making video calls without a care. The thought made him dizzy.
On his walk home, Jake noticed new graffiti on the subway wall: “FREE THE DATA”. He quickened his pace.
That evening, as he carefully portioned out 50 megabytes for some light reading, Jake wondered how long this scarcity would last. Would his children grow up knowing only a world of metered knowledge and rationed connection?
He closed his eyes, imagining a future where data flowed freely again. But for now, the meter on his table continued its silent countdown, a constant reminder of the digital drought that gripped them all.
The cover image was generated by DALL-E based on the text of the story.