Frankenstream

Frankenstream is a fable for our times about the rise of streaming technology. What was just fun at first has now taken over our lives and become an all-consuming monster with a massive carbon footprint. The story begins in 1995 when the internet was young and free.

As faster internet connection became the norm, streaming began to take over from downloading from the 2000s onwards. As the IPCC warns of irreversible global warming, streaming explodes leading to depleting resources and pollution equal to the automobile.

Streaming has gotten out of control, using 80% of internet bandwidth and emitting 100 million tons of CO2 a year, a similar amount to the Czech Republic. The concept of the cloud allows us to ignore the physical reality of streaming.

Streaming has become omnipresent and could rule our lives with the rise of the metaverse. But the IPCC leaves us with no choice: we must tame the streaming monster by changing our relationship with the digital world.