What’s the Internet, really? Martin Geddes knows:
Which brings us to our old friend, the Internet. In many ways this is the Wal-Mart of data communications. It’s hideously inefficient at real-time communications. Every penis extending spam packet needs to be delivered at the same speed as my webcam with the oldies back home.
Just as Wal-Mart is a hideous place, so is the Internet, but it’s just good enough for plain folks, and there’s a lot more of them than there are of us toney high-tech elitists.
So as we figure out how to build and pay for more advanced networks, we should probably realize that the Internet, for all its many flaws of concept and execution, won’t go away any time soon.