Series+of+Tubes

=Series of Tubes=

Ted Stevens, a former United States senator, once described the internet as a "series of tubes." Stevens was speaking against an amendment that would prohibit internet service providers, such as AT&T, from charging people fees to use the internet when he made this analogy. Apparently, he was upset that everyone should have the same level of access to the internet, thus making it "...filled, and if they are filled, when you put your message in, it gets in line and it's going to be delayed by anyone that puts into that tube enormous amounts of material, enormous amounts of material." He then contrasted this "series of tubes" with a "truck" and said that "...the internet is not something you just dump something on. It's not a truck."

Not only did he call the internet a "series of tubes", he confused "email" with the word "internet" when he complained that it took him five days to receive an email that his staff member had sent him. "I just the other day got, an internet was sent by my staff at 10 o'clock in the morning on Friday and I just got it yesterday." He was laughed at for, not only confusing words, but his halting vocabulary and stuttering when he spoke.

The reason why Stevens was ridiculed for his poor understanding of the internet, was because he was the regulator of it. One would expect him to have a much better understanding of what was under his control. The internet is not merely a "series of tubes" it is the network of networks, made of cables, servers, routers, and many more parts. There are many individual networks in the world that connect to each other through the routers, servers, and cables. Together, these networks form what we know as the internet. Not surprisingly, Stevens's speech exposed him to laughter and derision. His analogy would be remembered by those that actually do understand the internet as well as provoke people to wonder how competent the ones they vote into power actually are.

Author: Joelle Cheng!!