Andrew Blum: What is the Internet, really?

When a squirrel chewed through a cable and knocked him offline, journalist Andrew Blum started wondering what the Internet was really made of. So he set out to go see it -- the underwater cables, secret switches and other physical bits that make up the net.

TEDTalks is a daily video podcast of the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes (or less). Look for talks on Technology, Entertainment and Design -- plus science, business, global issues, the arts and much more.

[ggirl]

Lol all the comments talking about being here for BCIS course

[Dark_light]

Who else is here to make a summary for their BCIS class?

[MilkSteakOverHard]

"Light goes in on one side of the ocean and comes out on the other side of the ocean" I genuinely came here to learn about the internet but I feel like this is some sort of poetic fusion between the art of words and the art that is technology as we know and understand it. This alone is a form of art.

[EdEditz]

I worked in a factory where they make these under sea fiber optic cables. I was in quality control testing these babies. Very cool job actually.

[DubaiGuy]

Brilliant! Blum is right, once the workers cover the manhole with sand, we forget how physical the internet really is.

[haleylogsdon]

I hope in my field of study some event will inspire me to explore and discover answers to curiosities presenting themselves in the most interesting of manners.

[jaybranno]

Just finished reading his book Tubes and its amazing, was really nice to see some of the pictures he took during this talk and visually see the things he witnessed in the expansion of the internet.

[me]

came here for my bcis class but dam he cute

[Krkrbs]

It's amazing to think more then a hundred years ago we where doing the same thing with telegraph cables.

[Ficktao]

I don't understand the negative comments. This is fascinating! Too bad it was cut off, I would have liked to see the entire lecture.

[fromthemoonandmybed]

Imagine having to take the same classes twice this is my second time watching this video 😭

[BenGenio]

I'm not sure why, but I feel stupid after watching this video. I am amazed at how interested this guy is in something so obvious (to me). And also how enthusiastic he is in sharing this information with us, like a child discovering something new, and sharing it with his parents. Not sure the TED audience is the right audience for this.

[TeBaran]

Why is everyone slamming this guy, I bet you 95% of the population have no idea about the physicality of the internet. He may be just scratching the massive surface of the internet but at least he is trying to understand. We get it, some of us are way more intelligent at networking and computers in general, but you don't have to look down on others because they didn't know about it.

[PraUGshta]

It's pretty mind boggling to me how a bunch of cables transmitting electricity (probably) can be transformed into such a monumental thing as the internet. Think of yourself. You are a bunch of neurons firing in your brain, but the sum of all these electrical impulses and chemical processes that's going on inside you, gives rise to an entirely different thing. The fact that the internet exists, physically, is a cool thought in my opinion, and one that most people usually don't stop to consider.

[beidacandanoza]

Someone please summarize this for me for ny BCIS class, I do not like watching ted talks! 😫

[vibinwithjazz]

So nobody noticed the guy sleeping at 6:22?

[Cliffyboy]

Wow, what a perspective!!! This man was quite successful in explaining the physicality of something as abstract as the internet. Really enjoyed listening to him

[brtweets]

loved this.. really insightful .. i was aware of just how physical the internet is.. but in this incredibly visual time we live in.. it takes seeing the guy coming out of the sea holding the internet cable first, before you can truely imagine a guy coming out of the sea holding the internet.cable

[GaveYouADislike]

A global computer network providing a variety of information and communication facilities, consisting of interconnected networks using standardized communication protocols.

[SchemingForFalcons]

They're all… 42… the answer to life, the universe, and everything?