Andrew Blum: What is the Internet, really?

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  • Опубліковано 28 вер 2024
  • 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.
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КОМЕНТАРІ • 387

  • @ggirl705
    @ggirl705 3 роки тому +107

    Lol all the comments talking about being here for BCIS course

    • @arichmind19
      @arichmind19 2 роки тому +1

      Well I’m not here for BCIS but I’m here for a Digital humanities class😂

    • @emilymartinez8046
      @emilymartinez8046 2 роки тому

      Yes

    • @suungs
      @suungs 2 місяці тому

      Yup! LMFAO

  • @PaintballVideosNet
    @PaintballVideosNet 8 років тому +46

    8:29 Got a sleeper.

    • @idontknowchris
      @idontknowchris 5 місяців тому

      ooo I shall now find, screenshot, and publicly SHAME THEM!! lmfao
      can you imagine waking up and finding out you'd missed out on such a great fkn presentation tho?? I'd be pissed.

  • @jaybranno
    @jaybranno 11 років тому +8

    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.

  • @haleylogsdon8791
    @haleylogsdon8791 9 років тому +26

    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.

    • @deificdeus2400
      @deificdeus2400 3 роки тому +1

      Has such an event taken place yet

    • @michalnewton1885
      @michalnewton1885 3 роки тому

      I indeed am too curious of what magnitude the event would have to posses in order for your inspiration to occur?

  • @BenGenio
    @BenGenio 12 років тому +13

    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.

    • @rodneymanyepa
      @rodneymanyepa 3 роки тому +2

      I think he’s trying to be as fun and engaging as possible, so that people who’d never otherwise concentrate long enough to understand this from a lecture or textbook actually do. This is awesome.

  • @daviers01
    @daviers01 8 років тому +14

    Wired people should know something about wires! It makes sense

    • @Shahrajat5
      @Shahrajat5 5 років тому

      Ohhhh, i loved that quoted

  • @SchemingForFalcons
    @SchemingForFalcons 11 років тому +28

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

  • @coreydoyle4702
    @coreydoyle4702 11 років тому +4

    He wanted to see it, and touch it. It's very important that we know how things that we use, work. What makes a notification on your phone possible, and more importantly, how the world works.
    -Cheers

  • @brtweets7827
    @brtweets7827 10 років тому +12

    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

  • @omianova7474
    @omianova7474 4 роки тому +6

    Can someone summarize this for me its for a assignment for school lol

  • @TeBaran
    @TeBaran 11 років тому +4

    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.

    • @kittymilkyyy
      @kittymilkyyy 5 років тому +1

      Because most people probably had to watch this for class

  • @양양애이스
    @양양애이스 3 роки тому +3

    I'm here for BCIS

  • @jamal8872
    @jamal8872 5 років тому +10

    Here from bcis class, summary?

  • @dandined
    @dandined 12 років тому +3

    I enjoyed this talk. Thank you :) I want to know more about how we are all physically connected. Well done :)

  • @Fuliginosus
    @Fuliginosus 12 років тому +1

    Prior to the internet people related to other people using pieces of paper (books, letters, newpapers, etc.). But we didn't have people getting freaked-out about looking at rectangles of paper all day the way people get freaked-out about looking at screens.

  • @Hazz3r
    @Hazz3r 12 років тому +2

    Loved the talk. Great job.

  • @KokoRicky
    @KokoRicky 11 років тому +7

    Sometimes I wonder if the TED guys are ever going to figure out that cutting to angles of the gaping jaws of random audience members is jarring and unnecessary.

  • @lee0495
    @lee0495 12 років тому +15

    Am I the only one kinda shocked that they have fiber cables running through the ocean?

  • @MrValzen
    @MrValzen 12 років тому

    I don't know how big the IT crowd is elsewhere but the UK, but it is definitely worth watching, best modern sitcom we have

  • @iMrReMember
    @iMrReMember 10 років тому +3

    interesting video but when I search what is the internet I wanted to find out how it was found where it stems from why do we use it the way we do what else could we use it for what is the basic of the web

    • @MrTopGunnar
      @MrTopGunnar 9 років тому

      +young jynx it doesnt stem from anywhere its decentralized that was the whole point of the picture he showed in the beginning

  • @youvidtubedeo1151
    @youvidtubedeo1151 6 років тому +2

    But how about the sattelite and radio technology , it is not all physical , some are wave or energy

  • @iugey
    @iugey 10 років тому +16

    Guy @8:29 rofl =P

  • @TheaDragonSpirit
    @TheaDragonSpirit 12 років тому

    Did I say Servers where tiny? But it actually depends on the servers actually. You can turn any desktop computer in to a server.

  • @ChristianVPetersen
    @ChristianVPetersen 12 років тому

    they also provide you with wireless service! ISP=Internet service provider, meaning Internet in many forms of access

  • @Shahrajat5
    @Shahrajat5 5 років тому

    I love you Sir...Andrew Blum was too amazing!!!

  • @cyrila8582
    @cyrila8582 10 років тому +1

    To my opinion it is crazy to think that each computer connected to the Internet in the world is physically connected to mine by a tremendous number of possible path.

  • @DAVIDSDIEGO
    @DAVIDSDIEGO 12 років тому

    It was pretty cool to witness a cable landing, in Guam, back in 2009...

  • @nullapecunia
    @nullapecunia 12 років тому +1

    I'll do my best. However, I would most likely refer them to an adult learning class on web surfing at the local high school.

  • @andrewmckay9385
    @andrewmckay9385 9 років тому +17

    This man is simply wrong. THE INTERNET IS A SERIES OF TUBES!

    • @onee
      @onee 7 років тому +9

      Andrew Mckay UA-cams?

    • @RabbitJnr
      @RabbitJnr 7 років тому

      hahahahahahhahahahahahahahhahahahahahahah

  • @IseeRightThrough2you
    @IseeRightThrough2you 12 років тому

    I came here looking for a "series of tubes" joke. I was not disappointed.

  • @truebriefcase2843
    @truebriefcase2843 10 років тому +17

    Interesting talk, but I don't understand one thing. Who actually thought that internet wasn't a physical thing? Did people think that it's based on what, air, somewhere on the actual cloud? Do people think that television isn't physical, thinking that it just "appears"? Is someone who doesn't know that products in supermarkets are delivered there, and don't really grow in their warehouses?
    Internet is another way of delivering digital content through the use of a massive web of physical infrastructure, which is why it was labeled WWW. It's not just a cool name; it represent what it ACTUALLY is. There's nothing to think about here. How is that not obvious?
    I loved the quote in the end, which is a completely different topic, by the way, and not what the whole talk was about. And I'm not trying to sound smart here - I might not be getting something here - but why does this obvious thing even needs to be explained for adults? Serious question.

    • @MillionaireDubMind
      @MillionaireDubMind 9 років тому +11

      The short answer is I was wondering where the stuff on my samsung tablet was coming from.

    • @RajuRaju-rw8ry
      @RajuRaju-rw8ry 7 років тому

      +Thomas
      a

    • @FirstnameLastname-pm1in
      @FirstnameLastname-pm1in 6 років тому +1

      Never fails, the classic pretentious "But come on, do people really not know things???" youtube comment

    • @Charloteblahblah
      @Charloteblahblah 5 років тому +2

      Well actually... Yes. I thought until about 2 days a go that the internet and Wi-Fi were the same thing, that the Internet was like radiowaves. It shocked me when I found out that is was physical, excuse my ignorance but not everyone is an expert in everything. I was also shocked because I looked at a map that was representative of the world and could see where the internet had gone when I was talking to my parents in England from India a few months earlier. And I felt stupid because when I was there it was the start of monsoon season and the internet didn't work hardly at all because of the weather. The fact that the telephone poles had fallen down made sense as to why we couldn't have any internet but i didnt think about it properly. I actually put the fact that the internet doesn't work down to us using a dongle there but having "real WiFi" everywhere else. And yes it's also stupid that I don't know because I'm 19 and you'd think 5 years of IT lessons would teach me how the internet works but nope. (I'm a Y2K baby and everything as well) I have extensive knowledge of Microsoft word though, yay 🙄. So no, not everyone knows everything.

    • @fechegaray7
      @fechegaray7 5 років тому

      Shut up true briefcase, your name says it all, you’re a moron, we’re all here to learn

  • @KevinExtremo
    @KevinExtremo 12 років тому

    Funny how everyone in the crowd at 8:30 is falling asleep and one girl smiles like crazy heh.

  • @SamirMishra6174
    @SamirMishra6174 8 років тому +11

    By the way Tata is the worst internet provider in India.

  • @MrAstroman2
    @MrAstroman2 12 років тому

    the internet doesn't weight anything?!?! *ahem* Vsauce: How Much Does The Internet Weigh?

  • @Gmmm
    @Gmmm 12 років тому

    What is the internet? A series of tubes.

  • @MrHuskerOne
    @MrHuskerOne 12 років тому +1

    The internet is in a cave in the rocky mountains. I saw it on south park, they are always factual on south park.

  • @captainhampton
    @captainhampton 12 років тому

    Fully agree, have no idea why they haven't changed it, everyone seems to hate it.

  • @GrimSoul66
    @GrimSoul66 12 років тому

    Trust me I know. This is the way i think, and it sometimes leaves me with a head ache..

  • @shango02005
    @shango02005 12 років тому

    I really enjoyed this talk!

  • @robychevere9487
    @robychevere9487 10 років тому +3

    Now i wanna now where is the Intenet cable on Puerto Rico.

    • @edwardivandeveloper
      @edwardivandeveloper 8 років тому +1

      +Roberto Ramirez Yo tambien

    • @kkfoto
      @kkfoto 6 років тому

      There's several cables connecting to Puerto Rico: San Juan (7 cables), Miramar (2), Isla Verde (4), Punta Salina (1) > submarinecablemap.com

  • @UltraRobbie
    @UltraRobbie 12 років тому

    I felt the presentation was a little unfocused in a way, kind of like a 'What's the point?' feeling, but it was amusing and interesting nonetheless. I think the guy is a great speaker as well.

  • @OmnicideX
    @OmnicideX 12 років тому

    I think it was a warning that one day a giant sea squirrel will eat our internet!

  • @callmeej8399
    @callmeej8399 6 років тому

    What's an internet?
    -Sent from my Iphone

  • @tessmacie9924
    @tessmacie9924 4 роки тому

    Thank You!

  • @ChristianVPetersen
    @ChristianVPetersen 12 років тому

    - there has been ocean cables since before the Internet. I belive the first Atlantic cable was used for Telegraphy

  • @kohimusictv
    @kohimusictv 4 роки тому +1

    Great information, but his point seems to be pretty confused

  • @samanthaguerrero08
    @samanthaguerrero08 6 місяців тому

    im just here for the BCIS cource lol

  • @vanlongnguyen7682
    @vanlongnguyen7682 2 роки тому

    WOW, it's so incredible

  • @Anrainerstaat
    @Anrainerstaat 7 років тому

    The point he makes is very simple - which doesn't make it irrelevant of course.

  • @vickylukan7493
    @vickylukan7493 3 роки тому

    when they put it in the manhole, what happend after that? does manhole go somwehere? Where is the source? where is the data int he fibers comings from? Are there many sources?

  • @iugey
    @iugey 11 років тому

    with that the title of this video the scope of his speach could have been broader.

  • @bigdickbandit2525
    @bigdickbandit2525 12 років тому

    the internet is not a big truck, you can't just dump something on it. its a series of tubes.

  • @oladipooladipo9068
    @oladipooladipo9068 5 років тому +1

    I'm in love with his face...damn😊😥😥

  • @geezdude20
    @geezdude20 12 років тому

    Wow I had no ideia.

  • @robertrivera9982
    @robertrivera9982 Рік тому

    I was wondering, if we got reset from a mountain falling from the sky again would the Internet information still be here? It's great to know that some mad man built a multi billion dollar industry connecting cables around the world.

  • @gokulvellingiri4445
    @gokulvellingiri4445 3 роки тому

    That's really amazing

  • @Rumpelstilette
    @Rumpelstilette 12 років тому

    a squirrel chewed on my internet - hilarious :)

  • @gadda01
    @gadda01 12 років тому +2

    lol, please tell me you've watched the it crowd

  • @SAsgarters
    @SAsgarters 12 років тому

    Tell us more about the squirrel.

  • @gregorstrohman3619
    @gregorstrohman3619 2 роки тому

    Interesting story about how undersea cables are connected to shore.
    Unfortunately this does not answer the Question "What is the internet", directly.

  • @MrFromUSA
    @MrFromUSA 12 років тому

    ISP = Internet Service Provider. Let's break this down: what did he just talk about? The internet is cables. If an ISP provides your internet, then they provide your cables.

  • @MrAstroman2
    @MrAstroman2 12 років тому

    i just watched that specific episode where they say the internet weights nothing, but have YOU seen that Vsauce video above??

  • @mattschwab5143
    @mattschwab5143 2 роки тому

    Wowzer, super cool! Great work. Ahead of his time. I wonder what he thinks about the internet 11 years later. Or what he'll think about the internet 11 years from today.

  • @goxr3plus_studio
    @goxr3plus_studio 6 років тому

    Incredible!!! ♥

  • @LeonidasGGG
    @LeonidasGGG 12 років тому

    Server farms and lots of wiring... That is the internet. But there are some also server satelites and wireless transmition of data... It's not as fast of has big, but the military have it... Maybe one day, we will to, and THAT is definitelly a "cloud".

  • @mariannetenorio22
    @mariannetenorio22 5 років тому +7

    someone make a summary, i dont feel like watching all of it

  • @etbadaboum
    @etbadaboum 12 років тому +1

    Thus guy will discover satellites transmitting wireless data from space and he'll write a book.
    Maybe one day he'll know that much of our physical world is due to coal and iron. Maybe.

  • @bl8bl81dc
    @bl8bl81dc 12 років тому

    The internet is the beginning of a level 1 civilization communication tool . ( Michio Kaku )

  • @Mandog20000
    @Mandog20000 12 років тому

    It was probably just a really long blink...

  • @sysFail81
    @sysFail81 11 років тому +1

    honestly, nothing against this nice guy, with an admirable passion to know more about its surroundings, however maybe some day a squirrel will chew up its power cable, and then he will discovery from where its electricity comes from, and why is he not living in a cave.

  • @anonimo.l.1625
    @anonimo.l.1625 4 роки тому

    Para que pones título en Español si el vídeo está en inglés, ni siquiera tiene subtítulos.

  • @Whalecryptooo
    @Whalecryptooo Місяць тому

    Good

  • @VivekMishra2010
    @VivekMishra2010 12 років тому

    Optic fibre cable!

  • @KyahRindlisbacher
    @KyahRindlisbacher 12 років тому

    The Internet. Is not a thing it's a collection of things. Like a flock of birds.

  • @po1upanow
    @po1upanow 2 роки тому

    amazing

  • @lowkeylunatic
    @lowkeylunatic 12 років тому

    9:57 Awkward silence waiting for a bigger laugh that never comes...

  • @Icariusnatarius
    @Icariusnatarius 12 років тому

    Internet is series of tubes!

  • @MahmoudAlzaibaqCC
    @MahmoudAlzaibaqCC 12 років тому +1

    "Wired people should know something about wires"
    Well Said!!

  • @sillyfella2009
    @sillyfella2009 4 роки тому

    It's magic Joel,it's magic

  • @ItachiUchiha953
    @ItachiUchiha953 12 років тому +1

    a place to argue with trolls & watch videos that cost money elsewhere.

  • @kuglepen64
    @kuglepen64 12 років тому

    Optical fibres are bi-directional.

  • @scmfrmanzil
    @scmfrmanzil 8 років тому

    Informative

  • @Neceros
    @Neceros 12 років тому

    Wanna skip the intro? When watching, press your right arrow key 3 times!

  • @NICS-007
    @NICS-007 7 місяців тому

    shoutout BPED II-1

  • @randomartist01
    @randomartist01 12 років тому

    The internet is a series of tubes.

  • @zedhed2
    @zedhed2 12 років тому

    I felt bad watching this on my laptop screen.

  • @NilsSF
    @NilsSF 12 років тому

    It's a series of tubes!!!

  • @swapnilmishra4123
    @swapnilmishra4123 3 роки тому +1

    Soo internet is a jumble of fibres connecting a virtual world...

  • @JOHNYGALAXY
    @JOHNYGALAXY 7 місяців тому

    Hi, BSE SST 2-1 ¦ 2-2 FROM PSU BAYAMBANG CAMPUS. 🎉🎉🎉

  • @ElGrandeBanana
    @ElGrandeBanana 12 років тому

    Not realy, because we could send the signal the other way around :D

  • @lazarusblackwell6988
    @lazarusblackwell6988 Рік тому +1

    The "real" world was always ugly and boring (in most places)
    The creation of the internet marked the start of a new and better world for us to live in.
    I couldnt imagine my life without the internet.
    You can do so many things on it.
    Things you absolutely cant do in the real world.
    The internet is so CHEAP and thats the main reason why everyone is on it.
    You can do SO MANY THINGS on it for a low price (and getting lower)
    Thats my take on it.

  • @Earlyturtle
    @Earlyturtle 12 років тому

    Preach!

  • @c0re93
    @c0re93 11 років тому

    Cables are super interesting and this is not irony.

  • @squirreljester2
    @squirreljester2 12 років тому

    It is.

  • @DragonsTooth
    @DragonsTooth 12 років тому

    When a squirrel chewed through a cable and knocked him offline, journalist Andrew Blum started wondering why squirrels have such an issue with the internet. Was it because of their furiness, was it their buck teeth or was it simply because the internet is a bad thing? So he set out to find the answer- on his voyage of discovery he found many mind expanding things but the most memorable discovery was that the centre to the internet consists primarily of pure food particles planted there by ghosts

  • @serNevh
    @serNevh 12 років тому

    the internet is a series of tubes

  • @ilikemuzik420
    @ilikemuzik420 11 років тому

    so wait.... this is just overgrown telecom basically? sounds like the cables that made telegrams possible

  • @gadda01
    @gadda01 12 років тому

    rather confusingly i started talking bout vsauce then about the it crowd, i have a habit of changing subject mid sen yeah i really like it as well, not my favourite, the one with countdown is probably my favourite one or the one with space star ordering. basically i love the it crowd *nerd face*

  • @mrnintendo15
    @mrnintendo15 11 років тому

    The internet is a series of tubes!

  • @rickynickybillywilly3687
    @rickynickybillywilly3687 4 роки тому

    The internet is BOOM BUTADA BOP BOOM BOP BOOM BOP