Snippet: Everything is Broken ☇

Quinn Norton gets us thinking big-picture on The Message:

Now imagine billions of little unknowable boxes within boxes constantly trying to talk and coordinate tasks at around the same time, sharing bits of data and passing commands around from the smallest little program to something huge, like a browser — that’s the internet. All of that has to happen nearly simultaneously and smoothly, or you throw a hissy fit because the shopping cart forgot about your movie tickets.

The rest of the piece is fascinating and if you have ever dug around on a computer, it does feel amazing that it’s able to function at all.