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North American Network Operators Group Date Prev | Date Next | Date Index | Thread Index | Author Index | Historical Eating My Collapse Column
Dear NANOG, You've perhaps already heard that I made good on a promise to eat the 12/4/95 InfoWorld column in which I predicted Internet collapses during 1996. If not yet, then please. Yes, eating the column was a publicity thing, of course, and look at all the publicity it got. As widely reported, I ate the entire column out of a bowl with a spoon before an appreciative live audience of about 1,000 people attending my terminal keynote at the Sixth International World Wide Web Conference in Santa Clara, California. Some reports skipped that I ate (and am still digesting) the entire column. I did. Rest assured. So, sorry to those of you who could not be there to witness my comeuppance. And sorry to those of you whom I over excited during 1996 by warning of Internet outages and arguing for more organized cooperation (than NANOG) among ISPs in managing Internet operations. Of course you should understand that I ate the column only because the Internet, as far as I can tell, did not suffer a gigalapse during 1996 -- a billion lost user*hours in a single outage. The Internet has indeed bogged down (hit STOP much?) and has indeed suffered large outages (the biggest being a 118 megalapse at AOL in August). The Internet still needs much more cooperation among ISPs on managing its operations, and perhaps we'll see some soon. Which is to say that, despite eating my column, I stand by my story. But, again, I was wrong -- we were lucky -- about the 1996 gigalapse. Again, I was wrong. I ate the column. I am sorry. I am not worthy. Now, be thinking about what you're going to eat (;->) if we don't get our Internet operations acts together in time to avert gigalapses. Lovingly on your case, /Bob Metcalfe, InfoWorld columnist - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
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