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Why The Internet is Not Yet Ready to Replace Television

As of this writing, I have been trying for six hours to access the premiere of Joss Whedon’s web musical Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog. (If you click the link and it works the first time, congratulations on always picking just the right time to try everything. I bet you always pick the fastest-moving checkout line too.) I would have all kinds of stuff to say about it, if I could see it. But I cannot, and neither can a lot of people. The servers just can’t handle the kind of traffic they’re getting.

This is the internet equivalent of the old urban legend that after a much-viewed series finale, a massive water crisis ensues when everybody in the world goes to flush the toilet at the same time. Think of the internet as a toilet and bandwidth as toilet water. I could try to come up with an analogy that isn’t toilet-related, but why?

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