the internet is slow

If a tree falls in the woods and there is no one around, does it make any noise?  If the Internet is slow, does anyone care? Today, the Internet was slow. Slow enough to notice, which, according to our measurement, was about 100 milliseconds slower than usual. That's right, milliseconds. This is similar to the difference between 30 and 100 MPH. At 100 MPH we can look out the window of the car (not for long, keep your eyes on the road) and see the scenery go by. You can do this at 30 MPH too, but at that rate the scenery doesn't change very often. So this morning I had to wait an additional 10 or 20 seconds for my email to appear on my screen. An eternity it seems. I work in I.T., so to us, it was a matter of grave concern. To some of our users, it was a calamity. I think some users were convinced it was a prelude to Judgement Day, the Rapture, the climax to a disaster movie (I colllect these, they are great fun and remind me that we're all gonna be ok). Luckily, the Internet returned to normal, so I won't have to stock up on canned goods and bottled water. Whew.