TEDGlobal 2012
Andrew Blum: Discover the physical side of the internet
Andrew Blum: 你以為的網路世界，真的嗎？
Filmed:
Readability: 3.8
1,521,702 views
在松鼠咬斷電纜並把他趕下線之後，記者Andrew Blum 開始思考網路實際是如何構成的。所以他開始出外查訪-海底電纜、不為人知的資訊交換所，和其他實際組成網際網路的元件。
Andrew Blum - Network author
For his new book, "Tubes," Andrew Blum visited the places where the internet exists in physical form: the cables and switches and servers that virtually connect us. Full bio
For his new book, "Tubes," Andrew Blum visited the places where the internet exists in physical form: the cables and switches and servers that virtually connect us. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
00:16
I've always written primarily about architecture,
0
827
2031
我主要的著作都有關建築學、或建物
00:18
about buildings, and writing about architecture
1
2858
2525
而寫這些建築時
00:21
is based on certain assumptions.
2
5383
2741
都要從一個特定的假設開始
00:24
An architect designs a building, and it becomes a place,
3
8124
2458
有一個建築師設計了一座建築，然後變成一個地點
00:26
or many architects design many buildings, and it becomes
4
10582
2480
或是許多建築師設計許多建築，然後成為一個城市
00:28
a city, and regardless of this complicated mix of forces
5
13062
3274
而無論這些造就了這些地方的文化或社會力量、經濟
00:32
of politics and culture and economics that shapes
6
16336
2397
有多麼的錯綜複雜
00:34
these places, at the end of the day, you can go
7
18733
3003
在最終，變成一個你能去的地方
00:37
and you can visit them. You can walk around them.
8
21736
2656
你能拜訪各處，你能繞著他們走
00:40
You can smell them. You can get a feel for them.
9
24392
1673
你能聞到這些建築、你能感覺到這些建築
00:41
You can experience their sense of place.
10
26065
3493
你能感覺這個地方的氛圍
00:45
But what was striking to me over the last several years
11
29558
2349
但這幾年嚇到我自己的是
00:47
was that less and less was I going out into the world,
12
31907
3375
我越來越少走出外面的世界
00:51
and more and more, I was sitting in front of my computer screen.
13
35282
3229
取而代之的是越來越常坐在電腦螢幕前面
00:54
And especially since about 2007, when I got an iPhone,
14
38511
4320
特別是2007年開始，我買iPhone以後
00:58
I was not only sitting in front of my screen all day,
15
42831
1876
我不只是整天坐在電腦螢幕前
01:00
but I was also getting up at the end of the day
16
44707
2097
我還開始在每天結束前爬起來
01:02
and looking at this little screen that I carried in my pocket.
17
46804
3300
看著我口袋裡帶著的那塊小螢幕
01:06
And what was surprising to me was how quickly
18
50104
2859
令我驚訝的是
01:08
my relationship to the physical world had changed.
19
52963
2937
我與外在世界的關係改變得如此迅速
01:11
In this very short period of time, you know, whether you
20
55900
1775
在如此短暫的時間內
01:13
call it the last 15 years or so of being online, or the last,
21
57675
3456
不管你認為這個線上時代是在十五年前
01:17
you know, four or five years of being online all the time,
22
61131
2959
或是四、五年前開始
01:19
our relationship to our surroundings had changed in that
23
64090
3174
我們與外在的關係已經改變
01:23
our attention is constantly divided. You know,
24
67264
1799
我們的注意力也時常地被分散
01:24
we're both looking inside the screens and we're looking
25
69063
2564
我們都在往螢幕裡看
01:27
out in the world around us.
26
71627
1832
去看我們身處的世界
01:29
And what was even more striking to me, and what I really
27
73459
2527
而更令我震驚的是，也讓我真正
01:31
got hung up on, was that the world inside the screen
28
75986
3002
開始注意的是，這個螢幕裡頭的世界
01:34
seemed to have no physical reality of its own.
29
78988
3789
似乎自己沒有一點實際的存在
01:38
If you went and looked for images of the Internet,
30
82777
2768
如果你想看一張網路的圖
01:41
this was all that you found, this famous image by Opte
31
85545
3118
你會找到這張由Opte計畫所生成的著名圖片
01:44
of the Internet as the kind of Milky Way, this infinite expanse
32
88663
3130
把網路看作銀河一般，這樣無限
01:47
where we don't seem to be anywhere on it.
33
91793
2096
好像我們沒辦法身在其中任一處
01:49
We can never seem to grasp it in its totality.
34
93889
2424
我們好像永遠無法完全掌握它
01:52
It's always reminded me of the Apollo image of the Earth,
35
96313
3617
這張圖總讓我聯想到阿波羅號上看到的地球
01:55
the blue marble picture, and it's similarly meant to suggest,
36
99930
2730
那張藍寶石的圖片，而它的相似度也暗示了
01:58
I think, that we can't really understand it as a whole.
37
102660
2697
我認為，我們永遠無法完全整體地去了解它
02:01
We're always sort of small in the face of its expanse.
38
105357
3685
我們永遠會是它擴張中的一小部分
02:04
So if there was this world and this screen, and if there was
39
109042
3365
所以如果有這麼一個世界和這塊螢幕
02:08
the physical world around me, I couldn't ever get them
40
112407
2857
好像現實世界這樣圍繞著我的話
02:11
together in the same place.
41
115264
2981
我永遠無法把他們放在一起
02:14
And then this happened.
42
118245
3207
然後這件事發生了
02:17
My Internet broke one day, as it occasionally does,
43
121452
2598
有一天，我網路如同偶而會發生地，壞了
02:19
and the cable guy came to fix it, and he started with
44
124050
2734
工程師前來維修
02:22
the dusty clump of cables behind the couch,
45
126784
2127
然後他從沙發後沾滿灰塵的一團線開始
02:24
and he followed it to the front of my building and into the basement and out to the back yard,
46
128911
3210
然後他跟著那條線到了我大樓前面，下了地下室，然後再出了後院
02:28
and there was this big jumble of cables against the wall.
47
132121
2876
那兒有個很大的集線區安在牆上
02:30
And then he saw a squirrel running along the wire,
48
134997
2554
然後他看見一隻松鼠在電纜上跑著
02:33
and he said, "There's your problem.
49
137551
2791
然後他說，＂這就是你的問題
02:36
A squirrel is chewing on your Internet." (Laughter)
50
140342
4421
有一隻松鼠在咀嚼你的網路＂（笑聲）
02:40
And this seemed astounding. The Internet is
51
144763
3127
這看來挺驚人的
02:43
a transcendent idea. It's a set of protocols that has changed
52
147890
3374
網路是個形而上的概念。網路是種囊括
02:47
everything from shopping to dating to revolutions.
53
151264
3455
購物到約會到革命等等的各種東西在上面的交換協議
02:50
It was unequivocally not something
54
154719
2629
這本來不是個
02:53
a squirrel could chew on. (Laughter)
55
157348
3311
松鼠能咬的東西（笑聲）
02:56
But that in fact seemed to be the case.
56
160659
1878
但事實上看來如此
02:58
A squirrel had in fact chewed on my Internet. (Laughter)
57
162537
3202
一隻松鼠真的咬了我的網路（笑聲）
03:01
And then I got this image in my head of what would happen
58
165739
2187
然後我腦袋就開始幻想這樣一個圖像
03:03
if you yanked the wire from the wall and if you started
59
167926
2180
如果你把網路線扯出牆壁
03:06
to follow it. Where would it go?
60
170106
1604
然後開始跟著它走，它會走到哪?
03:07
Was the Internet actually a place that you could visit?
61
171710
3508
網路是否真的為一個你能拜訪的地方
03:11
Could I go there? Who would I meet?
62
175218
1349
我能到那嗎?，我會遇到誰
03:12
You know, was there something actually out there?
63
176567
3376
你懂?就是網路是否是否真的在＂外面＂？
03:15
And the answer, by all accounts, was no.
64
179943
3037
而這個答案，按照認知來說，應該是沒有
03:18
This was the Internet, this black box with a red light on it,
65
182980
2780
這該是網路，有著紅燈亮著的黑箱子
03:21
as represented in the sitcom "The IT Crowd."
66
185760
3430
如同喜劇"The IT Crowd所呈現的樣子
03:25
Normally it lives on the top of Big Ben,
67
189190
3559
通常會設在大笨鐘的頂層
03:28
because that's where you get the best reception,
68
192749
3082
因為是收訊最好的地方
03:31
but they had negotiated that their colleague could borrow it
69
195831
3305
但他們在協商後把它借到了大學校園裡
03:35
for the afternoon to use in an office presentation.
70
199136
3172
所以當天下午的簡報能夠使用
03:38
The elders of the Internet were willing to part with it
71
202308
2374
網路的管理者們願意短暫的把它借出
03:40
for a short while, and she looks at it and she says,
72
204682
2866
然後她看著這個盒子然後說
03:43
"This is the Internet? The whole Internet? Is it heavy?"
73
207548
3390
這就是網路?整個網路?它重嗎?
03:46
They say, "Of course not, the Internet doesn't weigh anything."
74
210938
3960
他們說，當然不重，網路一點重量都沒有
03:50
And I was embarrassed. I was looking for this thing
75
214898
2317
然後我尷尬了。我像是笨蛋一樣
03:53
that only fools seem to look for.
76
217215
2296
在找一個不存在的東西
03:55
The Internet was that amorphous blob, or it was a silly
77
219511
2835
網路要麼不是無形的一小滴
03:58
black box with a blinking red light on it.
78
222346
2246
要麼就是一個有著會閃紅燈的小黑盒
04:00
It wasn't a real world out there.
79
224592
2328
網路之外好像沒甚麼實際形體
04:02
But, in fact, it is. There is a real world of the Internet out there,
80
226920
3312
但，事實上，它有的。網路外有個實際的形體
04:06
and that's what I spent about two years visiting,
81
230232
1766
而我花了大概兩年派訪這些網路的「地點」
04:07
these places of the Internet. I was in large data centers
82
231998
3545
我拜訪了大型資訊中心
04:11
that use as much power as the cities in which they sit,
83
235543
2645
那個中心的電力消耗和它所坐落城市的電力消耗相同
04:14
and I visited places like this, 60 Hudson Street in New York,
84
238188
3189
我還拜訪了這種地方，紐約哈德遜街60號
04:17
which is one of the buildings in the world,
85
241377
1708
它是世界上的其中一棟
04:18
one of a very short list of buildings, about a dozen buildings,
86
243085
2898
一種為數不多的建築，大約十來棟左右
04:21
where more networks of the Internet connect to each other
87
245983
2644
網路在那編織成網、互相連通
04:24
than anywhere else.
88
248627
1358
量比其他地方都大
04:25
And that connection is an unequivocally physical process.
89
249985
2617
裏頭的連接是靠著實際的物理運作的
04:28
It's about the router of one network, a Facebook or
90
252602
2485
這大約是一個網路架構的路由器，如臉書
04:30
a Google or a B.T. or a Comcast or a Time Warner, whatever it is,
91
255087
2942
或是Google、BT、Comcast或是Time Warner，不管是甚麼
04:33
connecting with usually a yellow fiber optic cable up into
92
258029
2431
都通常是用黃色的光纖電纜牽入天花板
04:36
the ceiling and down into the router of another network,
93
260460
2694
然後走進路由器去連接其他網路
04:39
and that's unequivocally physical, and it's surprisingly intimate.
94
263154
4377
那是實際的物質，也看來意外地親切
04:43
A building like 60 Hudson, and a dozen or so others,
95
267531
3293
如哈德遜街60號這樣的建築，或是其他十幾個
04:46
has 10 times more networks connecting within it
96
270824
2326
都有著比身邊一排建築物
04:49
than the next tier of buildings.
97
273150
1848
相加起來的十倍連接量
04:50
There's a very short list of these places.
98
274998
2068
這些地方並不多
04:52
And 60 Hudson in particular is interesting because it's home
99
277066
2908
而哈德遜街六十號特別有趣的地方在於
04:55
to about a half a dozen very important networks,
100
279974
2589
它是好幾個非常重要網路的家
04:58
which are the networks which serve the undersea cables
101
282563
2298
那些網路通聯著
05:00
that travel underneath the ocean
102
284861
2348
在海裡蜿蜒的海底電纜
05:03
that connect Europe and America and connect all of us.
103
287209
2253
牽起歐美，和我們所有人
05:05
And it's those cables in particular that I want to focus on.
104
289462
3587
這些特別的電纜就是我想要專注的地方
05:08
If the Internet is a global phenomenon, if we live
105
293049
3860
如果網際網路是種全球現象
05:12
in a global village, it's because there are cables underneath
106
296925
2440
如果我們住在一個地球村，就是因為海底的網路
05:15
the ocean, cables like this.
107
299365
2105
像這樣的電纜
05:17
And in this dimension, they are incredibly small.
108
301470
2886
在這樣的特點下，它們微不足道
05:20
You can you hold them in your hand. They're like a garden hose.
109
304356
2942
你能將他們握在手中，他們像是花園水管一樣
05:23
But in the other dimension they are incredibly expansive,
110
307298
4063
但在另一個面向來看，他們不可思議的廣布
05:27
as expansive as you can imagine.
111
311361
1640
你能想像有多廣布就有多廣布
05:28
They stretch across the ocean. They're three or five
112
313001
2555
他們爬佈滿海底。
05:31
or eight thousand miles in length, and
113
315556
2611
大概是三、五或八千英里長
05:34
if the material science and the computational technology
114
318167
2609
要說這項材料科學和電機記算數學
05:36
is incredibly complicated, the basic physical process
115
320776
3533
是極為複雜的，但它的物理過程
05:40
is shockingly simple. Light goes in on one end of the ocean
116
324309
3780
又驚人地簡單，光從海洋的一端傳入
05:43
and comes out on the other, and it usually comes
117
328089
3285
然後從另外一端傳出。
05:47
from a building called a landing station that's often
118
331374
2633
它通常在下水前進入一個叫做陸地站的建築
05:49
tucked away inconspicuously in a little seaside neighborhood,
119
334007
2947
通常很不起眼地座落在海邊的一小區
05:52
and there are amplifiers that sit on the ocean floor
120
336954
2734
然後在海床上會有增幅器
05:55
that look kind of like bluefin tuna, and every 50 miles
121
339688
2520
長的有點像藍鰭鮪魚
05:58
they amplify the signal, and since the rate of transmission
122
342208
3657
每五十英里他們就會強化訊號，
06:01
is incredibly fast, the basic unit is a 10-gigabit-per-second
123
345865
3206
當他們以如此快的速度傳遞，最小單位是每道光每秒內傳遞10G
06:04
wavelength of light, maybe a thousand times your own
124
349071
2498
速度或許是你網路的一千倍
06:07
connection, or capable of carrying 10,000 video streams,
125
351569
3184
或是能夠下載10000部影片的流量
06:10
but not only that, but you'll put not just one wavelength of light
126
354753
3278
旦不只如此，你能在光纖中放入不只一道光
06:13
through one of the fibers, but you'll put maybe
127
358031
2957
一條光纖能大概放入
06:16
50 or 60 or 70 different wavelengths or colors of light
128
360988
3019
50、60、70條不同長短或是顏色的光波
06:19
through a single fiber, and then you'll have maybe
129
364007
2868
然後一條電纜之中
06:22
eight fibers in a cable, four going in each direction.
130
366875
2602
大概會有八條光纖，來去各四條
06:25
And they're tiny. They're the thickness of a hair.
131
369477
3490
他們非常細，如髮絲一樣細小
06:28
And then they connect to the continent somewhere.
132
372967
1829
然後他們連接到大陸的某地
06:30
They connect in a manhole like this. Literally,
133
374796
2338
他們會連接到像這樣的沙井，實質上的
06:33
this is where the 5,000-mile cable plugs in.
134
377134
3089
5000英里路的電纜最後會插在這裡
06:36
This is in Halifax, a cable that stretches from Halifax to Ireland.
135
380223
4490
這在哈利法克斯（Halifax），中間有條連接到愛爾蘭（Ireland）的電纜
06:40
And the landscape is changing. Three years ago,
136
384713
2981
整體地貌也在都改變。三年前
06:43
when I started thinking about this, there was one cable
137
387694
1896
當我開始琢磨這些東西時，在西非海底下
06:45
down the Western coast of Africa, represented
138
389590
3167
有一條電纜，在Steve Song畫的這張地圖中
06:48
in this map by Steve Song as that thin black line.
139
392757
2874
看來就像一條小黑線
06:51
Now there are six cables and more coming, three down each coast.
140
395631
4845
現在那裏有六條電纜，三條會分別鋪設在東西岸，接下來還有
06:56
Because once a country gets plugged in by one cable,
141
400476
2631
因為只要插入了一條電纜
06:59
they realize that it's not enough. If they're going to build
142
403107
1800
那個國家就會意識到根本不夠
07:00
an industry around it, they need to know that their connection
143
404907
2816
如果們他們想在附近發展產業
07:03
isn't tenuous but permanent, because if a cable breaks,
144
407723
2710
他們得確保連線是穩定而非不穩定的
07:06
you have to send a ship out into the water, throw
145
410433
2067
因為如果電纜壞了，你得送艘船下水
07:08
a grappling hook over the side, pick it up, find the other end,
146
412500
2915
然後伸出鉤子，把電纜溝起來，在找到另一端
07:11
and then fuse the two ends back together and then dump it over.
147
415415
3043
然後把兩邊焊接後，再丟回水里
07:14
It's an intensely, intensely physical process.
148
418458
4540
這是極度、極度精密的物理處理
07:18
So this is my friend Simon Cooper, who until very recently
149
422998
4298
所以我和我的朋友Simon Cooper
07:23
worked for Tata Communications, the communications wing
150
427296
2672
這個最近在Tata電信工作的朋友，
07:25
of Tata, the big Indian industrial conglomerate.
151
429968
2998
Tata是一個印度大工業企業集團的通訊部門
07:28
And I've never met him. We've only communicated
152
432966
2982
我從未真正見過他
07:31
via this telepresence system, which always makes me
153
435948
3457
我們只能透過電話聯絡，而這總是讓我去想像
07:35
think of him as the man inside the Internet. (Laughter)
154
439405
3896
他是一個住在網路裡的人（笑聲）
07:39
And he is English. The undersea cable industry
155
443301
3197
而他是英格蘭人。海底電纜工業是
07:42
is dominated by Englishmen, and they all seem to be 42.
156
446498
3645
被英國人主導，而且好像都是四十二歲
07:46
(Laughter) Because they all started at the same time
157
450143
3175
（笑聲）因為他們都是在20年前
07:49
with the boom about 20 years ago.
158
453318
2500
這項工業開始發展時加入
07:51
And Tata had gotten its start as a communications business
159
455818
3260
而Tata就從買下兩條電纜開始他們的通訊營運
07:54
when they bought two cables, one across the Atlantic
160
459078
2465
一條通過大西洋
07:57
and one across the Pacific, and proceeded to add pieces
161
461543
3160
一條通過太平洋，然後一段一段加建
08:00
onto them, until they had built a belt around the world,
162
464703
3544
直到他們建立了圍繞整個世界的紐帶
08:04
which means they will send your bits to the East or the West.
163
468247
2097
這表示他們能夠將你的資訊位元送過整個地球
08:06
They have -- this is literally a beam of light around the world,
164
470344
2223
他們已經，這是實際光線在世界傳導的樣子
08:08
and if a cable breaks in the Pacific, it'll send it around
165
472567
2211
如果電纜在太平洋斷掉，資訊能繞往其他方向
08:10
the other direction. And then having done that,
166
474778
3185
而他們在完成了這個建設後
08:13
they started to look for places to wire next.
167
477963
3944
就開始找下一個鋪設纜線的地方
08:17
They looked for the unwired places, and that's meant
168
481907
2490
他們想找沒鋪設過的地點，代表
08:20
North and South, primarily these cables to Africa.
169
484397
2794
北方和南方，大抵上是通往非洲
08:23
But what amazes me is Simon's incredible geographic imagination.
170
487191
3771
但是我覺得很驚奇的是，Simon對地理不可思議的想像
08:26
He thinks about the world with this incredible expansiveness.
171
490962
2959
在他的思考世界裡充滿著無限的廣闊
08:29
And I was particularly interested because I wanted to see
172
493921
3313
而我特別感興趣因為我想要去看
08:33
one of these cables being built. See, you know, all the time
173
497234
2852
電纜建設的過程，你知道，一直以來
08:35
online we experience these fleeting moments of connection,
174
500086
2320
我們在線上所體驗到那些瞬間連接的快感
08:38
these sort of brief adjacencies, a tweet or a Facebook post
175
502406
3294
這些短暫的銜接，一封推特文或者是臉書更新
08:41
or an email, and it seemed like there was a physical corollary to that.
176
505700
3840
或是電子郵件，這看來是有個實際的推移過程
08:45
It seemed like there was a moment when the continent
177
509540
2076
看起來像是在某個時機
08:47
was being plugged in, and I wanted to see that.
178
511616
2347
陸地之間會被電纜插入，我就想看那個
08:49
And Simon was working on a new cable,
179
513963
2285
而Simon正忙於新的電纜
08:52
WACS, the West Africa Cable System, that stretched
180
516248
2511
WACS，西非光纖電纜系統
08:54
from Lisbon down the west coast of Africa,
181
518759
2121
從里斯本（Lisbon）延伸到西非海岸
08:56
to Cote d'Ivoire, to Ghana, to Nigeria, to Cameroon.
182
520880
2869
到柯特狄瓦（Cote d'Ivoire）、到迦納（Ghana）、奈及利亞（Nigeria）、卡麥隆（Cameroon）
08:59
And he said there was coming soon, depending
183
523749
2333
然後他說工程日期將近，
09:01
on the weather, but he'd let me know when,
184
526082
2194
看天氣如何，但時候到了他會讓我知道
09:04
and so with about four days notice, he said to go
185
528276
3201
所以大概工程四天前，他通知了我
09:07
to this beach south of Lisbon, and a little after 9,
186
531477
2831
去里斯本南方的海岸，而大約九點過後不久
09:10
this guy will walk out of the water. (Laughter)
187
534308
3696
這傢伙會從水中走出來（笑聲）
09:13
And he'll be carrying a green nylon line, a lightweight line,
188
538004
4320
然後他會帶著一條綠色的尼龍線、很輕的線
09:18
called a messenger line, and that was the first link
189
542324
2713
叫做傳輸線，然後那就是
09:20
between sea and land, this link that would then be
190
545037
2553
陸地和海洋的第一次接觸，這個連接之後將會
09:23
leveraged into this 9,000-mile path of light.
191
547590
3863
光經過九千英里路後的連接橋梁
09:27
Then a bulldozer began to pull the cable in from this
192
551453
2590
然後一台推土機開始將電纜從
09:29
specialized cable landing ship, and it was floated
193
554043
3357
特製的電纜登陸船上拉下，並會在
09:33
on these buoys until it was in the right place.
194
557400
2748
定好位之前靠著這些浮標飄在海面
09:36
Then you can see the English engineers looking on.
195
560148
2742
接著就能看見這些英國工程師在旁看著
09:38
And then, once it was in the right place, he got back
196
562890
2813
然後，一旦它就定位，這傢伙
09:41
in the water holding a big knife, and he cut each buoy off,
197
565703
3359
拿著一把大刀回到海中，然後把每個浮標砍下
09:44
and the buoy popped up into the air, and the cable
198
569062
2299
浮標飄出水面，然後電纜
09:47
dropped to the sea floor, and he did that all the way out
199
571361
1905
沉入海底，那個男人一路砍到船那端
09:49
to the ship, and when he got there,
200
573266
1873
當他到船那端時
09:51
they gave him a glass of juice and a cookie,
201
575139
2413
他們給他一杯果汁和一塊餅乾
09:53
and then he jumped back in, and he swam back to shore,
202
577552
2419
之後他跳回海中，游回岸邊
09:55
and then he lit a cigarette. (Laughter)
203
579971
7160
然後他開始抽起菸來了（笑聲）
10:03
And then once that cable was on shore,
204
587131
2712
一旦電纜到了海岸上
10:05
they began to prepare to connect it to the other side,
205
589843
3504
他們開始準備把它連接到另外一端
10:09
for the cable that had been brought down from the landing station.
206
593347
2957
因為電纜那時已經開始有點被扯離陸地站
10:12
And first they got it with a hacksaw, and then they start
207
596304
2858
他們先拿了一把鋼鋸，他們開始
10:15
sort of shaving away at this plastic interior with a --
208
599162
2936
用像是廚師的手法開始刮除塑膠內皮
10:17
sort of working like chefs, and then finally they're working
209
602098
2062
接著他們終於開始用像珠寶商的手法
10:20
like jewelers to get these hair-thin fibers to line up
210
604160
2708
把這些髮絲般細的光纖排成一束
10:22
with the cable that had come down,
211
606868
1677
跟牽來電纜一起
10:24
and with this hole-punch machine they fuse it together.
212
608545
2991
然後他們用這些打洞機把它們焊接起來
10:27
And when you see these guys going at this cable with a hacksaw,
213
611536
3331
當你看到這些工人用鋼鋸來處理這些電纜時
10:30
you stop thinking about the Internet as a cloud.
214
614867
2643
你不會再去把網路想做雲朵
10:33
It starts to seem like an incredibly physical thing.
215
617510
3937
它開始看來像個非常真實存在的東西
10:37
And what surprised me as well was that as much as this
216
621447
2508
同樣讓我驚訝的
10:39
is based on the most sophisticated technology, as much
217
623955
2847
除了這樣一項高度精密的技術，和這個
10:42
as this is an incredibly new thing, the physical process
218
626802
2905
不可思議的新工藝外
10:45
itself has been around for a long time, and the culture is the same.
219
629707
3767
是它的操作手法已經存在了很久，連同其中蘊含的文化也是
10:49
You see the local laborers. You see the English engineer
220
633474
1989
你會看到當地勞工，在後指揮的英國工程師
10:51
giving directions in the background. And more importantly,
221
635463
3175
還有更重要地
10:54
the places are the same. These cables still connect
222
638638
2643
都還在同樣的地點，這些電纜連接的
10:57
these classic port cities, places like Lisbon, Mombasa,
223
641281
3050
仍是一些古老的港都，像是里斯本，蒙巴薩
11:00
Mumbai, Singapore, New York.
224
644331
3159
孟買、新加坡、紐約
11:03
And then the process on shore takes around three or four days,
225
647490
4086
而接下來這些海岸邊的工程大概需要三四天
11:07
and then, when it's done, they put the manhole cover
226
651576
4191
當一切完成時，他們重新填上沙井
11:11
back on top, and they push the sand over that,
227
655767
2971
他們用沙重新覆上
11:14
and we all forget about it.
228
658738
3082
直到大家都忘了它
11:17
And it seems to me that we talk a lot about the cloud,
229
661820
2251
就我看來，我們花很多時間在談論雲端
11:19
but every time we put something on the cloud,
230
664071
1910
但每當我們能夠將東西放到雲端之上
11:21
we give up some responsibility for it.
231
665981
2202
我們便放棄了一些責任
11:24
We are less connected to it. We let other people worry about it.
232
668183
3864
我們就更少與它連結，我們讓別人去操心
11:27
And that doesn't seem right.
233
672047
1283
這好像不大對勁
11:29
There's a great Neal Stephenson line where he says
234
673330
2342
Neal Stephenson有句名言
11:31
that wired people should know something about wires.
235
675672
4397
他說:「被連接的人應該熟知連接他們的橋樑」
11:35
And we should know, I think, we should know
236
680069
2270
而我們也該知道，我認為，我們應該知道
11:38
where our Internet comes from, and we should know
237
682339
2753
我們的網路從何而來，而我們該知道
11:40
what it is that physically, physically connects us all.
238
685092
4822
實際上、物理上連接著我們的東西是甚麼
11:45
Thank you. (Applause)
239
689914
2339
謝謝各位(鼓掌)
11:48
(Applause)
240
692253
2397
(鼓掌)
11:50
Thanks. (Applause)
241
694650
3610
謝謝(鼓掌)
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Andrew Blum - Network authorFor his new book, "Tubes," Andrew Blum visited the places where the internet exists in physical form: the cables and switches and servers that virtually connect us.
Why you should listen
In his book Tubes: A Journey to the Center of the Internet, Andrew Blum wanted to capture the "spirit of place" of the Internet. Because as far-reaching and virtual as our connection to the Net is, the signals travel on good old-fashioned cabling, glass fibers jacketed in polymer, running through conduit under streets. The immaterial Internet runs on a very material, industry-like infrastructure. So that when Alaska senator Ted Stevens called the Internet "a series of tubes" ... well, he was kind of right, and he did inspire the title of this utterly fascinating book, which explores the switches, data centers, sea crossings and many, many tubes that make up our online reality.
Blum is a writer for Newsweek, and has written for Wired, Popular Science, Metropolis and more.
Learn more about Tubes:
Read excerpts on submarine cables and Internet exchange points (like 60 Hudson in NYC).
Browse book club materials (from the Amherst Reads book club)
Listen to Andrew Blum's audio interview on Fresh Air
Andrew Blum | Speaker | TED.com