Whether we like it or not, we all seem to be addicted to something. Some may be more destructive than others, but in the end, we must be capable of living without. So too is the case with the web. We are addicted and when our networks shut down, we feel pain. "The big news over the weekend was an Amazon cloud storage outage that took down services like Instagram, Pinterest, and Netflix in the wee hours of Saturday morning." Yikes, for some, it may have felt like the world was ending. No connection to Instagram, what will we do?
And not only did weather affect our websites, so did the decision to change our "official" time. " To correct for minor decelerations in Earth's rotation, timekeepers added an extra second to the clock on Saturday – bringing Earth roughly four-tenths of a second ahead of the official time instead of six-tenths of a second behind. But one tiny little second change managed to bring down a number of the Web's more well-known sites, such as Reddit, Yelp, Linkedin, all of Gawker media's various Web properties, 4chan, Fark, Stumbleupon, and irate Bay, to name a few." What will we do when a real catastrophe occur?
It makes me think of all the science fiction tv shows and movies out there that show what happens when we are no longer connected. Remember that Twilight Zone episode when a neighborhood is plunged into darkness, no phones, no electricity, and the neighbors panic and turn onto each other. Will we become so addicted to our web connection that a loss in power will do the same thing to us? Or can we remain calm and remember to breathe. Sites may be down but it shouldn't mark the beginning of panic. At the same time, shouldn't we have back up systems in case of emergency. They always worked on Star Trek!
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