The Internet Is Underwater

The internet lives underwater. Send this to anyone who still says everything is in the cloud. Nearly every message that crosses an ocean does not fly anywhere. It travels along cables lying on the sea floor, in the cold and the dark, beside fish and crabs.

Internet živi pod vodom. Pošalji ovo svakome tko još uvijek kaže da je sve u oblaku. Gotovo svaka poruka koja prijeđe ocean nikamo ne odleti. Ona putuje kroz kabele koji leže na morskom dnu, u hladnoći i tami, pored ribe i rakova.

The cables are thinner than people expect. Far out in deep water, where almost nothing can reach them, some are no thicker than a garden hose. Inside are hairs of glass, and light runs along that glass carrying photos, calls, films and every word you send to another continent.

Kabeli su tanji nego što ljudi očekuju. Daleko u dubokoj vodi, gdje ih gotovo ništa ne može dosegnuti, neki nisu deblji od vrtnog crijeva. Unutra su vlati stakla, i svjetlost putuje tim staklom noseći fotografije, pozive, filmove i svaku riječ koju pošalješ na drugi kontinent.

Things break them. Not sharks, although a shark did chew one once and the story has never died. Mostly it is fishing gear and heavy anchors dragging along the bottom. It happens more than a hundred times a year, somewhere in the world. Then a ship sails out, finds the broken line, lifts it up from the sea floor, joins the glass back together and lowers it down again. The cloud, it turns out, gets seasick.

Nešto ih lomi. Ne morski psi, iako je jedan jednom pregrizao kabel i ta priča nikad nije umrla. Uglavnom su to ribarska oprema i teška sidra koja vuku po dnu. To se dogodi više od stotinu puta godišnje, negdje u svijetu. Onda brod isplovi, pronađe prekinutu liniju, podigne je s morskog dna, spoji staklo natrag i spusti je opet dolje. Ispada da oblaku pozli od morske bolesti.