Researchers at MIT have apparently innovated a more efficient way to send data through fiber-optics. This may precipitate a breakthrough in the effort to 'increase the speed' of the Internet, solving what has, until now, been a very real physical limit on the transmission of information.

Given that we are in the first stages of the course, I thought it would also be interesting to post another article about the architecture of the Internet. Introduction to Internet Architecture and Institutions, by Ethan Zuckerman and Andrew McLaughlin, starts from the beginning and explains how packets of data whiz around the world, traveling through thousands of miles of wire (or maybe the air) in seconds. As obvious as that may sound, the explanation of how the system actually works-- and the policy choices and market forces that have shaped/will shape the Internet-- is eye-opening.

It's especially important because, as this recent news item discusses, the transmission of videos takes up a lot more energy than the media that preceeded it (low-graphics webpages, emails and the like). If we're really going to live our lives on user-driven video sites and video-rich online magazines and podcasts, then we're going to need ever-better hardware to keep us connected.