Internet Consumption At Record Levels

This article can be found at http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/10/business/10novel.html?_r=1&ref=science

    The Internet is becoming a second home for much of the developed world. Modern Internet usage is absurdly high and it continues to grow: one scientist says, “The traffic requirements on the Internet double every two years.”  Anne Eisenberg, the writer of this story, smartly relates our Internet usage to food consumption in the first paragraph: “Our taste for the Internet is insatiable…scientists are coping, finding ingenious ways to satisfy our deep bandwidth hunger.” This makes the reader understand the importance of improving Internet traffic flow—it is a necessity. Everyone needs to be able to survive on the digital nourishment of the Internet.
    The story is impressive in that it takes a fairly arcane subject—the Internet information highways made of optical fibers in the network—and brings it down to Earth, making it understandable to the common reader. Eisenberg not only explains the technological details behind the science, she also tells us of the big picture: why Internet demand is growing and what scientists have to say about it. Readers always appreciate hearing expertise; so when a professor of electrical engineering says, “We are looking at a point soon where we cannot satisfy demand,” the reader knows it’s the real deal. Her inverse pyramid also flows very nicely through the piece.