What is the internet?

What is the internet? And, how exactly does it work? Since Senator Ted Stevens (R, Alaska) took the mic late last month, these questions have been sparking speculation world wide. Naturally, Old Ken thought it'd be best to give some visual exposition to these questions just so that we can get to the bottom of that rascal, the internet.

A little preliminary commentary from that inveterate techie, Sen. Stevens: "I just the other day got, an internet was sent by my staff at 10 o'clock in the morning on Friday and I just got it yesterday. Why? Because it got tangled up with all these things going on the internet commercially."

How could this happen? Well, Senator Stevens has a clear sense of the cause of these intolerable delays: "The internet is not something you just dump something on. It's not a truck."



This visual should help. But what is the internet, Senator Stevens?

"It's a series of tubes."



Like these? Okay ... I *guess* that makes sense.



But, does this explain anything? Let's use this internet thought bubble as a symbol for our mystery.



And, as we ruminate upon these curiosities, here are a few images that come up when you put "internet" into an image search.



The map pictured above looks plausibly like a representation of where and how the internet is used. And these jokers? What do they have to do with the representation of the internet? Old Ken is baffled. Any insights will be welcomed. Why not send the directly to:

The Honorable Ted Stevens
United States Senate
522 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510