Andrew Blum: What is the Internet, really?

Translator: Joseph Geni Reviewer: Morton Bast

Translator: Ilze Garda Reviewer: Raimonds Jaks

I've always written primarily about architecture,

Vienmēr esmu rakstījis galvenokārt par arhitektūru, par celtnēm,

about buildings, and writing about architecture

un rakstīšana par arhitektūru ir balstīta uz konkrētiem pieņēmumiem.

is based on certain assumptions.

An architect designs a building, and it becomes a place,

Arhitekts uzprojektē celtni, un tā kļūst par vietu,

or many architects design many buildings, and it becomes

vai daudzi arhitekti uzprojektē daudzas celtnes, un tās kļūst par pilsētu.

a city, and regardless of this complicated mix of forces

Neatkarīgi no sarežģītās politisko, kultūras un ekonomisko spēku kombinācijas,

of politics and culture and economics that shapes

these places, at the end of the day, you can go

kas šīs vietas veido,

tās galu galā var apciemot, tajās var pastaigāties,

and you can visit them. You can walk around them.

You can smell them. You can get a feel for them.

tās var saost, tās var sajust,

You can experience their sense of place.

var piedzīvot to vietas izjūtu.

But what was striking to me over the last several years

Taču pēdējos gados mani satrieca tas,

was that less and less was I going out into the world,

ka es arvien mazāk devos ārā pasaulē un arvien vairāk sēdēju pie datora ekrāna.

and more and more, I was sitting in front of my computer screen.

And especially since about 2007, when I got an iPhone,

Īpaši kopš 2007. gada, kad tiku pie iPhone,

I was not only sitting in front of my screen all day,

es ne vien visu dienu sēdēju pie ekrāna, bet arī dienas beigās es piecēlos

but I was also getting up at the end of the day

and looking at this little screen that I carried in my pocket.

un raudzījos mazajā ekrāniņā, ko nēsāju kabatā.

And what was surprising to me was how quickly

Mani pārsteidza tas,

cik ātri bija mainījušās manas attiecības ar fizisko pasauli.

my relationship to the physical world had changed.

In this very short period of time, you know, whether you

Šajā ļoti īsajā laika posmā –

call it the last 15 years or so of being online, or the last,

vienalga vai runa ir par pēdējiem 15 gadiem, kad esam tiešsaistē,

you know, four or five years of being online all the time,

vai par pēdējiem četriem, pieciem, kad tiešaistē esam nepārtraukti, –

our relationship to our surroundings had changed in that

mūsu attiecības ar apkārtesošo ir mainījušās tajā ziņā,

our attention is constantly divided. You know,

ka mūsu uzmanība visu laiku ir dalīta.

we're both looking inside the screens and we're looking

Mēs skatāmies gan ekrānos, gan uz pasauli sev apkārt.

out in the world around us.

And what was even more striking to me, and what I really

Taču vēl vairāk mani pārsteidza un labu laiku nedeva mieru tas,

got hung up on, was that the world inside the screen

ka pasaulei ekrānā, šķiet, nebija pašai savas fiziskās īstenības.

seemed to have no physical reality of its own.

If you went and looked for images of the Internet,

Ja meklējāt attēlus internetā, šis bija viss, ko varēja atrast, –

this was all that you found, this famous image by Opte

slavenais Opte interneta attēls,

of the Internet as the kind of Milky Way, this infinite expanse

kurā tas atainots kā tāds Piena ceļš, bezgalīgs plašums, kurā mūsu šķietami nav.

where we don't seem to be anywhere on it.

We can never seem to grasp it in its totality.

Mēs, šķiet, nespējam to pilnībā aptvert.

It's always reminded me of the Apollo image of the Earth,

Tas man vienmēr ir atgādinājis Apollo uzņemto Zemes attēlu,

the blue marble picture, and it's similarly meant to suggest,

„Blue Marble” fotogrāfiju.

Arī tā, manuprāt, liek domāt, ka nespējam to patiešām izprast kā vienotu veselumu.

I think, that we can't really understand it as a whole.

We're always sort of small in the face of its expanse.

Mēs vienmēr esam tādi kā mazi, salīdzinot ar tās plašumu.

So if there was this world and this screen, and if there was

Tātad, ja pastāvēja šī pasaule ekrānā un fiziskā pasaule ap mani,

the physical world around me, I couldn't ever get them

es tās nekad nevarēju dabūt vienuviet.

together in the same place.

And then this happened.

Un tad notika šis.

My Internet broke one day, as it occasionally does,

Kā ik pa laikam gadās, man kādu dienu pazuda internets,

and the cable guy came to fix it, and he started with

un meistars ieradās to salabot.

Viņš sāka ar putekļainu vadu mudžekli aiz dīvāna,

the dusty clump of cables behind the couch,

and he followed it to the front of my building and into the basement and out to the back yard,

sekoja tam līdz mājas priekšai, tad devās pagrabā un tālāk sētā,

and there was this big jumble of cables against the wall.

kur pie sienas karājās vadu mudžeklis.

And then he saw a squirrel running along the wire,

Ieraudzījis pa vadu skrienam vāveri,

and he said, "There's your problem.

viņš noteica: „Lūk, jūsu problēma. Vāvere grauž jūsu internetu.”

A squirrel is chewing on your Internet." (Laughter)

(Smiekli)

And this seemed astounding. The Internet is

Tas šķita pārsteidzoši.

Internets ir transcendentāla ideja, tas ir protokolu kopums,

a transcendent idea. It's a set of protocols that has changed

everything from shopping to dating to revolutions.

kas mainījis visu no iepirkšanās līdz randiņiem un revolūcijām.

It was unequivocally not something

Tas noteikti nebija nekas tāds, ko varētu grauzt vāvere.

a squirrel could chew on. (Laughter)

(Smiekli)

But that in fact seemed to be the case.

Taču izskatījās, ka tieši tas notiek.

A squirrel had in fact chewed on my Internet. (Laughter)

Vāvere patiešām bija sagrauzusi manu internetu.

And then I got this image in my head of what would happen

Tad man galvā iešāvās aina –

kas notiktu, ja vadu norautu no sienas un sāktu tam sekot?

if you yanked the wire from the wall and if you started

to follow it. Where would it go?

Was the Internet actually a place that you could visit?

Kurp tas vestu?

Vai internets patiesi ir vieta, ko iespējams apciemot?

Could I go there? Who would I meet?

Vai es varētu turp doties? Ko es satiktu?

You know, was there something actually out there?

Vai tur kaut kas patiešām ir?

And the answer, by all accounts, was no.

Atbilde noteikti bija „nē”.

This was the Internet, this black box with a red light on it,

Internets bija, lūk, kas – šī melnā kaste ar sarkano gaismiņu,

as represented in the sitcom "The IT Crowd."

kā parādīts situāciju komēdijā The IT Crowd.

Normally it lives on the top of Big Ben,

Parasti tas atrodas Bigbena augšā, jo tur ir vislabākais signāls,

because that's where you get the best reception,

but they had negotiated that their colleague could borrow it

taču viņi bija sarunājuši,

ka kolēģe uz pēcpusdienu varēs to aizņemties biroja prezentācijai.

for the afternoon to use in an office presentation.

The elders of the Internet were willing to part with it

Interneta vecajie piekrita īslaicīgi no tā šķirties.

for a short while, and she looks at it and she says,

Viņa uz to paskatās un jautā:

"This is the Internet? The whole Internet? Is it heavy?"

„Šis ir internets? Viss internets? Vai tas ir smags?”

They say, "Of course not, the Internet doesn't weigh anything."

Viņi atbild: „Protams, ka ne, internets vispār necik nesver.”

And I was embarrassed. I was looking for this thing

Man sametās kauns.

Es meklēju to, ko šķietami meklēja tikai muļķi.

that only fools seem to look for.

The Internet was that amorphous blob, or it was a silly

Internets bija amorfs pikucis

black box with a blinking red light on it.

vai muļķīga, melna kaste ar sarkanu mirgojošu gaismiņu.

It wasn't a real world out there.

Tā nebija īsta pasaule.

But, in fact, it is. There is a real world of the Internet out there,

Taču patiesībā tā ir.

Pastāv īsta interneta pasaule,

and that's what I spent about two years visiting,

un, apceļojot šīs interneta vietas, es pavadīju aptuveni divus gadus.

these places of the Internet. I was in large data centers

Es pabiju milzīgos datu centros,

that use as much power as the cities in which they sit,

kas patērē tikpat daudz elektrības kā pilsētas, kurās tie atrodas.

and I visited places like this, 60 Hudson Street in New York,

Es viesojos tādās vietās kā šī – Hadsona ielā 60, Ņujorkā.

which is one of the buildings in the world,

Tā ir viena no nedaudzajām, aptuveni desmit, ēkām pasaulē,

one of a very short list of buildings, about a dozen buildings,

where more networks of the Internet connect to each other

kur savienojas vairāk interneta tīklu nekā jebkur citur.

than anywhere else.

And that connection is an unequivocally physical process.

Un šis savienojums pilnīgi noteikti ir fizisks process.

It's about the router of one network, a Facebook or

Viena tīkla – piemēram, Facebook, Google, B.T., Comcast vai Time Warner, – rūteri

a Google or a B.T. or a Comcast or a Time Warner, whatever it is,

connecting with usually a yellow fiber optic cable up into

optiskās šķiedras kabelis, visbiežāk dzeltens,

the ceiling and down into the router of another network,

caur griestiem savieno ar cita tīkla rūteri,

and that's unequivocally physical, and it's surprisingly intimate.

un tas pilnīgi noteikti ir fiziski un pārsteidzoši intīmi.

A building like 60 Hudson, and a dozen or so others,

Tādā ēkā kā Hadsona ielā 60 un vēl ap desmit citās

has 10 times more networks connecting within it

savienojas desmitiem reižu vairāk tīklu nekā nākamā līmeņa ēkās.

than the next tier of buildings.

There's a very short list of these places.

Šādu vietu ir ļoti maz.

And 60 Hudson in particular is interesting because it's home

Un Hadsona iela 60 ir īpaši interesanta ar to,

to about a half a dozen very important networks,

ka tajā mājvietu atraduši aptuveni seši ļoti nozīmīgi tīkli.

which are the networks which serve the undersea cables

Tie ir tīkli, kas kalpo zemūdens kabeļiem,

that travel underneath the ocean

kas stiepjas okeāna dzīlēs un savieno Eiropu un Ameriku un visus mūs.

that connect Europe and America and connect all of us.

And it's those cables in particular that I want to focus on.

Un es gribu pievērst uzmanību tieši šiem kabeļiem.

If the Internet is a global phenomenon, if we live

Ja internets ir globāla parādība, ja mēs dzīvojam globālā ciematā,

in a global village, it's because there are cables underneath

tas ir tāpēc, ka okeāna dzīlēs ir šādi kabeļi.

the ocean, cables like this.

And in this dimension, they are incredibly small.

No šī skatpunkta tie ir neticami maziņi.

You can you hold them in your hand. They're like a garden hose.

Tos var saņemt rokā, tie ir kā dārza šļūtene.

But in the other dimension they are incredibly expansive,

Taču no cita skatpunkta tie ir neticami plaši –

as expansive as you can imagine.

tik plaši, cik vien varat iedomāties.

They stretch across the ocean. They're three or five

Tie stiepjas pāri okeānam.

or eight thousand miles in length, and

Tie ir aptuveni 5000, 8000 vai 13 000 kilometrus gari.

if the material science and the computational technology

Un, ja materiālzinātne un skaitļošanas tehnoloģijas ir apbrīnojami sarežģītas,

is incredibly complicated, the basic physical process

tad fiziskie pamatprocesi ir satriecoši vienkārši.

is shockingly simple. Light goes in on one end of the ocean

Gaisma ieiet kabelī vienā okeāna malā un iznāk ārā otrā.

and comes out on the other, and it usually comes

from a building called a landing station that's often

Tas parasti nāk no ēkas, ko sauc par nolaišanas staciju,

tucked away inconspicuously in a little seaside neighborhood,

kas parasti neuzkrītoši slēpjas kādā mazā piekrastes miestiņā.

and there are amplifiers that sit on the ocean floor

Okeāna dibenā ir pastiprinātāji, kas izskatās pēc zilspuru tunča,

that look kind of like bluefin tuna, and every 50 miles

un ik pa 80 kilometriem tie pastiprina signālu.

they amplify the signal, and since the rate of transmission

Pārraides ātrums ir neticami liels –

is incredibly fast, the basic unit is a 10-gigabit-per-second

pamata mērvienība ir 10 gigabaiti sekundē gaismas viļņa,

wavelength of light, maybe a thousand times your own

connection, or capable of carrying 10,000 video streams,

tas ir tūstoškārt ātrāk nekā jūsu pašu pieslēgums,

tas spēj pārraidīt 10 000 video straumju.

but not only that, but you'll put not just one wavelength of light

Bet tas vēl nav viss – vienā šķiedrā nav tikai viens gaismas vilnis,

through one of the fibers, but you'll put maybe

tajā ir 50 vai 60, vai 70 dažādu gaismas viļņu vai krāsu,

50 or 60 or 70 different wavelengths or colors of light

through a single fiber, and then you'll have maybe

un vienā kabelī ir varbūt astoņas šķiedras,

eight fibers in a cable, four going in each direction.

četras katrā virzienā.

And they're tiny. They're the thickness of a hair.

Un tās ir smalkas. Tās ir mata smalkumā.

And then they connect to the continent somewhere.

Un tad tās kaut kur savienojas ar kontinentu.

They connect in a manhole like this. Literally,

Tās savienojas tādās lūkās kā šī.

this is where the 5,000-mile cable plugs in.

Šī ir vieta, kurā burtiski iesprausts, 8000 kilometru garš kabelis.

This is in Halifax, a cable that stretches from Halifax to Ireland.

Tas ir Halifaksā – kabelis, kas stiepjas no Halifaksas līdz Īrijai.

And the landscape is changing. Three years ago,

Un ainava mainās.

when I started thinking about this, there was one cable

Pirms trim gadiem, kad sāku par to domāt,

down the Western coast of Africa, represented

Āfrikas rietumu krastā bija viens kabelis,

kas Stīva Songa kartē atainots kā smalka, melna līnija.

in this map by Steve Song as that thin black line.

Now there are six cables and more coming, three down each coast.

Tagad ir seši kabeļi – trīs katrā pusē – un būs vēl.

Because once a country gets plugged in by one cable,

Jo, kad valsts tikusi pie viena kabeļa, viņi saprot, ka ar to nav gana.

they realize that it's not enough. If they're going to build

Ja viņi grib ap to veidot kādu nozari,

an industry around it, they need to know that their connection

ir jābūt pārliecībai, ka savienojums nav šāds tāds, bet gan pastāvīgs.

isn't tenuous but permanent, because if a cable breaks,

you have to send a ship out into the water, throw

Ja kabelis sabojājas, kuģim jābrauc jūrā

a grappling hook over the side, pick it up, find the other end,

jāmet pāri bortam satvērējs, jāatrod kabeļa abi gali,

and then fuse the two ends back together and then dump it over.

tie atkal jāsavieno un jāiemet atpakaļ ūdenī.

It's an intensely, intensely physical process.

Tas ir ārkārtīgi fizisks process.

So this is my friend Simon Cooper, who until very recently

Šis ir mans draugs Saimons Kūpers,

kurš vēl pavisam nesen strādāja Tata Communications,

worked for Tata Communications, the communications wing

lielā indiešu rūpniecības konglomerāta sakaru nodaļā.

of Tata, the big Indian industrial conglomerate.

And I've never met him. We've only communicated

Es viņu nekad neesmu saticis.

Mēs esam sazinājušies tikai caur teleklātbūtnes sistēmu,

via this telepresence system, which always makes me

kas man vienmēr lika viņu iztēloties kā cilvēku interneta iekšienē.

think of him as the man inside the Internet. (Laughter)

(Smiekli)

And he is English. The undersea cable industry

Viņš ir anglis.

Zemūdens kabeļu nozarē dominē angļi, un visi šķiet 42 gadus veci.

is dominated by Englishmen, and they all seem to be 42.

(Laughter) Because they all started at the same time

(Smiekli)

Jo viņi visi sāka vienā laikā – ar uzplaukumu pirms aptuveni 20 gadiem.

with the boom about 20 years ago.

And Tata had gotten its start as a communications business

Tata sāka savu darbību sakaru jomā, iegādājoties divus kabeļus –

when they bought two cables, one across the Atlantic

vienu pāri Atlantijas okeānam un otru pāri Klusajam okeānam –

and one across the Pacific, and proceeded to add pieces

un tad turpināja tos pagarināt,

onto them, until they had built a belt around the world,

līdz bija izveidojuši joslu apkārt pasaulei,

which means they will send your bits to the East or the West.

tātad viņi pārsūta jūsu bitus uz austrumiem un rietumiem.

They have -- this is literally a beam of light around the world,

Tas burtiski ir gaismas stars apkārt pasaulei,

and if a cable breaks in the Pacific, it'll send it around

un, ja Klusajā okeānā kabelis sabojājas, signālu nosūtīs otrā virzienā.

the other direction. And then having done that,

Kad tas bija paveikts, Tata sāka meklēt jaunas vietas, ko pievienot internetam.

they started to look for places to wire next.

They looked for the unwired places, and that's meant

Viņi meklēja vietas bez pieslēguma,

North and South, primarily these cables to Africa.

tātad ziemeļos un dienvidos – pirmkārt, kabeļi uz Āfriku.

But what amazes me is Simon's incredible geographic imagination.

Visvairāk mani pārsteidz Saimona apbrīnojamā ģeogrāfiskā iztēle.

He thinks about the world with this incredible expansiveness.

Viņš pasauli iztēlojas ar neticamu vērienu.

And I was particularly interested because I wanted to see

Es biju īpaši ieinteresēts, jo gribēju redzēt, kā šos kabeļus būvē.

one of these cables being built. See, you know, all the time

Tiešsaistē mēs visu laiku piedzīvojam šos gaistošos tuvības mirkļus,

online we experience these fleeting moments of connection,

these sort of brief adjacencies, a tweet or a Facebook post

šīs sava veida īsās saskarsmes, tvītus, Facebook ierakstus vai e-pasta vēstules,

or an email, and it seemed like there was a physical corollary to that.

un man šķita, ka tur ir jābūt kaut kam fiziskam.

It seemed like there was a moment when the continent

Šķita, ka jābūt mirklim, kad kontinents tiek pieslēgts,

was being plugged in, and I wanted to see that.

un es to gribēju redzēt.

And Simon was working on a new cable,

Un Saimons strādāja pie jauna kabeļa WACS,

WACS, the West Africa Cable System, that stretched

Rietumāfrikas kabeļu sistēmas,

kas stiepās no Lisabonas lejup uz Āfrikas rietumu krastu –

from Lisbon down the west coast of Africa,

to Cote d'Ivoire, to Ghana, to Nigeria, to Cameroon.

uz Kotdivuāru, Ganu, Nigēriju un Kamerūnu.

And he said there was coming soon, depending

Viņš teica, ka tas drīz būšot gatavs

on the weather, but he'd let me know when,

atkarībā no laikapstākļiem, bet viņš došot man ziņu, kad.

and so with about four days notice, he said to go

Un tā nu aptuveni četras dienas iepriekš

to this beach south of Lisbon, and a little after 9,

viņš teica, lai dodos uz pludmali Lisabonas dienvidos,

this guy will walk out of the water. (Laughter)

un mazliet pēc deviņiem no ūdens iznāks šis puisis.

(Smiekli)

And he'll be carrying a green nylon line, a lightweight line,

Viņam rokās būs zaļa neilona aukla, viegla aukla – ziņotājlīnija,

called a messenger line, and that was the first link

un tas bija pirmais ķēdes posms starp ūdeni un sauszemi,

between sea and land, this link that would then be

leveraged into this 9,000-mile path of light.

posms, kas kļūs par šo gandrīz 15 000 kilometru garo gaismas ceļu.

Then a bulldozer began to pull the cable in from this

Tad buldozers sāka vilkt kabeli no šī specializētā kabeļu nolaišanas kuģa,

specialized cable landing ship, and it was floated

un tas peldēja uz šīm bojām, līdz tas bija pareizajā vietā.

on these buoys until it was in the right place.

Then you can see the English engineers looking on.

Šeit redzam angļu inženierus vērojam notiekošo.

And then, once it was in the right place, he got back

Kad kabelis bija pareizajā vietā,

in the water holding a big knife, and he cut each buoy off,

puisis ar lielu nazi rokā devās atpakaļ ūdenī

un pārgrieza saites ar bojām.

and the buoy popped up into the air, and the cable

Bojas pacēlās gaisā, un kabelis nogrima okeāna dibenā.

dropped to the sea floor, and he did that all the way out

Tā viņš turpināja līdz pat kuģim,

to the ship, and when he got there,

they gave him a glass of juice and a cookie,

un, nonācis līdz kuģim, puisis dabūja glāzi sulas un cepumu.

and then he jumped back in, and he swam back to shore,

Tad viņš lēca atkal ūdenī, peldēja atpakaļ uz krastu,

and then he lit a cigarette. (Laughter)

un krastā aizsmēķēja cigareti.

(Smiekli)

And then once that cable was on shore,

Kad kabelis bija nonācis krastā,

they began to prepare to connect it to the other side,

viņi sāka gatavoties tā pieslēgšanai otrā pusē,

for the cable that had been brought down from the landing station.

pieslēgšanai kabelim nolaišanas stacijā.

And first they got it with a hacksaw, and then they start

Viņi sāka ar metālzāģi,

sort of shaving away at this plastic interior with a --

tad ķērās pie plastmasas mizošanas ar...

sort of working like chefs, and then finally they're working

viņi strādāja kā šefpavāri un visbeidzot kā juvelieri,

like jewelers to get these hair-thin fibers to line up

lai savienotu šīs mata biezuma šķiedras ar nolaisto kabeli,

with the cable that had come down,

and with this hole-punch machine they fuse it together.

un ar šo caurumošanas iekārtu viņi to sakausē.

And when you see these guys going at this cable with a hacksaw,

Redzot, kā šie puiši liekas virsū kabelim ar metālzāģi,

you stop thinking about the Internet as a cloud.

cilvēks pārstāj domāt par internetu kā mākoni.

It starts to seem like an incredibly physical thing.

Tas sāk šķist ārkārtīgi fizisks.

And what surprised me as well was that as much as this

Un kas vēl mani pārsteidza –

lai gan šis viss ir balstīts uz sarežģītām tehnoloģijām,

is based on the most sophisticated technology, as much

as this is an incredibly new thing, the physical process

lai gan tas viss ir kaut kas ļoti jauns,

itself has been around for a long time, and the culture is the same.

pats fiziskais process ir visai vecs, un kultūra ir tā pati.

You see the local laborers. You see the English engineer

Redzami vietējie strādnieki,

giving directions in the background. And more importantly,

redzams angļu inženieris fonā dodam norādes.

Vēl vairāk – arī vietas ir tās pašas.

the places are the same. These cables still connect

Šie kabeļi joprojām savieno klasiskās ostas pilsētas –

these classic port cities, places like Lisbon, Mombasa,

Lisabonu, Mombasu, Mumbaju, Singapūru, Ņujorku.

Mumbai, Singapore, New York.

And then the process on shore takes around three or four days,

Process krastā aizņem aptuveni trīs, četras dienas.

and then, when it's done, they put the manhole cover

Kad tas ir pabeigts, lūkai uzliek vāku, pārber smiltis,

back on top, and they push the sand over that,

and we all forget about it.

un mēs visi par to aizmirstam.

And it seems to me that we talk a lot about the cloud,

Man šķiet, mēs daudz runājam par mākoni,

but every time we put something on the cloud,

taču ikreiz, kad kaut ko ieliekam mākonī,

we give up some responsibility for it.

mēs daļēji atsakāmies no atbildības par to.

We are less connected to it. We let other people worry about it.

Mēs ar to kļūstam mazāk saistīti. Mēs ļaujam par to uztraukties citiem.

And that doesn't seem right.

Tas nešķiet pareizi.

There's a great Neal Stephenson line where he says

Nīls Stīvensons ir labi pateicis,

that wired people should know something about wires.

ka pieslēgtiem cilvēkiem vajadzētu kaut ko zināt par pieslēgumu.

And we should know, I think, we should know

Un mums jāzina...

where our Internet comes from, and we should know

manuprāt, mums jāzina, kā rodas internets,

un mums jāzina, kas ir tas, kas mūs visus fiziski – fiziski – vieno.

what it is that physically, physically connects us all.

Thank you. (Applause)

Paldies.

(Aplausi)

(Applause)

Thanks. (Applause)

Paldies.

(Aplausi)