The Internet is Teetering
So I'm writing the survival book my family will need.
Earlier this week, an “unusual traffic spike“ caused a massive internet outage. Even when I logged onto Substack, it was filled with complaints and urgent messages. We’ve seen several of these outages over the last year, and they’re getting worse. It underscores a notion that many of us have started to talk about:
Going forward, these outages are going to happen more often. You can gesture toward a range of reasons, from drought to AI’s pressure on the grid, to overworked and overwhelmed staff. One day, we’re going to wake up, and the internet just won’t be there. Nobody is going to tell us when it’s gone for good.
They’re not going to warn us.
It probably won’t happen out of nowhere. Like most things, it’s going to follow a steady decline. Then it’ll just sputter one last time.
And that’ll be it.
That matters for those of us trying to learn how to survive in a world with endless other threats, from heat waves to fires to floods.
Basically, print books are cool again.
I’ve spent the …