Internet outages hit the East Coast, causing issues for Verizon, Zoom, etc.(washingtonpost.com)
washingtonpost.com
Internet outages hit the East Coast, causing issues for Verizon, Zoom, etc.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2021/01/26/internet-outage-east-coast/
28 comments
Comments moved to https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25917798, except the ones that only make sense in this context.
Anyone else find it odd that the headline clumps Zoom, a service that relies on the internet being up, with Verizon, arguably a service that ensures that the internet is up to begin with? Feels a bit like saying "the power's out, causing issues for P&G and your refrigerator"
In addition to all the other good points here, mentioning Zoom and the others also makes the story more vivid and "real" to people, which is important when you're competing for attention, clicks, and shares. You'll notice the headline would've basically been complete & sufficient after the word Coast: "Big Internet outages hit the East Coast." But just in case there are any Homer Simpsons out there unable to imagine the impact of such a thing, they're letting you know, that thing you think of as Zoom is actually the internet too.
Also if you mention Zoom, you can then go on about how Zoom has "become essential" in these unprecedented times when we're all in this together now more than ever stay safe. If you're the type to get worried or outraged, that contradiction between "essential" and "not working" is a better magnet for your worry or outrage, which again makes you more likely to read & share it. I think editors have this stuff internalized and do it unconsciously. My cynicism about it has reached rather a sobering depth.
Also if you mention Zoom, you can then go on about how Zoom has "become essential" in these unprecedented times when we're all in this together now more than ever stay safe. If you're the type to get worried or outraged, that contradiction between "essential" and "not working" is a better magnet for your worry or outrage, which again makes you more likely to read & share it. I think editors have this stuff internalized and do it unconsciously. My cynicism about it has reached rather a sobering depth.
Your cynicism about it makes for a very entertaining break-down of it all, so I applaud it!
I guess it comes do “how widespread is the zoom outage.”
I.e. is zoom down for a lot of people whose internet is otherwise fine? If my fridge in Wisconsin is down because California lost power that’s more newsworthy.
I.e. is zoom down for a lot of people whose internet is otherwise fine? If my fridge in Wisconsin is down because California lost power that’s more newsworthy.
Ah, that's a good point, I'd assumed from reading the article that the issues with Zoom and other services were also limited to the East Coast. Thanks for pointing out that possibility!
Zoom's choices on network peering and redundancy could cause it to be grouped together with Verizon. Assuming, for example, it's a problem with some big peering points. Or, say, both accepted the same bad BGP route for something while other places didn't.
Though it's also possible that a lot of Verizon customers first see the outage as "Zoom isn't working" and Wapo is just blindly echoing that grumbling. Seems likely since perhaps the first internet experience of the morning for many would be "join the Zoom call".
Though it's also possible that a lot of Verizon customers first see the outage as "Zoom isn't working" and Wapo is just blindly echoing that grumbling. Seems likely since perhaps the first internet experience of the morning for many would be "join the Zoom call".
Also a good point. I guess what irks me is that the headline promises something along the lines of what you and the other commenters have said, about failures either being more widespread or about deeper entanglements between the two services, but the article didn't really deliver on that, which is why I appreciate y'all bringing it up.
You're not wrong, but you can imagine for a non technical audience, the "internet" is the thing you browse, and "zoom" is the meeting machine you use and they are not inherently related.
https://downdetector.com/ shows both Verizon and Zoom as services that were reported out. Some of the Zoom reports from people using Fios who can't distinguish where the problem is but that's because it's hard, I thought it was my router at first
AWS was reporting "connectivity issues with an internet provider" here: https://status.aws.amazon.com/
It did seem to be causing issues for my N Virginia EC2 instances.
It did seem to be causing issues for my N Virginia EC2 instances.
I see your point but your analogy also works like the headline. Your refrigerator stuck without power is immediate bad news (as opposed to a lamp or toaster being out) and Zoom being out is similarly bad news for lots of people at this time.
It sounds like some people were experiencing a total loss of connectivity, but some were experiencing issues only with some sites.
For some reason its really bothering me that an article about an East Coast outage used a picture of the Version store on Market St in San Francisco.
At this point I just assume that photos with news articles don't really have any direct connection to the content of the article. It's either laziness, an attempt at emotional manipulation, or a combination of the two. I'm always pleasantly surprised to find that a photo is actually the exact thing being discussed in the article.
I don't have first hand knowledge but have been told that there is now automated software that is used pretty widely for finding news article photos. It certainly explains some of the weird pairings I've seen with photos that match some of the words in an article but totally miss the point.
All of news is emotional manipulation at this point, why stop at pictures? /s
haha, whatever you do, don't watch _The Graduate_ !
Related threads:
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25917798
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25917986
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25918490
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25917798
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25917986
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25918490
Currently merging. Thanks!
It's interesting that they say "internet is down", and not a particular ISP is down.
Then again, since most American consumers only have access to a single ISP, might as well erroneously co-mingle one's singular ISP with the entire internet. /s
I don't think this is true. I've moved around a decent amount and always had access to multiple ISPs.
I - and many other Americans - envy your access to choice of multiple ISPs.
I’ve only had 1 choice, 2 if you count AT&T’s cellular based “home internet”. But it’s a totally different product and very flaky compared to cable or fiber. Even in major cities where there are nominally multiple providers, they often carve up the city into regions where only 2 overlap, and if you rent without being able to install equipment for a WISP you likely have no choice at all.
https://www.highspeedinternet.com/resources/why-can-i-only-g...
https://www.highspeedinternet.com/resources/why-can-i-only-g...