Why is it faster to connect to Amazon than to the computer across the room?

At the latest HotMobile: Workshop on Mobile Computing Systems and Applications, IBM researcher John Barton poses an interesting question: Why can we connect to Amazon so much faster than the computer across the room?

Also reminds me of Bruce Sterling's question: why can I easily pull up pictures of the moon, but can't see what's inside my walls?

Comments

term paper said…
Cool! Author the best! Thank you!
12:26 PM
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