First News

I first heard about the tragedy on my way to work. The second airliner had just slammed into the south tower of the World Trade Center and the report came over the radio. When I got to work, I immediately tried going to a major news portal. First I tried CNN.com, to no avail, then Excite.com, and finally MSNBC.com. Apparently I wasn't alone. Each major news site was inundated with an onslaught of visitors never before experienced. Servers just couldn't keep up with the demand. For a while, Google even had a message on it's home page advising those looking news of the disaster to turn to radio or television instead.

With some further searching, I did find a Canadian site that did have some news, and eventual found a live audio feed from the British BBC that was carrying live coverage. Monitored traffic to news portals owned by The Associated Press was five times normal volumes. As the day progressed through it's grisly timetable, online services managed to borrow server capacity and adapted to meet the demand. By 4 or 5 hours after the initial attack, most major online news sources were available to those looking for information.

Trial by Fire

For the Internet, the terrorist attacks served as its baptism by fire. The unprecedented demand showed us that the Internet has been accepted as a source of information around the globe. Just as television came of age on November 22, 1963, as millions gathered to watch in disbelief as the aftermath of JFK's assassination unfolded, thereby establishing television as the medium that would create a global village, the Internet passed a significant milestone on September 11, 2001.

A More Factual Medium

I personally found receiving the news over the Internet a much different experience than watching the TV. By the time of the crash in Pennsylvania, one of our staff had gone home to bring a small TV set into the office. As we stood in shock, many of us saw for the first time the video footage of the terrible devastation. It was difficult to pull myself away from the TV, as I watched, horror struck, in total disbelief. The TV kept pouring out horrible fact after horrible fact, and a total sense of lack of control washed over us.

With the Internet, you could at least digest the enormity of this string of events one at a time, on your own agenda. There were so many unanswered questions, and I found sites like CNN allowed me to go directly to the stories that may provide the clues I needed to begin to understand how something like this could ever happen. Yes, the Internet is a more detached medium than TV, but on Tuesday, that's exactly what I needed.

The Great Communicator

It was in another regard that the Internet truly showed its value as a communication medium. Ironically, it was the very same infrastructure related properties that caused the Internet to stagger under the huge demand that later made it such a valuable communication tool.

The Internet was designed to survive attack. Unlike a centralized television network, where core broadcast components can be wiped out, taking down the entire network, the Internet was built to incorporate redundancy. If a central trunk goes down, traffic can be rerouted through the network. Also, the Internet depends on point-to-point contact through that network. Unlike a television station that can broadcast to whoever has a TV turned on in its broadcast area, Internet servers can only handle a finite amount of demand.

This is the reason the Internet has to adapt to sudden huge spikes in demand. When a totally unanticipated event like Tuesdays attack occurs, it takes a little while to make the changes needed to meet that demand.

But the Internet is also a two way communication medium, and it is in this regard that it really proved its worth. As phone communication came to a standstill and cellular service reached the overload point, many people in Lower Manhattan were able to use e-mail to let loved ones know they were safe and sound. MSN's Messenger and AOL Chat channels were also used for communication.

Global Pain

There was another phenomenon that emerged on Tuesday that provided a glimpse of the true compassion and concern that is the best part of our human nature. As part of our day-to-day business, we often participate in many online forums and newsgroups. For this one day the regular business of the Internet was put aside, so that people around the globe could join together to try to understand this nightmare, to share their grief and to offer support to each other.

For us, although the scenes of devastation were 3000 miles away, the Internet had brought us a little closer. Because of the nature of our business, we have clients around the world, including a few who have offices in the shadow of the once tall World Trade Center. We pray that they are safe and home with their families today. The global village that was begun with television has become closer through the Internet. Although we can never understand fully the impact this tragedy has on Americans or on the people of New York and Washington, we do share your pain and your anger. As Colin Powell said, this was not a crime against the US; this was a crime against civilization.

One Troubling Thought

In almost all instances, communication is a positive force in our society. The one troubling thing I heard is that the Internet may have been used by the terrorists as a communication channel to help plan this terrible act. Since Tuesday, FBI agents have already approached many ISP's, asking to install the Carnivore e-mail surveillance device on their servers to monitor traffic. As much as I detest anything that impacts the freedom of speech, I do believe we're fighting a greater evil here and that this is a necessary step.

Reaching Out

Since Tuesday, I have seen the awesome communication potential of the Internet used by people everywhere to reach out and offer hope. I have seen people separated by physical distance and national borders drawn together to share similar values, ideals and hopes for the future. Yes, there has been some bad, but there has been far more good. Like anything else, the Internet is a tool and its worth is determined by the manner in which we choose to use it. Good or evil does not come from the Internet or mass media, it comes from people.

Recovering from a Staggering Blow

So, what now? We have no frame of reference for something of this magnitude. Who knows what the future will hold? But in the past two years, I have grown to know many individual Americans much better, and to appreciate the strength of your resolve. You are a nation of doers, and despite the sheer immensity of the task before you, I know you will be successful in rising up and standing taller than ever. Please know that Canadians and other people through out the world are not going to sit idly by and let you shoulder this burden alone. Through the terrible events of September 11, 2001, we have become family.