Technology writer Chris Stevens calculated the weight of the Internet by adding up all the computers, iphones, blackberries, servers, cables – and just for fun, viruses and websites. The damage comes to 498,438,559,990 kilograms, which Wolfram|Alpha tells us is 1.7 times the mass of all humans currently alive.
CNET tries to help readers imagine this bulk:
There you have it, ladies and gentlemen. The Internet is very heavy indeed. To give you some idea of just how heavy the internet is, imagine an absolutely enormous tower of computers and servers and cables reaching up into the sky like the evil fingers of some apocalyptic demon. Now imagine sparks, thunder, electrical storms. And, on top of it all, an otter screaming pointlessly. That is the closest you are likely to come to visualising the Internet.
The author claims that “for the first time in the world, we have precisely and scientifically calculated the weight of the Internet.”
Well that’s interesting, considering that Stephen Cass, writing for DISCOVER, calculated the weight of the Internet back in 2007 and came to a very different answer. Cass ignored the hardware, and instead calculated the weight of online information by taking the total estimated Web traffic of 40 petabytes (40 x 1015 bytes: a 4 followed by 16 zeros) and figuring out the weight of the electrons required to store that information. His total?
The weight of the Internet adds up to just about 0.2 millionths of an ounce.
However, a year before that, in 2006, Russell Seitz, calculated the weight of the internet to be 2 ounces. You can read more about his calculations on his blog.
So which is it, readers? Weigh in on whose calculation is closest to the truth.
Related Content:
DISCOVER: How Much Does The Internet Weigh?
Discoblog: Will Swine Flu Take Down the Internet?
Discoblog: Typo Brings Down the Internet In Sweden
Image: flickr / sugree
November 23rd, 2009 at 10:33 pm
“And, on top of it all, an otter screaming pointlessly.”
I love that.
November 24th, 2009 at 4:33 pm
“And, on top of it all, an otter screaming pointlessly.”
Shouldn’t it be a penguin?
November 25th, 2009 at 12:12 am
I don’t see any discrepancy at all – the internet weighs 56 micrograms and is stored in a container that weighs 498 teragrams.
November 27th, 2009 at 6:26 pm
Having done my share of hardware support over the years I can vouch for the higher number, at least in terms of scale and direction. The amount of hardware that supports our electronic age is staggering.