Editing 949: File Transfer
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| title = File Transfer | | title = File Transfer | ||
| image = file_transfer.png | | image = file_transfer.png | ||
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| titletext = Every time you email a file to yourself so you can pull it up on your friend's laptop, Tim Berners-Lee sheds a single tear. | | titletext = Every time you email a file to yourself so you can pull it up on your friend's laptop, Tim Berners-Lee sheds a single tear. | ||
}} | }} | ||
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==Explanation== | ==Explanation== | ||
− | [[Cueball]] is trying to help two people, his friend and his friend's cousin, exchange a | + | [[Cueball]] is trying to help two people, his friend and his friend's cousin, exchange a 25MB file. Most people know how to use email to send files through the internet, but 25MB exceeds the attachment size limit of most email services. The reason there is a limit is because every email has to be transferred between several mail transfer agents, and each one has to temporarily store a copy of the email. Space constraints on those mail servers means that they must impose size limits, and an email with such a large attachment will therefore not be delivered. |
The next option is to upload the file to an FTP server (FTP stands for {{w|File Transfer Protocol}}, as opposed to HTTP, {{w|Hypertext Transfer Protocol}}), used to transfer files between computers on a shared network, such as the internet. However, FTP servers are a touch more esoteric than a mere email attachment, and many internet users don't have access to one of their own. | The next option is to upload the file to an FTP server (FTP stands for {{w|File Transfer Protocol}}, as opposed to HTTP, {{w|Hypertext Transfer Protocol}}), used to transfer files between computers on a shared network, such as the internet. However, FTP servers are a touch more esoteric than a mere email attachment, and many internet users don't have access to one of their own. | ||
− | Web hosting is simply the ability to create a website and store all the data for said website on a server which is connected to the internet. If Cueball's friend's cousin had the ability to do that, sharing the file would be as easy as putting a copy of it in | + | Web hosting is simply the ability to create a website and store all the data for said website on a server which is connected to the internet. If Cueball's friend's cousin had the ability to do that, sharing the file would be as easy as putting a copy of it in a accessible directory and sending the link to the desired recipient. |
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− | {{w| | + | {{w|Megaupload}} was one of many sites on the internet that recognizes most users' inability to host large files on their own, and so offers to host large files, sometimes for free, sometimes for a small fee. The payoff is that in order to make such a service profitable, many of these sites are cluttered with banner and pop up ads in a mad effort to squeeze as much ad revenue out of every page view as possible. It's not a dealbreaker for some, but Cueball seems to think it'll be too much for his friend's cousin to handle. |
− | {{w| | + | {{w|AOL Instant Messenger|AIM}} direct connect was a file sharing system on AOL Instant Messenger, which was already suffering severe drops in popularity by the year 2000. Clearly, Cueball is grasping at straws here: anybody desperate enough to invoke the name of AOL as a solution instead of a problem must be at their wits' end. |
− | + | {{w|Dropbox (service)|Dropbox}} is an easy to use program with an intuitive GUI that automates file sharing between two computers on the internet, just like one might wish for. But this solution also has its issues, as it requires both users to have a Dropbox account, then install the software or plugin, and so on. | |
− | + | While Cueball is still explaining Dropbox, the friend's cousin has copied the file to a USB drive and physically transported it to the friend's house, circumventing the internet entirely. It's not an elegant solution, but sometimes brute force is the most efficient way to get something done. | |
− | {{w| | + | When used to transfer files between computers in the same room or building, this same approach is referred to as {{w|sneakernet}}. This comic is also an illustration of what {{w|Andy Tanenbaum}} said in 1989: ''Never underestimate the bandwidth of a station wagon full of tapes hurtling down the highway.'' |
− | + | {{w|Tim Berners-Lee}} is considered to be the inventor of the internet. | |
− | In | + | In the title text, [[Randall]] implies that he would be disturbed by the need today to use two separate protocols (email and http) to perform a third, unrelated, obvious function such as file transfer. |
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==Transcript== | ==Transcript== | ||
:[Cueball stands near a computer, talking on the phone to another person.] | :[Cueball stands near a computer, talking on the phone to another person.] | ||
− | :Cueball: You want your cousin to send you a file? easy. He can email it to- ...Oh, it's 25 MB? Hmm... | + | :Cueball: You want your cousin to send you a file? easy. He can email it to- ... Oh, it's 25 MB? Hmm... |
:Cueball: Do either of you have an FTP server? No, right. | :Cueball: Do either of you have an FTP server? No, right. | ||
:Cueball: If you had web hosting, you could upload it... | :Cueball: If you had web hosting, you could upload it... | ||
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:Cueball: Uh, cool, that works too. | :Cueball: Uh, cool, that works too. | ||
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:I like how we've had the internet for decades, yet "sending files" is something early adopters are still figuring out how to do. | :I like how we've had the internet for decades, yet "sending files" is something early adopters are still figuring out how to do. | ||
− | + | {{comic discussion}} | |
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[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]] | [[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]] | ||
[[Category:Computers]] | [[Category:Computers]] | ||
[[Category:Internet]] | [[Category:Internet]] | ||
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