--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The telephone wire, as we know it, has…" description: "\"The telephone wire, as we know it, has become too slow and too small to handle Internet traffic. It took 75 years for telephones to be used by 50 milli..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9ea/lori-valigra-257640_internet_the-telephone-wire-as-we-know-it-has-bec_915204.jpg" --- # The telephone wire, as we know it, has become too slow and… ![“The telephone wire, as we know it, has become too slow and too small to handle Internet traffic. It took 75 years for telephones to be used by 50 million customers, but it took only four years for the Internet to reach that many users.” quote by Lori Valigra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9ea/lori-valigra-257640_internet_the-telephone-wire-as-we-know-it-has-bec_915204.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9ea/lori-valigra-257640_internet_the-telephone-wire-as-we-know-it-has-bec_915204.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9ea/lori-valigra-257640_internet_the-telephone-wire-as-we-know-it-has-bec_915204.jpg) > “The telephone wire, as we know it, has become too slow and too small to handle Internet traffic. It took 75 years for telephones to be used by 50 million customers, but it took only four years for the Internet to reach that many users.” Lori Valigra ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Internet traffic outpaces traditional telephone infrastructure, highlighting the need for modern, high‑capacity networks. **In simple terms:** Old wires can't handle modern internet demand. Key Takeaway Upgrade network infrastructure. Themes technology communication infrastructure growth digital divide Mood pragmatic forward‑looking Type Internet:1 Years Internet:0 Handle Internet:0 Internet Reach:0 Telephone Wire:0 Internet Traffic:0 When to use this quote - policy making - business strategy - public awareness Key Concepts network engineering capacity planning technology adoption Questions to Reflect On - What drives rapid internet adoption? - How can infrastructure keep pace? A Different Perspective Legacy systems may still serve niche needs. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Internet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/internet/) ## Related quotes > [“As much as 25 per cent of the world’s current internet traffic crosses British territory via the cables, en route between the US, Europe,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/luke-harding/as-much-as-25-per-cent-of-the-world-s-current-internet-traffic/) [Luke Harding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/luke-harding/) > [The Internet is the ultimate vanity-publishing medium, and therefore, the ultimate place for those of us who like to watch. 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So the virtual world is a way for me to listen to my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/people-are-reading-more-and-writing-more-because-of-the-internet-so/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [The Internet lets thousands of total strangers collaborate to produce a truly hivelike result.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clive-thompson/the-internet-lets-thousands-of-total-strangers-collaborate-to-produce/) [Clive Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clive-thompson/) > [I remembered reading about a disease called Leishmaniasis, which matched my symptoms. I'd always thought it was an old wives' tale - a sand…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-fogle/i-remembered-reading-about-a-disease-called-leishmaniasis-which/) [Ben Fogle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-fogle/) > [Note to self: If you do not know how to spell a big scary spiders name, DO NOT look it up on the internet.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/becky-eisele/note-to-self-if-you-do-not-know-how-to-spell-a-big-scary-spiders-name/) Becky Eisele > [We became Homo sapiens not that long ago, from the scientific perspective, and we've retained a lot of our beast nature. We've done all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wangechi-mutu/we-became-homo-sapiens-not-that-long-ago-from-the-scientific/) [Wangechi Mutu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wangechi-mutu/) > [Though 'Fat City' was written long before cellphones or the Internet, its human apparatus is state of the art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-dunn/though-fat-city-was-written-long-before-cellphones-or-the-internet/) [Katherine Dunn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-dunn/) > [ The social \[media channel\] isn't about beauty contests and popularity contests. They're a distortion, a caricature of the real thing. It's about trust, connection,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umair-haque/the-social-media-channel-isn-t-about-beauty-contests-and-popularity/) [Umair Haque](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/umair-haque/) > [I enjoy upsetting the right people. I love poking fun at earnest censors. I want to push the bounds of what can be said…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milo-yiannopoulos/i-enjoy-upsetting-the-right-people-i-love-poking-fun-at-earnest/) [Milo Yiannopoulos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milo-yiannopoulos/) > [The only people who think the Internet is a calamity are people whose lives have been hurt by it; the only people who insist…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-klosterman/the-only-people-who-think-the-internet-is-a-calamity-are-people-whose/) [Chuck Klosterman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-klosterman/) ## More Internet quotes > [The only people who think the Internet is a calamity are people whose lives have been hurt by it; the only people who insist…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-klosterman/the-only-people-who-think-the-internet-is-a-calamity-are-people-whose/) [Chuck Klosterman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-klosterman/) > [I enjoy upsetting the right people. I love poking fun at earnest censors. I want to push the bounds of what can be said…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milo-yiannopoulos/i-enjoy-upsetting-the-right-people-i-love-poking-fun-at-earnest/) [Milo Yiannopoulos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milo-yiannopoulos/) > [ The social \[media channel\] isn't about beauty contests and popularity contests. They're a distortion, a caricature of the real thing. It's about trust, connection,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umair-haque/the-social-media-channel-isn-t-about-beauty-contests-and-popularity/) [Umair Haque](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/umair-haque/) > [Though 'Fat City' was written long before cellphones or the Internet, its human apparatus is state of the art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-dunn/though-fat-city-was-written-long-before-cellphones-or-the-internet/) [Katherine Dunn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-dunn/) > [We became Homo sapiens not that long ago, from the scientific perspective, and we've retained a lot of our beast nature. We've done all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wangechi-mutu/we-became-homo-sapiens-not-that-long-ago-from-the-scientific/) [Wangechi Mutu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wangechi-mutu/) > [Note to self: If you do not know how to spell a big scary spiders name, DO NOT look it up on the internet.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/becky-eisele/note-to-self-if-you-do-not-know-how-to-spell-a-big-scary-spiders-name/) Becky Eisele > [I remembered reading about a disease called Leishmaniasis, which matched my symptoms. I'd always thought it was an old wives' tale - a sand…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-fogle/i-remembered-reading-about-a-disease-called-leishmaniasis-which/) [Ben Fogle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-fogle/) > [The Internet lets thousands of total strangers collaborate to produce a truly hivelike result.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clive-thompson/the-internet-lets-thousands-of-total-strangers-collaborate-to-produce/) [Clive Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clive-thompson/) > [People are reading more and writing more because of the internet. So the virtual world is a way for me to listen to my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/people-are-reading-more-and-writing-more-because-of-the-internet-so/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [I don't have faith in the Internet, I have faith in people connected through the Internet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-gilliam/i-don-t-have-faith-in-the-internet-i-have-faith-in-people-connected/) Jim Gilliam > [The internet is very democratizing in some ways, but it also has other effects.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-remnick/the-internet-is-very-democratizing-in-some-ways-but-it-also-has-other/) [David Remnick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-remnick/) > [One of the Internet's highest-profile companies, Priceline once dreamed of transforming the way consumer goods are bought and sold by offering customers the chance…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-berenson/one-of-the-internet-s-highest-profile-companies-priceline-once/) [Alex Berenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-berenson/) > [Use Google Before Asking A Stupid Question.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/muskaan/use-google-before-asking-a-stupid-question/) [Muskaan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/muskaan/) > [“Some innovations just don’t attract enough economic or social demand: just as supersonic flight and manned space flight stagnated after the 1970s, today (in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-j-rees/some-innovations-just-don-t-attract-enough-economic-or-social-demand/) Martin J. Rees > [Moveon is not a one-way broadcast media. The Internet, when used best, is a two-way media. We have a forum in which people can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-blades/moveon-is-not-a-one-way-broadcast-media-the-internet-when-used-best/) [Joan Blades](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-blades/) [Browse all 9,049 Internet quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/internet/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The telephone wire, as we know it, has become too slow and too small to handle Internet traffic. 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