Millions of cubicle dwellers across the country helped set records for Internet traffic on Tuesday as they watched online video of the inauguration ceremonies — or at least tried to. The overwhelming demand meant that some Web sites and data networks had trouble keeping up, forcing many people to turn to less cutting-edge forms of media.
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Internet traffic in the United States hit a record peak at the start of President Obama’s speech as people watched, read about and commented on the inauguration, according to Bill Woodcock, the research director at the Packet Clearing House, a nonprofit organization that analyzes online traffic. The figures surpassed even the high figures on the day President Obama was elected.”The peak is the highest measured to date, and it appears to be mostly a U.S. phenomenon,” Mr. Woodcock said, adding that it did not appear that global records would be set.
http://nytimes.com/2009/01/21/us/politics/21video.html
http://iht.com/articles/2009/01/21/america/21video.phpBarack Obama inauguration: record demand crashes BBC’s live internet feed
The BBC’s live online video feed of President Barack Obama’s inauguration was brought to a standstill by the “sheer volume” of people trying to access it.The streaming footage cut out after Mr Obama had finished his speech at 5.40pm, and was down for 30 minutes.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/barackobama/4301367/Barack-Obama-inauguration-record-demand-crashes-BBCs-live-internet-feed.html
Online Video of Inauguration Sets Records
Millions of cubicle dwellers across the country helped set records for Internet traffic on Tuesday as they watched online video of the inauguration ceremonies — or at least tried to. The overwhelming demand meant that some Web sites and data networks had trouble keeping up, forcing many people to turn to less cutting-edge forms of media.