TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES: So we were doing a podcast interview with Ken Mehlman, and he was responding gamely to pressing questions on the Bush Administration’s problems, but we kept losing the connection. Then we lost dialtone for a few minutes. BellSouth couldn’t explain why, and it’s fixed itself now. We’ll try to reschedule and finish the interview soon — I think you’ll find it very interesting — but jeez. I remember a line from A. Bertram Chandler: “At the mercy of a single fuse.” So much that we do these days is like that.

UPDATE: Reader Christopher Grayce emails:

When you note that many things depend on a single fuse, what you’re saying is the system is efficient and is thought to be highly reliable. These are *good* things. In the old days stuff was more reliable, and there were more backups, both mechanical and human. But it was much slower and far less flexible. Dinosaurs are reliable, but they’re not nimble.

So, you know, being more dependent on a single fuse is a sign of technological progress. Like the fact that we don’t need to carry full-size spare tires around anymore, and most people don’t need to learn how to jack up a car on the freeway and change a tire.

Good point, though I’m pessimist where technical things come, and have lots of backups for most stuff. But the phone is pretty much a single point of failure.