But as I said, we’ll get there one step at a time, so let’s get back to the network shown
in Figure 1.1 with this scenario: Bob wants to send Sally a file, and to complete that goal in
this kind of network, he’ll simply broadcast that he’s looking for her, which is basically just
shouting out over the network. Think of it like this, Bob walking out of his house and yell-
ing down a street called Chaos Court in order to contact Sally. This might work if Bob and
Sally were the only ones living there, but not so much if it’s crammed with homes and all
the others living there are always hollering up and down the street to their neighbors just
like Bob. Nope, Chaos Court would absolutely live up to its name, with all those residents
going off whenever they felt like it—and believe it or not, our networks actually still work
this way to a degree! So, given a choice, would you stay in Chaos, or would you pull up
stakes and move on over to a nice new modern community called Broadway Lanes, which
offers plenty of amenities and room for your home plus future additions all on nice, wide
streets that can easily handle all present and future traffic? Good choice… so did Sally, who
now lives a much quieter life, getting letters (packets) from Bob instead of a headache!