(for the record, I don’t mean to call out the fellow who actually made the series of tubes statement, it was just clear to me that even as an analogy it showed a lack of understanding of the basics of how the internet actually functioned, and that people in his position had no ongoing mandate to understand it.)

Here’s an example of what I mean by they have more understanding now:

https://youtu.be/o1MZOtKYnfM

And to a lesser extent: https://youtu.be/kd3Qa9tlA3o

I always thought it was a pretty good metaphor and didn't understand why he got so much grief for it. Breaking up messages into little chunks, sticking each chunk into one of those little capsules like they have at the bank, putting each capsule into a pneumatic tube, sending it down a series of tubes with switching stations along the way, and reconstructing all the chunks (which may have taken different paths through the series of tubes and may have arrived out of order) at the destination -- this is a good metaphor for the internet!

I think the people who mocked the senator for the "series of tubes" comment would also be the kind of people to brag about their "phat pipe".