Electricity travels at the speed of light, and when carried by wire is slightly impeded (slowed) by the resistance of the wire, accounting for a small delay before an analog signal voltage is received at the other end.
On the internet, digital voltages are sent into a maze of latency-causing circumstances, "latency" being the degree to which a signal "arrives late".
Take for instance the radio stream coming from the KDX Worldround Radio Server. As much as 1-minute or more may elapse before the signal arrives at its destination.
Where is the signal while it is "missing in transit"?
The same with e-mail. Someone on a telephone call will say, "I just sent you and e-mail", but you check your In-Box and see no trace of an e-mail, only to find it 5-minutes later. Where is the e-mail while it is "somewhere in transit"?
Rod Serling could have a special name for the "Latency Zone".
Where is the signal while it is "missing in transit"?
It isn't missing. It is located at some physical distance along the path(s) between the source and the destination(s).
I have figured out why digital electric signals spend so much time (latency) getting from sender to receptor.
As we know, electricity travels at the speed of light over wires, slowed slightly by the resistance in the wire, but that isn't the whole story.
We also know that light does not carry by wire which leaves the digital electrical stream in total darkness where it slows down while feeling its way.
Seems obvious once explained.
We know from science class that the speed of light is the ultimate speed limit, as far as we know. For comparison, that 1 to 5 minute delay for an email to arrive in our inbox is nothing compared to the delay experienced by NASA as they wait for messages from Voyager 1.
It takes upwards to 17 hours for a single message to reach Earth from Voyager 1 which is currently on the edge of our solar system. Messages from Mars take up to 25 minutes to reach Earth and vice versa.
Can you imagine waiting for a voice message from Mars or Voyager 1 if they were manned?
"Help, help, the Martians have attacked our settlement and we need back up NOW"
Barry
Edit: The speed of light is 186,000 mi/sec
rock95seven said: "Can you imagine waiting for a voice message from Mars or Voyager 1 if they were manned?"
What he is telling us is that the exceptionally long latency when streaming on the internet is caused by signals being passed between other planets.
It becomes so obvious once it's explained.