ELI5: How streaming movies and TV shows works?

Imagine you want to watch your favorite cartoon. Instead of having a DVD (a physical copy), you're watching it online using streaming.

Think of it like this:

• The Movie/Show is a Giant Puzzle: The movie or TV show is like a huge puzzle, broken into many, many tiny pieces. These pieces are called data packets.

• The Big Storage Place (Server): A company like Netflix or Disney+ has a giant warehouse (a server) where all these puzzle pieces are stored.

• You Ask for the Puzzle: When you click "play," your device (phone, tablet, TV) sends a message to the warehouse asking for the puzzle pieces. This message is a request.

• Delivering the Puzzle Pieces (Streaming): The warehouse doesn't give you the whole puzzle at once! That would take too long. Instead, it sends you a few pieces at a time, like a little delivery truck bringing packages. This is called streaming.

• Putting the Pieces Together (Buffering): Your device takes those puzzle pieces and starts putting them together. Sometimes, if the truck is slow (your internet is slow), you have to wait for more pieces to arrive. This waiting is called buffering, and you see that spinning circle.

• Watching the Finished Puzzle: Once your device has enough pieces, it starts showing you the movie/show. As you watch, more pieces keep arriving, so the puzzle is always being completed just ahead of where you are watching.