So:
-Google's Gmail goes down,
-Apple's MobileMe is down for five days for some users, and then
-Netflix sends me an email saying their stuff is down and I won't be getting a DVD in the mail anytime soon.

You would think billion dollar companies would know how to keep a service up with:
-hardware and software redundancy
-workforce redundancy (shift scheduling!)
-sensible change management processes and procedures

This stuff is Project Management 101 people.

I can't believe there are people working at those companies who have the credientials to actually get hired there and they let such things happen.

Either I am incredibly underpaid for how much uptime my systems have, or these people are incredibly overpaid for they need to do.

It doesn't take a frickin CCIE to keep a set of servers running. WHAT IS THE DEAL? Can anyone tell me?

Really. Just post if you have an idea.