Georgia State University (GSU) SCOM 2050 Media, Culture, and Society Practice Test

Rerouting capability is the extra advantage highlighted by Baran's packet-switching plan. In a packet-switched network, messages are broken into small packets that can travel along multiple paths to the destination. If a link or node fails, the network can redirect the remaining packets along available routes, so the overall communication still gets through. This built-in redundancy makes the network more robust and survivable, which was a central goal of Baran’s design.

Baran’s idea also leaned toward distributed control rather than a single central authority, and the emphasis here is on reliability through alternate routing paths rather than cost or centralized management. The other notions—getting cheaper, requiring centralized control, or being unreliable—don’t align with the envisioned strengths of packet switching in his early work.