The Microsoft outage means no incessant email chimes or message pings, but still we stayed online

BERLIN (AP) — It was the sound of e-silence.No Microsoft Outlook email chimes, no Teams message pings, no new notifications and, very possibly, no work getting done.Microsoft 365 teetered on the edge of becoming Microsoft 364 as the global outage stretched from Thursday into, ironically (or fittingly, depending on your personal outlook), Friday the 13th. The disruption has impacted an unknown number of netizens, but the total could be as high as 430 million — the figure the tech giant touts as the number of people who use Microsoft 365 apps.Many of us were doing the same thing: Refresh, refresh, refresh.But what really happens when an essential workplace tool goes quiet and the silence is heard around the world?Sadly, it seems, the extended break online did not mean that we went outside — or even offline. Thousands used the 21st century technology of social media to complain about the 20th century invention of email. Memes sprang up across the internet as brands like airlines rushed to