Consider the complexity of the [link|http://lhc-new-homepage.web.cern.ch/lhc-new-homepage/|Large Hadron Collider at CERN] versus a computer network [hardware and software] (recalling that CERN is highly networked and the LHC will generate [link|http://pcstats.cern.ch/icfa-scic/20030711-ICFA-HN.ppt|10s of pentabytes to exabytes of data] (see, e.g. slide 7 of the .PPT))....
Edit: Just in case my point isn't clear:
Yes, one can build a cyclotron with simple technology. After all, Lawrence started the first one in [link|http://www.aip.org/history/lawrence/first.htm|1930]. But some of the first PC networks were built in the 1960s, so comparing a farm-built cyclotron to a modern PC network, or vice versa, probably isn't a fair comparison... :-)
Cheers,
Scott.