I don't feel like spoiling it, but make sure to read the last line.

That article is full of fantastic quotes!

I really liked this one:

[M]uch of the code that runs the site is written in a horrible computer language called PHP, which stands for nothing you care about. Millions of websites are built with PHP, because it works and it's cheap to run, but PHP is a programming language like scrapple is a meat. Imagine eating two pounds of scrapple every day for the rest of your life — that’s what Facebook does, programming-wise.

The comments are good, too, like the one about this image of Zuckerberg that appears in the article:

"Hmm.. looks like that mug of Zuckerberg taken with Instagram. Toaster filter?"

TROLOLOL, Paul Ford is a genius:

Facebook is like an NYPD police van crashing into an IKEA, forever — a chaotic mess of products designed to burrow into every facet of your life.

I also like the line an Internet product is a thing that lets people make other things.

Other gems:

• Instagram was "a kind of metaproduct — and you can get 30 million people working for you, for free, if you do a good job of it."

• Instagram is "beloved and hip, two things Facebook is not, and plus the company is pure nerd candy."

• "Remember what the iPod was to Apple? That’s how Instagram might look to Facebook: an artfully designed product that does one thing perfectly."

• "In order to participate as a citizen of the social web, you must yourself manufacture content."

And yes, Matt, the last sentence is awesome.

Be sure to read the comments, they're hilarious and feature a great overview of Facebook's architecture.

Changes to Instagram now that Facebook owns it.