A Prehistory of the Cloud
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| Title: | A Prehistory of the Cloud |
|---|---|
| Description: | The militarized legacy of the digital cloud: how the cloud grew out of older network technologies and politics.We may imagine the digital cloud as placeless, mute, ethereal, and unmediated. Yet the reality of the cloud is embodied in thousands of massive data centers, any one of which can use as much electricity as a midsized town. Even all these data centers are only one small part of the cloud. Behind that cloud-shaped icon on our screens is a whole universe of technologies and cultural norms, all working to keep us from noticing their existence. In this book, Tung-Hui Hu examines the gap between the real and the virtual in our understanding of the cloud. Hu shows that the cloud grew out of such older networks as railroad tracks, sewer lines, and television circuits. He describes key moments in the prehistory of the cloud, from the game “Spacewar” as exemplar of time-sharing computers to Cold War bunkers that were later reused as data centers. Countering the popular perception of a new “cloudlike” political power that is dispersed and immaterial, Hu argues that the cloud grafts digital technologies onto older ways of exerting power over a population. But because we invest the cloud with cultural fantasies about security and participation, we fail to recognize its militarized origins and ideology. Moving between the materiality of the technology itself and its cultural rhetoric, Hu's account offers a set of new tools for rethinking the contemporary digital environment. |
| Authors: | Tung-Hui Hu |
| Resource Type: | eBook. |
| Subjects: | Internet--Social aspects--Popular works, Computer networks--History--Popular works |
| Categories: | COMPUTERS / Distributed Systems / Cloud Computing, COMPUTERS / Social Aspects |
| Database: | eBook Collection (EBSCOhost) |
| FullText | Links: – Type: ebook-pdf – Type: ebook-epub Text: Availability: 0 |
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| Items | – Name: Title Label: Title Group: Ti Data: A Prehistory of the Cloud – Name: Abstract Label: Description Group: Ab Data: The militarized legacy of the digital cloud: how the cloud grew out of older network technologies and politics.We may imagine the digital cloud as placeless, mute, ethereal, and unmediated. Yet the reality of the cloud is embodied in thousands of massive data centers, any one of which can use as much electricity as a midsized town. Even all these data centers are only one small part of the cloud. Behind that cloud-shaped icon on our screens is a whole universe of technologies and cultural norms, all working to keep us from noticing their existence. In this book, Tung-Hui Hu examines the gap between the real and the virtual in our understanding of the cloud. Hu shows that the cloud grew out of such older networks as railroad tracks, sewer lines, and television circuits. He describes key moments in the prehistory of the cloud, from the game “Spacewar” as exemplar of time-sharing computers to Cold War bunkers that were later reused as data centers. Countering the popular perception of a new “cloudlike” political power that is dispersed and immaterial, Hu argues that the cloud grafts digital technologies onto older ways of exerting power over a population. But because we invest the cloud with cultural fantasies about security and participation, we fail to recognize its militarized origins and ideology. Moving between the materiality of the technology itself and its cultural rhetoric, Hu's account offers a set of new tools for rethinking the contemporary digital environment. – Name: Author Label: Authors Group: Au Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Tung-Hui+Hu%22">Tung-Hui Hu</searchLink> – Name: TypePub Label: Resource Type Group: TypPub Data: eBook. – Name: Subject Label: Subjects Group: Su Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Internet--Social+aspects--Popular+works%22">Internet--Social aspects--Popular works</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Computer+networks--History--Popular+works%22">Computer networks--History--Popular works</searchLink> – Name: SubjectBISAC Label: Categories Group: Su Data: <searchLink fieldCode="ZK" term="%22COMPUTERS+%2F+Distributed+Systems+%2F+Cloud+Computing%22">COMPUTERS / Distributed Systems / Cloud Computing</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="ZK" term="%22COMPUTERS+%2F+Social+Aspects%22">COMPUTERS / Social Aspects</searchLink> |
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| RecordInfo | BibRecord: BibEntity: Classifications: – Code: 004.6 Scheme: ddc Type: prePub Languages: – Code: eng Text: English Subjects: – SubjectFull: Internet--Social aspects--Popular works Type: general – SubjectFull: Computer networks--History--Popular works Type: general Titles: – TitleFull: A Prehistory of the Cloud Type: main BibRelationships: HasContributorRelationships: – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Tung-Hui Hu – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Tung-Hui Hu IsPartOfRelationships: – BibEntity: Dates: – D: 01 M: 01 Type: published Y: 2015 – D: 21 M: 08 Type: profile Y: 2015 Identifiers: – Type: isbn-print Value: 9780262029513 – Type: isbn-print Value: 9780262529969 – Type: isbn-electronic Value: 9780262330091 – Type: isbn-electronic Value: 9780262330107 Titles: – TitleFull: A Prehistory of the Cloud Type: main |
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