Tubes: Behind the Scenes at the Internet - Softcover

Blum, Andrew

Softcover

ISBN 10: 014104909X ISBN 13: 9780141049090

Publisher: Penguin, 2013

Synopsis

Tubes Takes us on a backstage tour of the real but hidden world of the Internet, introducing us to the remarkable clan of insiders and eccentrics who own, design and run it everyday. This book uncovers the secret data warehouses where our online selves are stored, peels back the wires that transport us across the globe. Full description

About this title

Review:

Utterly engrossing. The year's most original and stimulating 'travel' book. Even the most geek-wary of readers will enjoy (Independent, Book of the Week)

Entertaining and illuminating. Excels at rooting the Internet in real-world locations. Full of memorable images that make its complex architecture easier to comprehend (Observer)

An engaging reminder that, cyber-Utopianism aside, the Internet is as much a thing of flesh and steel as any industrial-age lumber mill or factory ... An excellent introduction to the nuts and bolts of how exactly it all works and a timely antidote to oft-repeated abstractions about "cyberspace" or "cloud computing" (Economist)

Makes hard-to-grasp concepts easy to understand, even obvious. The history, in particular, is one of the best and most memorable I have ever read (New Scientist)

A Quixotic and winning book with a knack for bundling packets of data into memorable observations. This valuable book leaves you with its share of unsettling visions, but there are comic ones too (The New York Times)

For a full understanding of the Internet on every level, this book is a must-read (Techzone)

A great, playful, wondrous read (ArsTechnica)

Blum is perhaps the millennial generation's John McPhee, chronicling an arcane journey of deep relevance to everyday life. For non-techies, the book is a very accessible revelation (Forbes)

All too awesome to behold. Andrew Blum's fascinating book demystifies the earthly geography of this most ethereal terra incognita (Joshua Foer, author of Moonwalking with Einstein)

A brilliantly smart idea executed with investigative skill and flair. Readers will never send an email so carelessly again. (Independent Books of the Year)

From the Back Cover:

Design Observer Best Book of the Year

Tubes looks behind the scenes of our digital lives at the physical heart of the Internet itself. This is a book about real places on the map: their sounds and smells, their storied pasts, their physical details, and the people who live there. Sharing tales of his on-the-ground reporting, along with lucid explanations about how the Internet works, Blum's eye-opening travelogue offers a unique perspective on the role of technology in our lives.

About this edition

• Publisher: Penguin
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 014104909X
• ISBN 13: 9780141049090
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 304