The Internet. Home to the most important and intimate aspects of our lives. Our careers, our relationships, our selves, all of them are out there - online. So...where is that exactly? And who's in charge again? And what if it breaks? In Tubes , Andrew Blum takes us on a gripping 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. He uncovers the secret data warehouses where our online selves are stored, peels back the wires that transport us across the globe, reveals its mammoth hubs and surprising alley-ways, explaining what the Internet actually is, where it is, how it got there - and, yes, what happens when it breaks. 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.

By:   Andrew Blum
Imprint:   Viking
Country of Publication:   United Kingdom
Dimensions:   Height: 22mm,  Width: 214mm,  Spine: 153mm
Weight:   362g
ISBN:  

9780670918980

ISBN 10:   0670918989
Pages:   304
Publication Date:   August 2012
Audience:   College/higher education ,  Professional and scholarly ,  General/trade ,  Primary ,  Undergraduate
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In stock at Abbey's Bookshop
This is in stock in our store and available now.

Andrew Blum is a correspondent at Wired magazine whose work has appeared in numerous publications, including the New Yorker and The New York Times. This is his first book.

Every web site, every email, every instant message travels through real junctions in a real network of real cables. It's 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 Compelling and profound. You will never open an e-mail in quite the same way again -- Tom Vanderbilt, Author Of The New York Times Bestseller Traffic At once funny, prosaic, sinister and wise, Blum's tale is a beautifully written account of the true human cost of all our remote connectivity -- Bella Bathurst, Author Of The Lighthouse Stevensons We think of the Internet as a kind of ether, a magical way of transporting words and images from anywhere to anywhere else. But there is a vast physical infrastructure behind all that magic, and in Tubes, Andrew Blum, one of our best writers on the built environment, discovers it and turns it into a compelling story of an altogether new realm where the virtual world meets the physical -- Paul Goldberger, Pulitzer Prize-Winning New Yorker Critic

Every web site, every email, every instant message travels through real junctions in a real network of real cables. It's 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 Compelling and profound. You will never open an e-mail in quite the same way again -- Tom Vanderbilt, Author Of The New York Times Bestseller Traffic At once funny, prosaic, sinister and wise, Blum's tale is a beautifully written account of the true human cost of all our remote connectivity -- Bella Bathurst, Author Of The Lighthouse Stevensons We think of the Internet as a kind of ether, a magical way of transporting words and images from anywhere to anywhere else. But there is a vast physical infrastructure behind all that magic, and in Tubes, Andrew Blum, one of our best writers on the built environment, discovers it and turns it into a compelling story of an altogether new realm where the virtual world meets the physical -- Paul Goldberger, Pulitzer Prize-Winning New Yorker Critic With infectious wonder, Andrew Blum introduces us to the Internet's geeky wizards and takes us on an amiably guided tour of the world they've created, a world of wires and routers through which most of us daily wander, blinkered by our shimmering screens, but which few of us have ever really seen-or heard, or for that matter smelled. (Yes, the Internet has a smell, Blum is here to report.) Though less ethereal and a bit dingier, the Internet that Blum's beautifully lucid prose makes real turns out to be if anything a more marvelous place than the cloudy dreamland we'd imagined -- Donovan Hohn, Author Of Moby Duck

The year's most original and stimulating 'travel' book ... utterly engrossing ... really does make the world more legible ... even the most geek-wary of readers will enjoy Independent, Book of the Week Excels at rooting the internet in real-world locations ... Full of memorable images that make the internet's complex architecture easier to comprehend ... entertaining and illuminating Guardian 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 Compelling and profound. You will never open an e-mail in quite the same way again -- Tom Vanderbilt, Author Of The New York Times Bestseller Traffic 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 ... It is also an excellent introduction to the nuts and bolts of how exactly it all works 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 A great, playful, wondrous read ArsTechnica One of our best writers ... a compelling story of an altogether new realm where the virtual world meets the physical -- Paul Goldberger, Pulitzer Prize-Winning New Yorker Critic For a full understanding of the Internet on every level, this book is a must-read Techzone At once funny, prosaic, sinister and wise, Blum's tale is a beautifully written account of the true human cost of all our remote connectivity -- Bella Bathurst, Author Of The Lighthouse Stevensons With infectious wonder, Andrew Blum introduces us to the Internet's geeky wizards and takes us on an amiably guided tour of the world they've created ... the Internet that Blum's beautifully lucid prose makes real turns out to be if anything a more marvelous place than the cloudy dreamland we'd imagined -- Donovan Hohn, Author Of Moby Duck