In the introduction to Signal Traffic, Parks and Starosielski define media infrastructure.  They have identified that this is an important focus because the way media is transferred and stored does impact the media itself.  I was initially struck by the elegance of building new technological infrastructure over old industrial infrastructure.  It reminded me of old subway cars being dumped into the ocean to encourage coral reef growth.  One of the first examples discussed is a Google data center that used to be a paper mill.  The authors note that 100 employees work where 650 used to.  I wonder what their hours and wages are like.  There are some other serious downsides to building infrastructure that relies on old infrastructure.  I think about the NYC Subway; even the updated stations still, in part, rely on the old switches they’ve had in use since 1904.  The authors introduce the other pieces in the book, explaining the importance of scale and perspective.

In “Where the Internet Lives”, Holt and Vonderau discuss the physical data storage that occurs around the globe, focusing on Sweden.  Under the guise of transparency, Google releases information about what these places look like, the way the wiring works, and plans for temperature control.  But they do not go out of their way to give any details about the actual storage mechanisms used.  How safe is the private information being stored in Sweden?  Are there backups? Do the storage drives communicate with one another or are they each a separate black box?  After reading this chapter, I got the impression that these are the questions Google does not want us asking which explains why they overshare the more superficial information about their business.  Google’s treatment of their data centers reminds me of politicians who dump thousands of documents on investigators while concealing the important ones.