The Internet, Really
The Internet, Really
Popular understanding of the Internet's physical reality has changed
dramatically in the past half-decade, with consequences for privacy and
security. Drawing on the research in his book, "Tubes: A Journey to the
Center of the Internet," Blum will argue for a continued emphasis on the
Internet's real-world geography.
Andrew Blum is a journalist and the author of Tubes: A Journey to the
Center of the Internet, the first book-length look at the physical heart
of the Internet itself. Tubes was first published in June 2012 by
Ecco/Harpercollins in the US and Viking/Penguin in the UK. It was a
national bestseller, and met with wide acclaim from The New York Times,
The Wall Street Journal, The Boston Globe, Salon, The Guardian, The
Economist, The Independent, Kirkus Reviews, Bookforum, Scientific
American, New Scientist, Brain Pickings, Ars Technica, Science News and
many others. Blum discussed Tubes with Terry Gross on NPR's Fresh Air;
BBC 4 presented it as a "Book of the Week"; and Blum spoke about his
research on the stages of TED Global and the London School of Economics,
among dozens of other venues. Design Observer named Tubes its 2012 "Book
of the Year," and London's Independent called it "The year's most
stimulating and original 'travel' book." When the Edward Snowden/NSA
revelations made the Internet's infrastructure a vital diplomatic
question, journalists from Washington to London to Frankfurt to Sao
Paulo relied on Tubes as a crucial reference. It has been translated
into nine languages.