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    Back to Design and Architecture

    Design and Architecture

    Journey to the Center of the Internet

    Design and technology writer Andrew Blum was working away at his home in Brooklyn one day when his Internet connection was lost—something that happens to all of us more than we'd like to admit. It got him thinking: Where does the Internet come from?

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    By Frances Anderton • May 12, 2014 • 1 min read

    Design and technology writer Andrew Blum was working away at his home in Brooklyn one day when his Internet connection was lost—something that happens to all of us more than we'd like to admit. It got him thinking: Where does the Internet come from? What does it look like? It lead to a 'round-the-world quest to find the tangible form of this ephemeral new infrastructure, and a book called Tubes: A Journey To The Center of the Internet. Blum discusses how he got to that "center, by following the paths of glass fiber-optic cables, carrying high velocity pulses of light underneath our streets and oceans.

    The full episode

    2 of 4
    Networks, Connections and a Sound Booth for Sonic Trace
    1. 0:00A New Plan for Union Station
    2. 9:14Journey to the Center of the InternetYou’re reading this
    3. 18:28The Sonic Trace Competition
    4. 23:55Knitting a 'Screenplay' for Dwell on Design
    • https://images.ctfassets.net/2658fe8gbo8o/AvYox6VuEgcxpd20Xo9d3/769bca4fbf97bf022190f4813812c1e2/new-default.jpg?h=250

      Frances Anderton

      architecture critic and author

    • KCRW placeholder

      Andrew Blum

      author of “The Weather Machine” and “Tubes”

      Culture

    The full episode

    2 of 4
    Networks, Connections and a Sound Booth for Sonic Trace
    1. 0:00A New Plan for Union Station
    2. 9:14Journey to the Center of the InternetYou’re reading this
    3. 18:28The Sonic Trace Competition
    4. 23:55Knitting a 'Screenplay' for Dwell on Design
    Back to Design and Architecture