Undersea Network

Starosielski Nicole Starosielski

Description

In our "wireless" world it is easy to take the importance of the undersea cable systems for granted, but the stakes of their successful operation are huge, as they are responsible for carrying almost all transoceanic Internet traffic. In The Undersea Network Nicole Starosielski follows these cables from the ocean depths to their landing zones on the sandy beaches of the South Pacific, bringing them to the surface of media scholarship and making visible the materiality of the wired network. In doing so, she charts the cable network's cultural, historical, geographic and environmental dimensions. Starosielski argues that the environments the cables occupy are historical and political realms, where the network and the connections it enables are made possible by the deliberate negotiation and manipulation of technology, culture, politics and geography. Accompanying the book is an interactive digital mapping project, where readers can trace cable routes, view photographs and archival materials, and read stories about the island cable hubs.

Sujets

• Media
• Media studies
• Sociologie, société et politique

Informations

• Publié par: Duke University Press
• Date de parution: 02 mars 2015
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780822376224
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 4 Mo

Extrait

t h e u n d e r s e a n e t w o r k

sign, storage, transmission

A serîes edîted by Jonathan Sterne and Lîsa Gîtelman

n ic ol e s t a r o s i e l s k i

t h e u n d e r s e a n e t w o r k

Duke Unîversîty Press Durham and London 2015

© 2015 Duke Unîversîty Press A rîghts reserved Prînted în the Unîted States o Amerîca on acîd-ree paper ∞ Desîgned by Courtney Leîgh Baker Typeset în Gî Sans and Whîtman by BW&A Books, Inc.

Lîbrary o Congress Cataogîng-în-Pubîcatîon Data Starosîeskî, Nîcoe, 1984– The undersea network / Nîcoe Starosîeskî. pages cm—(Sîgn, storage, transmîssîon) Incudes bîbîographîca reerences and îndex. isbn978-0-8223-5740-7 (hardcover : ak. paper) isbn978-0-8223-5755-1 (pbk. : ak. paper) isbn978-0-8223-7622-4 (e-book) 1. Cabes, Submarîne. 2. Fîber optîc cabes. 3. Tee- communîcatîons înes. 4. Teecommunîcatîon cabes. 5. Communîcatîon, Internatîona.i. Tîte.ii. Serîes: Sîgn, storage, transmîssîon. tk5103.15.s737 2015 384.3'2—dc23 2014037968

Cover art: Cabe andîng, Guam. Photo by the author. Concept map îustratîons or each chapter drawn by Cameron Raîns.

Duke Unîversîty Press grateuy acknowedges the support o the Humanîtîes Inîtîatîve Grants-în-Aîd, New York Unîversîty, whîch provîded unds toward the pubîcatîon o thîs book.

f o r m y f a m i l y

c o n t e n t s

pr eface.Acknowedgments / xvEdges / vîîî in troduction.Agaînst Fow / 1

one c i r c u i t o u s r o u t e s From Topology to Topography/ 26

t wo s h o r t - c i r c u i t i n g d i s c u r s i v e i n f r a s t r u c t u r e From Connectîon to Transmîssîon/ 64

thr ee g a t e w a y From Cable Colony to Network Operatîons Center/ 94

four p r e s s u r e p o i n t Turbulent Ecologîes o the Cable Landîng/ 138

fiv e a n e t w o r k o f i s l a n d s Interconnectîng the Pacîfic/ 170

six c a b l e d d e p t h s The Aquatîc Aterlîves o Sîgnal Traic/ 198

conclusion. Suracîng / 225 Notes / 235 Bîbîography / 263

Index / 281

/ e d g e s /

/maili/

/cablestation/

/papenoo/

/monument/

p r e fa c e

e d g e s

O‘ahu, Hawai‘i, United States I am standîng on Eectrîc Beach, on O‘ahu’s west shore—a beach named or the arge power pant towerîng behînd ît and known or reguar car burgarîes. Three men are casuay fishîng of the edge o the poînt. Famîîes are havîng barbeques. Posîng as a tourîst wîth a camera, I crouch down to take pîctures o a manhoe covered în rust-coored dîrt (figure P.1). Underneath the manhoe, a fiber-optîc cabe suraces, brîngîng înormatîon encoded în îght waves rom the other Hawaîîan îsands. Wîthîn thîrty mîes o thîs poînt, cabe systems ex- tend dîrecty to Caîornîa, Oregon, Fîjî, and Guam and reach onward to Aus- traîa, Japan, and much o East Asîa. Though they are at the edge o the Unîted States and the perîphery o Amerîcans’ vîsîon, O‘ahu’s cabe andîngs estabîsh Hawaî‘î as a crîtîca node în our goba teecommunîcatîons networks. Man- hoes, such as the one beneath my eet, are some o the ew sîtes where cabe systems appear în pubîc space. It îs by ookîng down, rather than up to the sky, that we can best see today’s network înrastructure.