{"product_id":"grounding-the-cloud-1","title":"Grounding the Cloud","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eA detailed foray into the material and spatial realities of cloud computing\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSince the 1990s, technologists have promoted a vision of the \"cloud\" as a shapeless and intangible entity. \u003ci\u003eGrounding the Cloud\u003c\/i\u003e peers through this hazy façade to reveal the earthly material foundations of global computing and data extraction. Tracing the historical and technological development of the cloud computing paradigm, Ali Fard exposes an ever-evolving project in which ideologies, economic models, and marketing images collude to shape our shared urban environments.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDemonstrating how technology's spatial footprint now stretches to nearly every corner of the globe, \u003ci\u003eGrounding the Cloud\u003c\/i\u003e analyzes the often-hidden infrastructures that facilitate platform capitalism – from the mines extracting rare earth minerals in remote regions to the vast global network of fiber-optic cables at the bottom of the oceans to the nondescript data centers that sit on the peripheries of major urban areas. Meanwhile, with compelling examples of smart-city initiatives and corporate campuses, Fard shows how the future of urbanism is deeply intertwined with the growing economies of data extraction.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBreaking down the myth of a clean and efficient tech urbanism, this book makes visible the complex material geographies and geopolitics that undergird today's most powerful and omnipresent corporations. A timely critique of the growing agency of tech platforms in determining the future of urban space, \u003ci\u003eGrounding the Cloud\u003c\/i\u003e offers an essential framework for understanding the shifting relationship between technology and urbanization.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eRetail e-book files for this title are screen-reader friendly with images accompanied by short alt text and\/or extended descriptions.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"University of Minnesota Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Product","offer_id":57459780616536,"sku":"9781517919603","price":108.99,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"url":"https:\/\/agendabookshop.com\/products\/grounding-the-cloud-1","provider":"Agenda Bookshop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}