Data Centers

This book is a broad-reaching anthology of essays and photography about the history and culture of digital data and Switzerland. The essays are varied, from a history of Swiss-Chinese relations in data centres to an essay about destruction of hard drives to keep data secure. Each is well outlined and goes into depth on the specific topic. The photographs are simultaneously stimulating, giving a deep dive into the bizarre centre for supercomputing in the Swiss mountains or the stomach-churning walls of CPUs used in a blockchain currency mining facility.



The book design is also really nice, although a couple of the essays suffer from some very poor information graphics that are misleading and hard to read. A couple of the essays were a little inaccessible, perhaps down to translation issues, but overall they were enjoyable and varied, and offered a cultural archaeology of data in a unique and enjoyable format.