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Formation of the Cloud: History, Metaphor, and Materiality Trevor D Croker Formation of the Cloud: History, Metaphor, and Materiality Trevor D Croker Dissertation submitted to the faculty of the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy In Science and Technology Studies Janet Abbate, Chair Daniel Breslau Saul Halfon Richard Hirsh November 14, 2019 Blacksburg, Virginia Keywords: cloud computing, material culture, infrastructure, internet studies Formation of the Cloud: History, Metaphor, and Materiality Trevor D Croker Abstract In this dissertation, I look at the history of cloud computing to demonstrate the entanglement of history, metaphor, and materiality. In telling this story, I argue that metaphors play a powerful role in how we imagine, construct, and maintain our technological futures. The cloud, as a metaphor in computing, works to simplify complexities in distributed networking infrastructures. The language and imagery of the cloud has been used as a tool that helps cloud providers shift public focus away from potentially important regulatory, environmental, and social questions while constructing a new computing marketplace. To address these topics, I contextualize the history of the cloud by looking back at the stories of utility computing (1960s-70s) and ubiquitous computing (1980s-1990s). These visions provide an alternative narrative about the design and regulation of new technological systems. Drawing upon these older metaphors of computing, I describe the early history of the cloud (1990-2008) in order to explore how this new vision of computing was imagined. I suggest that the metaphor of the cloud was not a historical inevitability. Rather, I argue that the social- construction of metaphors in computing can play a significant role in how the public thinks about, develops, and uses new technologies. In this research, I explore how the metaphor of the cloud underplays the impact of emerging large-scale computing infrastructures while at the same time slowly transforming traditional ownership-models in digital communications. Throughout the dissertation, I focus on the role of materiality in shaping digital technologies. I look at how the development of the cloud is tied to the establishment of cloud data centers and the deployment of global submarine data cables. Furthermore, I look at the materiality of the cloud by examining its impact on a local community (Los Angeles, CA). Throughout this research, I argue that the metaphor of the cloud often hides deeper socio-technical complexities. Both the materials and metaphor of the cloud work to make the system invisible. By looking at the material impact of the cloud, I demonstrate how these larger economic, social, and political realities are entangled in the story and metaphor of the cloud. Formation of the Cloud: History, Metaphor, and Materiality Trevor D Croker General Audience Abstract This dissertation tells the story of cloud computing by looking at the history of the cloud and then discussing the social and political implications of this history. I start by arguing that the cloud is connected to earlier visions of computing (specifically, utility computing and ubiquitous computing). By referencing these older histories, I argue that much of what we currently understand as cloud computing is actually connected to earlier debates and efforts to shape a computing future. Using the history of computing, I demonstrate the role that metaphor plays in the development of a technology. Using these earlier histories, I explain how cloud computing was coined in the 1990s and eventually became a dominant vision of computing in the late 2000s. Much of the research addresses how the metaphor of the cloud is used, the initial reaction to the idea of the cloud, and how the creation of the cloud did (or did not) borrow from older visions of computing. This research looks at which people use the cloud, how the cloud is marketed to different groups, and the challenges of conceptualizing this new distributed computing network. This dissertation gives particular weight to the materiality of the cloud. My research focuses on the cloud’s impact on data centers and submarine communication data cables. Additionally, I look at the impact of the cloud on a local community (Los Angeles, CA). Throughout this research, I argue that the metaphor of the cloud often hides deeper complexities. By looking at the material impact of the cloud, I demonstrate how larger economic, social, and political realities are entangled in the story and metaphor of the cloud. Dedication For Berenice Escalera. Thank you for walking by my side on this journey. iv Acknowledgements I owe many thanks to all of the people that offered their support, time, and energy as I completed this project. To all of my colleagues at the Department of Science, Technology, and Society at Virginia Tech, I am deeply grateful for the welcoming environment that you fostered and maintained. To my fellow classmates and professors, my education is richer because of your kind spirts. I wish to send a special thank you to my committee that helped foster my research and sharpen my arguments. In particular, my advisor Janet Abbate was a true supporter of my project and provided invaluable feedback and insight into the development of the dissertation and my own intellectual development. My committee – Daniel Breslau, Saul Halfon, Richard Hirsh – were not only a joy to work with on this project but were advocates throughout my entire graduate career. Finally, I want to sincerely thank my family for their support. Your love means everything. v Table of Contents Abstract……………………………………………………………………………………………ii General Audience Abstract……………………………………………………………………….iii Dedication………………………………………………………………………………………...iv Acknowledgements………………………………………………………………………………..v Table of Contents…………………………………………………………………………………vi Introduction………………………………………………………………………………………..1 Chapter 1…………………………………………………………………………………………10 Chapter 2…………………………………………………………………………………………33 Chapter 3…………………………………………………………………………………………48 Chapter 4…………………………………………………………………………………………65 Chapter 5…………………………………………………………………………………………85 Conclusion…………………………………………………….…………………………..……110 vi Introduction The Formation of a Cloud The Formation of the Cloud is a story about the creation of a new arrangement of computing technologies shaped upon much older visions of computing. This arrangement is called “cloud computing” and is currently the primary growth-area in contemporary networked computing. “The cloud” is a defining feature of the modern web and is the backbone for much of our digital infrastructure. In the majority of public accounts, the story of the cloud is framed as a new type of computing introduced in August 2006. Since 2006, nearly all of the web tech giants have shifted their platforms, users, and business models towards the development and growth of this new vision of computing. The development of the cloud, as presented, reads as the natural evolution of a new technology. This dissertation attempts to disrupt that deterministic narrative by exploring the history of cloud computing. Contrary to the dominant perception, the idea of the cloud was not invented in 2006. Rather, the notion of the cloud was formed over many decades from multiple visions of computing. These visions of computing are multiple, varied, and often at odds with one another. Two visions of computing in particular, utility computing and ubiquitous computing, have deeply shaped how the cloud is envisioned. Understanding the cloud today requires that we delve into these older histories of computing to see the roots of the cloud’s story. In addition to the historical unearthing of the cloud, this dissertation also seeks to unpack the cloud by looking at the role of metaphor. The metaphor of the cloud has been, and continues to be, a persistent literary tool in maintaining control over these new technologies. Metaphors are not simply decoration; they are ways of structuring meaning and giving order to systems. Metaphors can hide as much as they reveal. A critical account of the cloud needs to challenge the ease with which we have adopted the metaphor of the cloud. Likewise, the metaphor of the cloud needs to be set against the history of the idea. Often the adoption of a metaphor is uneven; parts of a technology’s history are ignored or overlooked. By reintroducing previous metaphors of computing into our current discussion of the cloud, we can start to reconcile historical imaginings with contemporary frameworks. The following chapters attempt to pull apart the cloud by looking at the material underpinnings of this new technological system. Underneath the metaphor are material bits that have been spread across the globe. The cloud lives inside data centers, in the cables that deliver information under our feet, and in the devices we carry. These are not immaterial objects; they are often massive infrastructure projects which carry a large amount of technological momentum. Slowly, new networked technologies are becoming enmeshed in, and dependent upon, this new material arrangement. This arrangement raises new social, political, and economic questions as broader society becomes more dependent upon this new era of the cloud. Any attempt to question the values embedded in these systems requires us to look at the actual materials of the cloud. Each story of the cloud is placed within the broader framework of Science and Technology Studies (STS). STS has a complex history, but one of the prevailing
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