The speed bump metaphor is brilliant. It makes the invisible power of material objects painfully obvious. The Robert Moses example gets at something uncomfortable: design isn't neutral. Every infrastructure choice is a political choice, and most of the time we're unaware we're even making them. The point about data needing to pass through US jurisdictions hits hard.
The “Cloud” is not ethereal it’s concrete, wired, and controlled. Philosophy reminds us: objects shape power as much as people do. True freedom begins when we stop staring at screens and start seeing the wires.
Really interesting piece guys, thanks!
The speed bump metaphor is brilliant. It makes the invisible power of material objects painfully obvious. The Robert Moses example gets at something uncomfortable: design isn't neutral. Every infrastructure choice is a political choice, and most of the time we're unaware we're even making them. The point about data needing to pass through US jurisdictions hits hard.
I teach my students this very thing. Metaphors are powerful things.
The “Cloud” is not ethereal it’s concrete, wired, and controlled. Philosophy reminds us: objects shape power as much as people do. True freedom begins when we stop staring at screens and start seeing the wires.