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I was hoping for interior pictures so I could enjoy the filthy rat's nests. Instead I see someone has driven around and cataloged a target wishlist for someone

I was hoping for interior pictures so I could enjoy the filthy rat's nests. Instead I see someone has driven around and cataloged a target wishlist for someone who wants to take down communication infras- I mean cataloged very interesting sheds as a hobby. Seriously though, why was this made? The site claims a combination of historical preservation and eccentricity. That's believable. I just worry about its use.

zengargoyle 5y ago
Ditto. My $WORK had a 5ESS and a machine room and I've been in many a giga-POP. I wanted pictures from inside of the mix of just nice and rats-nest of cables.
massysett 5y ago
The same reason people collect stamps, or watch birds, or watch trains, or whatever. They like to learn, and they just find it interesting, and they like to share with others who do the same. No one will claim that this behavior has great utility beyond that, though certainly good hobbies are valuable ends in themselves. Also, I immediately noticed the site does not have a map and does not give addresses for these buildings.
- droidist2 5y ago
  It's easy enough already to find the addresses though. I don't see how this site could pose an additional threat.
fortran77 5y ago
Look at the beauty and care that many of the buildings show: http://www.co-buildings.com/ny/516/nassau_z5_hempstead.jpg http://www.co-buildings.com/ny/516/nassau_z5_hempstead.jpg The "Telephone Company" in its day took its job seriously. Nothing was slap-dash, not even the spaces where its equipment resided, and its telephone operators worked.
- jbledsoe2112 5y ago
  And the sad thing about that central office is that it used to house a ton of equipment. And toll operators. Now it's a packet switch. Probably taking up the back corner of the first floor.
EvanAnderson 5y ago
I appreciate the care taken "back in the day" to make COs fit in to their surroundings. A friend and I drove around Cincinnati looking at some of the old COs. The COs in Cincinnati, by and large, fit with the architecture of their neighborhoods. Many of them are architecturally interesting. http://www.co-buildings.com/oh/513/ http://www.co-buildings.com/oh/513/ I really appreciate that this site lets other people see them.

zengargoyle 5y ago

Ditto. My $WORK had a 5ESS and a machine room and I've been in many a giga-POP. I wanted pictures from inside of the mix of just nice and rats-nest of cables.

massysett 5y ago

The same reason people collect stamps, or watch birds, or watch trains, or whatever. They like to learn, and they just find it interesting, and they like to share with others who do the same. No one will claim that this behavior has great utility beyond that, though certainly good hobbies are valuable ends in themselves. Also, I immediately noticed the site does not have a map and does not give addresses for these buildings.

droidist2 5y ago
It's easy enough already to find the addresses though. I don't see how this site could pose an additional threat.

fortran77 5y ago

Look at the beauty and care that many of the buildings show: http://www.co-buildings.com/ny/516/nassau_z5_hempstead.jpg http://www.co-buildings.com/ny/516/nassau_z5_hempstead.jpg The "Telephone Company" in its day took its job seriously. Nothing was slap-dash, not even the spaces where its equipment resided, and its telephone operators worked.

jbledsoe2112 5y ago
And the sad thing about that central office is that it used to house a ton of equipment. And toll operators. Now it's a packet switch. Probably taking up the back corner of the first floor.

EvanAnderson 5y ago

I appreciate the care taken "back in the day" to make COs fit in to their surroundings. A friend and I drove around Cincinnati looking at some of the old COs. The COs in Cincinnati, by and large, fit with the architecture of their neighborhoods. Many of them are architecturally interesting. http://www.co-buildings.com/oh/513/ http://www.co-buildings.com/oh/513/ I really appreciate that this site lets other people see them.