3 ms·
It's unfortunate how hostile most sites and operators are to photos. So much computing history is simply lost due to that (and recycling).
by formerly_proven 3y ago
It's unfortunate how hostile most sites and operators are to photos. So much computing history is simply lost due to that (and recycling).
- wkat4242 3y agoThat's not really my experience and I used to walk around in a lot of datacenters. Nobody gives a crap about photos because there is nothing sensitive to actually see. Most of it is just really boring. Rows and rows of computers and other blinkylight stuff. In fact it's a lot more fascinating with the lights off. The hot and cold aisles are super annoying. Either freezing your ass off or sweating profusely. So are the double floors which people might have left open to become death traps. The noise is deafening. The air smells acrid. They're a terrible place for people. What was a lot cooler to visit were the old pulse-dialling relay-operated phone exchange buildings. In the dark it was like being stuck in a dark forest surrounded by a horde of angry killer crickets slowly inching closer to you. Especially because that stuff wasn't very heat-sensitive so it was eerily silent besides all the clicking. That's the kind of history I miss more than the datacenter. It was shit cool, especially when you would open the door and be in the middle of a bustling city. And nobody knew that magical forest was there. And the half-floors (intermediate half-height floors to route all the thick bundles of copper cables thick as sewer pipes). Really mysterious buildings.
- B1FF_PSUVM 3y agoI once visited one of those Strowger relay exchanges, but it was in the middle of the day, and it was clacking away like crazy. (Analog phone lines would complete a physical circuit between two phones - hence "circuit switching". With digital, we moved to "packet switching" - bundles of bits with headers, etc.)