Tubes: A Journey to the Center of the Internet Audiobook

" A really promising book in its notion of situating the virtual in the physical world...ultimately fails to deliver on this promise by overloading its narrative with geek histrivia. Better to leave all the should-be-famous network engineers out of the story and concentrate on the map that's getting drawn... "

" I had more difficulty getting through this book than expected. There were parts that were fascinating and made me want to get to Amsterdam and Cornwall as soon as possible, and then there were parts that I slogged through. Kind of like the internet, really. "

" Like many people, I don't think too much about the physical infrastructure of the Internet, so this book was enlightening in that aspect. I am glad it was relatively short - just long enough to get the needed details. If you aren't into technical details, you might be bored in places, but you can let some of those details wash over you and focus on the personalities and philosophizing. "

" Fun read. Enough hardware/infrastructure details for a geek to appreciate without being too dry. As other reviewers have noted it does come across as a bit too philosophizing - but in my opinion, it did not detract from the book. "

" Very well-written and lucid. Blum was careful to document his journey in great detail, which in retrospect was his objective. I was disappointed that the book was not more informative - I feel like I received only a very cursory glance at the subject matter. Easily readable, but I wish it had been a bit more difficult. "

" Great insight into the inner workings of the internet. Being a technical person myself I really found this book intersting "

" A premise that sounds so promising, yet somewhat undermined by the essential dullness of Internet infrastructure. The Trans-Continental Railroad it is not. My full review is available here. "

" The journey took to many detours "

" Interesting information is mixed in with meandering prose. Is the book supposed to inform, or is it an entry in a literary competition? I found myself finishing it just because I started it. "

" I'm really glad I know a bit more about where my data goes when it leaves my computer (or phone, or tablet, etc.). I don't think I will ever look at sending an email or visiting a website the same way again! "

" Could've been a great longform article, but was a book instead. "

" An interesting, well-written. well-edited (a rarity these days) book, with much interesting information, though perhaps a little light on the facts and more oriented to the author's impressions and vignettes of the physical aspects of the internet. Recommended for a fun, quick read. "

" The factual information was interesting, but the non stop poetic waxing about the physical geography of the internet got really old really quickly. I pretty much vowed I would not read any more articles this guy ever wrote. "

" Fun easy read. Learned some things but it felt padded, like a great magazine article gone wrong. Did make me fondly remember Neal Stephenson's wired article about Flag so that's a plus. "

" Loved it. I had a good idea of what the internet looks like, but never really thought about where it is. Tubes is a good story about both. "