What is “the cloud”? Although most people interact with it daily through their phones and computers, this is a question few consider. Most of us take for granted where we send our photos and documents, and where they come from when summoned. But perhaps we should. This is the premise of A Prehistory of the Cloud, in which author Tung-Hui Hu reveals the contradictions and cultural implications of ubiquitous data networks. While the distributed nature of the cloud promises freedom and free services, Hu argues that it is a territorial manifestation and an extension of real-world power and politics. Ubiquitous, nebulous, and paranoid, the cloud is the shape of things here and now and, perhaps, of things to come. The book offers a thought-provoking and critical perspective on the condition of media in the postdigital age.

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