Telecommunications systems illustrate another point, which is that we can be directly responsible for energy usage even if we never directly observe or control it. When I watch a movie on a streaming service, the electricity that powers the display and my Internet router—the electricity usage that shows up on my utility bill—is only part of the

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I believe the common prevailing metaphor—the internet as cloud—is problematic. The internet is not one all-encompassing, mysterious, and untouchable thing. (In early patent drawings depicting the internet, it appears as related shapes: a blob, brain, or explosion.) These metaphors obfuscate the reality that the internet is made up of individual... See more