"How much money have you spent on the air you breathe? Air? Yes, air! We store all resources -movies, music, literature, and our own precious creations - in a metaphorical cloud that holds binary 0/1s. But the binary is a misconception, there is no cloud."
"Inhale: In an earlier time, transmission towers and antennas brought news, sitcoms, and (second-run) movies into our homes, for free. Exhale now: Entertainment streaming services carry ever-increasing subscription costs. In reality, those "zeros and ones" are blips and bleeps, and those blips and bleeps are electricity, and that electricity is not in a billowing cumulus cloud because those electromagnetic waves are all around us - in the air we breathe."
"And we are made to bow down to the mighty tech lords who demand more and more tithe for pulsations that course through the air we breathe."
Over-the-air transmission once delivered news, sitcoms, and movies via towers and antennas for free. Streaming services have replaced broadcast models with subscription access and rising consumer costs. The metaphor of a "cloud" obscures the physical fact that digital media are electrical signals transmitted as electromagnetic waves through the air. Personal music libraries and other collections have shifted from owned artifacts to rented access controlled by platforms. Tech companies monetize continuous delivery of content and exert increasing control over access, reframing cultural artifacts as ongoing services rather than possessions.
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