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Cell Tower
Object Lessons is a series of short, beautifully designed books about the hidden lives of ordinary things.
Cropping up everywhere, whether steel latticework or tapered monopoles, encrusted with fiberglass antennas, cell towers raise up high into the air the communications equipment that channels our calls, texts, and downloads. For security reasons, their locations are never advertised. But it's our romantic notions of connectivity that hide them in plain sight. We want the network to be invisible, ethereal, and ubiquitous. The cell tower stands as a challenge to these desires.
Object Lessons is published in partnership with an essay series in the The Atlantic.
Cropping up everywhere, whether steel latticework or tapered monopoles, encrusted with fiberglass antennas, cell towers raise up high into the air the communications equipment that channels our calls, texts, and downloads. For security reasons, their locations are never advertised. But it's our romantic notions of connectivity that hide them in plain sight. We want the network to be invisible, ethereal, and ubiquitous. The cell tower stands as a challenge to these desires.
Object Lessons is published in partnership with an essay series in the The Atlantic.
- GenresNonfiction
160 pages, Paperback
Published March 19, 2020
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
September 13, 2021
More information that you could possibly want about cell phone towers!
I appreciate this book for having introduced me to the Tamil language superhero / giant monster film "2.0".
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_qOl_...
I appreciate this book for having introduced me to the Tamil language superhero / giant monster film "2.0".
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_qOl_...
July 10, 2021
As someone who works in the less-than-glamorous world of IT services and infrastructure, I'm exactly the right person to enjoy something like this. Cellular towers are the perfect example of an object that is utterly ubiquitous and totally ignorable, AND which are also at the nexus of our ever growing anxieties about technology, surveillance, and business interests.
But honestly...I thought this was very middling. Jones is a solid writer, but he seems more interested in just slightly teasing us with the many domains of our lives that cellphone towers touch, than with actually diving into any of those areas in a sustained way. I honestly was hoping for something either more technical or, failing that...much more batshit and gonzo.
Obviously, a short pocket book like this is not the ideal place to dive into those concerns, but I still found myself wishing for a deeper, more critical analysis. I think I need to read some of the other entries in this series to see how other writers handle their respective objects.
But honestly...I thought this was very middling. Jones is a solid writer, but he seems more interested in just slightly teasing us with the many domains of our lives that cellphone towers touch, than with actually diving into any of those areas in a sustained way. I honestly was hoping for something either more technical or, failing that...much more batshit and gonzo.
Obviously, a short pocket book like this is not the ideal place to dive into those concerns, but I still found myself wishing for a deeper, more critical analysis. I think I need to read some of the other entries in this series to see how other writers handle their respective objects.
January 30, 2024
Although more like a long-form article than a full-fledged book, this is an excellent primer on cell towers, something I've spent more time reconnoitering than most folks (thanks to my dad's vocation as a cellular engineer).
A quote that struck me the most was: “…each cell tower stands as a reminder of the scaffolding needed to support the illusion of totally wireless communications.”
A quote that struck me the most was: “…each cell tower stands as a reminder of the scaffolding needed to support the illusion of totally wireless communications.”
March 27, 2020
Wow! Thanks for pointing out the cell towers. Reading this book has made me look for them (and ponder them) wherever I go. And thanks for all the fun facts to know about cell towers - the accessible lessons on science, philosophy, architecture. I don't want to spoil anyone's read of this little book in the Bloomsbury Object Lessons series, so I won't provide details here. But I did like the mention of the Unitarian church in Massachusetts. There were places where I had to stop reading and just think to myself "I like how he writes." And the notes. I couldn't help it; I looked at all the notes.
Upon later reflection - after reading this book, I started thinking about what may have been my first "object lesson" book (long before Bloomsbury began this series) - Oranges, by John McPhee (1967), which I read in the 1980s. I think that was the first nonfiction book I read that was pure pleasure.
Upon later reflection - after reading this book, I started thinking about what may have been my first "object lesson" book (long before Bloomsbury began this series) - Oranges, by John McPhee (1967), which I read in the 1980s. I think that was the first nonfiction book I read that was pure pleasure.
June 13, 2021
An extended essay on the aesthetics, precursors, and significance of cell phone towers. The observations were not especially profound, and I would have enjoyed a bit more on the technical aspects. The text is brief, enjoyable...and delightfully free of Freudianisms!
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews