I'm with Vulcan and Art Prout as to the real "purpose" of all these data centers.
Some years ago, I made a comment to a friend: I told him that I really enjoyed the computers I have (all Macs), but that it would be "computers and computing" that made a real-world version of Orwell's 1984 possible.
And so it goes. Look around -- you don't have to look far -- and there's a flock camera looking back. Or it might be somebody else's camera, not flock. Could be the government's camera, or could be private surveillance (that the govt. could requisition). Shot-stoppers "listening". Hey, I'll bet the computer you're using has a camera that could be watching (mine doesn't). Or your phone, just have it on, and they can track you. I think they can even track you with the phone OFF. (I don't have a smart phone)
Another friend just told me at lunch together a few days ago how the utiliity company forced everyone to install "smart meters" for their electricity. No smart meter here (my house still has knob-and-tube wiring!).
And he mentioned the increasing electronic monitoring that's going into cars and trucks these days. How long before there's an internal camera in your car, watching?
Aside:
Back when I was running trains, the only camera on the engine was "forward facing", recording the track ahead. But now, engine cabs have INTERIOR cameras that are trained on the engineer all the time. How'd YOU like to work that way?
A Fishrrman "there he goes on a tangent again™" prediction:
I think we'll see two futures for the data center boom:
1. ten years from now, a good number of them may be shut down, for lack of return on investment.
or
2. when the war between the red and the blue begins, these places will be the first to be blown up.
How does that hit ya...?
