LCA: Jacob Appelbaum on surveillance and censorship

There is something visceral about photographs that turn these abstract concepts into something real for a lot of people. Not just "here is a hypothetical risk" and "watch out for black helicopters" but "this is real, it represents an enormous investment, and here is proof".

Even when the facts and figures, even the designs, are readily available, its really the photographs that make it real for people. This is why no notable networking kit vendor sells products using datasheets without pictures of the gear— even though the pictures are mostly irrelevant since you'll hardly see it once installed.