To the Cloud To B ig D ata the in a C loud Turbulent World Vincent Mosco Paradigm Publishers Boulder • London All rights reserved No part of this publication may be transmitted or reproduced in any media or form, including electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or informational storage and retrieval systems, without the express written consent of the publisher Copyright © 2014 by Paradigm Publishers Published in the United States by Paradigm Publishers, 5589 Arapahoe Avenue, Boulder, Colorado 80303 USA Paradigm Publishers is the trade name of Birkenkamp & Company, LLC, Dean Birkenkamp, President and Publisher Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Mosco, Vincent To the cloud : big data in a turbulent world / Vincent Mosco pages cm Includes bibliographical references and index ISBN 978-1-61205-615-9 (hardcover : alk paper) ISBN 978-1-61205-616-6 (pbk : alk paper) ISBN 978-1-61205-618-0 (consumer e-book) ISBN 978-1-61205-617-3 (library e-book) Cloud computing—Social aspects Big data—Social aspects Privacy, Right of I Title QA76.9.C66M663 2014 004.67'82—dc 2013046088 Printed and bound in the United States of America on acid-free paper that meets the standards of the American National Standard for Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials Designed and Typeset by Straight Creek Bookmakers 18 17 16 15 14 54321 With thanks to Louise Contents Acknowledgmentsix Chapter The Cloud Ate My Homework Chapter From the Computer Utility to Cloud Computing 15 Chapter Selling the Cloud Sublime 77 Chapter Dark Clouds 123 Chapter Big Data and Cloud Culture 175 Notes227 References231 Index261 About the Author 273 vii Acknowledgments As always, I am grateful for the ideas, criticism, and suggestions of Catherine McKercher, my partner in life and in research She helped make this a better book in more ways than I can count Most importantly, Cathy’s unconditional support and love are a continuing source of inspiration Dan Schiller has been a dear friend for thirty-five years We have met all over the world to provide the best help a friend can offer: constructive but candid assessments of each other’s work Shortly before starting to write this book, I met up with Dan in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and, after patiently hearing what I had in mind, he advised that I write a chapter on marketing the cloud I am not sure how he will find the execution of his recommendation in Chapter 3, but I am very grateful for his creative suggestion and for sharing research material that has strengthened the book Thanks also to Derek Morton for accompanying me on my search for the cloud in New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, where his photography helped me to reflect on Tomás Saraceno’s Cloud City long after we left the exhibition Derek was also kind to remember me when he came across material useful for the book When a Microsoft advertisement for cloud computing seemed to vanish from the Internet, Madeline Mosco tracked it down for me Thank you, Madeline I am always especially grateful when former students learn about a new book project and take the time to send me useful reports or just share their views Thank you, Rick Emrich, Pat Mazepa, Ian Nagy, and Alex ix x A cknowledgments Savulescu Likewise for current students I meet when lecturing on a topic like cloud computing In this case, special thanks to Adeel Khamisa of Carleton University, as well as Laima Janciute and Emma Agusita, whom I met at the University of Westminster, London Lecturing provides a great opportunity to try out ideas and encounter new ones I am grateful to Daniel Paré, who hosted a talk on cloud computing at the University of Ottawa; to Christian Fuchs, who organized my lecture at London’s University of Westminster; and to Aliaa Dakoury, who kindly invited me to deliver a keynote address to the annual conference of the Global Communication Association I would also like to thank the Canada Research Chairs Program and Queen’s University for providing research funding Finally, I am grateful to the many people who made their mark on my thinking over the past forty years of research and teaching on communication and information technology. ... Acknowledgmentsix Chapter The Cloud Ate My Homework Chapter From the Computer Utility to Cloud Computing 15 Chapter Selling the Cloud Sublime 77 Chapter Dark Clouds 123 Chapter Big Data and Cloud Culture... from the movement to use the cloud for large-scale data analysis—what has been called big data The chapter assesses the assumptions and components of big data, The Cloud Ate My Homework 11 including... President and Publisher Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Mosco, Vincent To the cloud : big data in a turbulent world / Vincent Mosco pages cm Includes bibliographical references