From the Computer Utility to Cloud Computing - To the Cloud: Big Data in a Turbulent World - page 60

Developments like these lead some to wonder whether we are soon
to face the problem of monopoly market domination that once led the
government to intervene against the power of Standard Oil, IBM, and
AT&T. Some have maintained that it was government pressure on IBM,
even as it dropped the thirteen-year-old case in 1982, that led the company
to unbundle its software from the hardware portion of the business and
thereby advance the massive growth of the U.S. information-technology
industry. Furthermore, it was likely that the breakup of AT&T around
that same time helped make the Internet possible. In addition, the gov-
ernment's 1990s case against Microsoft, which had suffocated innova-
tive companies like Netscape, made it considerably easier for Google and
Facebook to appear (Fox 2013).
Not everyone agrees with the view that an oligopoly or a cartel is about
to be born. Some maintain that, even with continuous price cuts, Amazon
will face stiff competition from within and outside the major cloud provid-
ers, including from small innovative companies. There are also concerns
about Apple's ability to enjoy elite status in the cloud. Analysts point to
the dificulty the company has experienced in making its bedrock iTunes
service meet the promise of seamless integration and synchronicity across
platforms. Moreover, the company has not expanded its services with
offerings that have earned Google and Microsoft the reputation of general
cloud-server companies. Also, while everyone agrees that Microsoft has
succeeded in building on its success in business services as it has moved
to the cloud, doubters wonder whether Windows 8 and SkyDrive will
succeed in creating a major cloud-computing presence in the consumer
market ( Cloud Tweaks 2012). Some also insist that many companies,
seemingly beaten by the new Big Four (or Five, if you include Apple),
have the capacity to ight back and are beginning to do so. These include
big broadcasters who have seen their audiences diminish in the expan-
sion of digital social media. According to one analyst, “But as more and
more Internet-connected smart televisions ind their ways into people's
homes, broadcasters see a new opportunity to remain at the center of the
global ad industry” (Steel 2012b). They can do so partly because the new
wave of Internet-connected televisions permits broadcasters like CBS to
sell new forms of advertising to direct marketers who do not typically
purchase commercial advertising because they focus on coupons, search
ads, and direct marketing. Internet-enabled television receivers permit