Cloud computing is ubiquitous and behind the scenes it’s powering technological innovation in areas like artificial intelligence and gaming, among others. This week’s presentation for members breaks down the fast-growing cloud services industry, explaining the different offerings from infrastructure to software-as-a-service and charting the growth of leaders like Amazon, Microsoft, and Alibaba.
Cloud computing isn’t just advancing technology—it’s changing the competitive landscape for businesses in every industry. Smaller, younger firms are the most likely to adopt cloud computing and that ability to outsource IT and scale as needed is helping them compete with larger rivals.
But the opposite is true of the cloud services industry itself. It’s dominated by a handful of giant companies and likely to stay that way, Quartz’s Dasia Moore reports. Even as cloud technology changes and customers’ needs evolve, the scale of incumbents will deter anyone without incredibly deep pockets.
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YOUR FAVORITE BOOKS (AND SOME OF OURS)
Last Friday, we asked, What book had the biggest impact on you in 2019? The responses are all worth checking out—or, add your own—but here a few notable recommendations from Quartz members and staff:
Permanent Record by Edward Snowden: “One can like the guy or not, criticize what he has done and disagree, but if you’d like to better understand why he has done it, what kind of person he is, what drives him – and actually learn something more about modern technology, just read his book.”- Olga, Corporate Audit at Cargill
Exhalation by Ted Chiang: “A collection of sci-fi short stories. If you’re the kind of person who a) reads Quartz and b) looks at strangers’ book recommendations on the internet, you’re going to absolutely love it.”- Edward, Mechanical/Aerospace Engineering Undergrad at Boston University
The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson: “It’s about the Great Migration of African Americans out of the American South, and it should be required reading for every American” Susan, News Editor at Quartz
When Brooklyn Was Queer by Hugh Ryan: “Ryan spent years digging…to pull together the untold history of a place and a people. In this time where we think of all information as a Google search away, it’s a reminder that so much doesn’t exist on the web.” Najva, Head of Community Strategy at Quartz
A YEAR OF REPORTING ON STROKE
Over the past year, Quartz editor Oliver Staley has been reporting on an under-covered and under-researched disease that affects millions of people around the world every year: stroke. Most recently, he traveled to Zambia, a country where stroke is a leading killer but which has no native-born neurologists to treat it. The project, supported by the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting and by your membership, grew out of a nagging question Oliver had covering the pharmaceutical industry: why were so many pharma companies abandoning stroke research? Here are a few of Oliver’s stories:
- The future of stroke patients may depend on the part-time job of a Canadian surgeon
- Zambia has 17 million people, a stroke epidemic, and no neurologists
- Aspirin can help stem the tide of stroke. Why aren’t more doctors prescribing it?
- Your family may be keeping you from getting to the hospital in time
With best wishes for a relaxing and thought-filled weekend.
Walter Frick
Membership editor, Quartz