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To the Cloud: Big Data in a Turbulent World
In the wake of revelations about National Security Agency activities many of which occur in the cloud this book offers both enlightenment and a critical view. Cloud computing and big data are arguably the most significant forces in information technology today. In clear prose, "To the Cloud" explores where the cloud originated, what it means, and how important it is for business, government, and citizens. It describes the intense competition among cloud companies like Amazon and Google, the spread of the cloud to government agencies like the controversial NSA, and the astounding growth of entire cloud cities in China. From advertising to trade shows, the cloud and big data are furiously marketed to the world, even as dark clouds loom over environmental, privacy, and employment issues that arise from the cloud. Is the cloud the long-promised information utility that will solve many of the world s economic and social problems? Or is it just marketing hype? "To the Cloud" provides the first thorough analysis of the potential and the problems of a technology that may very well disrupt the world.
- GenresTechnologyScience
284 pages, Paperback
First published May 1, 2014
4 people are currently reading
52 people want to read
About the author
Vincent Mosco
33 books10 followersVincent Mosco (Ph.D. Harvard) is Professor Emeritus of Sociology at Queen's University and Distinguished Professor of Communication, New Media Centre, Fudan University, Shanghai. At Queen's, Dr. Mosco held the Canada Research Chair in Communication and Society. His research interests include the political economy of communication, the social impacts of information technology, and the future of cities.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
September 1, 2019
Q:
For some, the new visionary is the data scientist who magically conjures truth from mountains of seemingly unrelated information. According to one observer, “big data has created a mythical god called the data scientist: a lone-wolf, super-smart human with a solid foundation in computer science, modeling, statistics, analytics, math, and strong business acumen, coupled with the ability to communicate findings to both business and IT leaders in a way that can influence how an organization approaches a business challenge” (Walker 2013). One observer sees the data scientist as the successor to the iconic “Mad Men” of advertising (Steel 2012a). Myths matter. In this case the emergence of the data scientist as the latest mythical god is having a significant impact on higher education, where universities are scrambling to produce programs to train aspirants for what the Harvard Business Review, no stranger to hyperbolic excess, calls “the sexiest job in the 21st century” (Miller 2013). Despite budget constraints created in part by failed programs inspired by the dot-com bubble of the late 1990s and the financial bubble that greeted the new century, dozens of new programs have emerged at every level of higher education. Even the usually subdued New York Times has caught the fever. Declaring data scientists “the magicians of the Big Data era,” the newspaper describes their many talents: “They crunch the data, use mathematical models to analyze it and create narratives or visualizations to explain it, then suggest how to use the information to make decisions” (ibid.). It is uncertain whether they can also bring home the bacon and fry it up in a pan, but the Times is satisfied to transmit, with no critical reflection, a promotional report by McKinsey that forecasts the millions of jobs that the demand for data scientists will create. It is remarkable that after the disastrous economic catastrophes brought about by nearrapturous faith in the IT of the late 1990s, and in the big-data algorithms that helped bring the West to the brink of a new Great Depression in 2008, educators continue to chase after
the next new fad. This time will be different. Myths matter. (c)
For some, the new visionary is the data scientist who magically conjures truth from mountains of seemingly unrelated information. According to one observer, “big data has created a mythical god called the data scientist: a lone-wolf, super-smart human with a solid foundation in computer science, modeling, statistics, analytics, math, and strong business acumen, coupled with the ability to communicate findings to both business and IT leaders in a way that can influence how an organization approaches a business challenge” (Walker 2013). One observer sees the data scientist as the successor to the iconic “Mad Men” of advertising (Steel 2012a). Myths matter. In this case the emergence of the data scientist as the latest mythical god is having a significant impact on higher education, where universities are scrambling to produce programs to train aspirants for what the Harvard Business Review, no stranger to hyperbolic excess, calls “the sexiest job in the 21st century” (Miller 2013). Despite budget constraints created in part by failed programs inspired by the dot-com bubble of the late 1990s and the financial bubble that greeted the new century, dozens of new programs have emerged at every level of higher education. Even the usually subdued New York Times has caught the fever. Declaring data scientists “the magicians of the Big Data era,” the newspaper describes their many talents: “They crunch the data, use mathematical models to analyze it and create narratives or visualizations to explain it, then suggest how to use the information to make decisions” (ibid.). It is uncertain whether they can also bring home the bacon and fry it up in a pan, but the Times is satisfied to transmit, with no critical reflection, a promotional report by McKinsey that forecasts the millions of jobs that the demand for data scientists will create. It is remarkable that after the disastrous economic catastrophes brought about by nearrapturous faith in the IT of the late 1990s, and in the big-data algorithms that helped bring the West to the brink of a new Great Depression in 2008, educators continue to chase after
the next new fad. This time will be different. Myths matter. (c)
June 24, 2019
This is a coincidental find when I was looking at programming books in the library. I immediately took interest in it because I had just recently used cloud computing, specially AWS, for a class project, and the click and deploy mechanism led me to wonder how it works under the hood. The book gave me more than what I was looking for originally, but I’m glad that I’ve been given different perspectives to assess my own relationship with the nature and technology.
January 14, 2026
relevant and interesting. good mirroring to big data in the age of AI
October 10, 2015
“To the Cloud” is a remarkable achievement. In only 226 pages, Prof. Mosco explains virtually every implication of the move to cloud technology. Based on wide and painstaking research, he shows, in succinct fashion, how the cloud fits into the development of information technology (including some failed early attempts), and deflates the hype that inevitably surrounds the “next big thing.” Pretty much every facet you can think of gets clear and thorough treatment: growth and consolidation of the industry, environmental impacts, effects on employment patterns, governmental involvement, changes to behavioral and other social science research, and cultural transformations. This is the one indispensible book about the cloud we all live in now.
January 1, 2016
This book almost went on my "dear god, I hated this book" shelf, but after an in-class discussion about it I have a better opinion of it. This morning it would have been one star, but my classmates made me appreciate some aspects of it, so I gave it two stars. The book was really more about philosophizing in a meandering way than I prefer. It felt purposeless to me, but I suppose if your purpose is just to spur your thinking about this topic then it is the book for you.
February 13, 2015
Quite disturbing. A brilliant expose of the downside of the cloud, or as he puts it, the 'dark cloud': privacy, security and environmental health are all profoundly compromised by this move to the cloud.Recommended.
May 12, 2015
interesting
December 17, 2015
Everything you wanted to know and more about the cloud
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews