Who Powers The Internet?

Google may be the one of the most familiar faces of the internet, but who really powers the internet underneath it all?

Google is the world’s biggest search engine. It is also one of the largest internet browsing providers, with over 60% of global internet users using its Chrome browser.

Windows is also big in the game, having launched bing.com, its own search engine, and of course, Internet Explorer, and now Microsoft Edge as internet browsers preinstalled on every Windows PC or laptop.

Apple, one of the world’s most valuable companies, is also a long contender in the internet browser game, with its Safari preinstalled on all of its iPhones (and there are a whole lot of these) and its Mac PCs. It seems, though, that it was too late to the party in trying to launch its own search engine.

However, whilst all of these companies have some part in delivering on the experience of our internet use, it is Jeff Bezos’ Amazon which, underneath, actually powers most of the internet.

But I thought Amazon sells stuff in those cardboard boxes that get thrown on my doorstep?

Amazon is not just that place you go to buy last-minute Christmas presents with its famous Prime one-day delivery. Nor is it just the place to stream your favourite TV shows and films, such as the newest spin-off of Lord of the Rings,The Rings of Power, with its eye-watering $700+ million budget.

All of these things make up its retail business (Amazon.com) and this is only one (actually relatively small) part of its overarching business, aptly and confusingly also named Amazon.

‘Amazon powers nearly one third of the internet’

Jeff Bezos actually made most of his money through another subsidiary to his Amazon group, AWS (Amazon Web Services) – this is the subsidiary company that powers nearly one third of the entire internet. Powering the internet is big business (unsurprisingly), and therefore AWS accounts for over 60% of Amazon’s total profits. Its retail business meanwhile brings in only around 30%.

So what is AWS?

AWS is a cloud service, meaning it runs hundreds of thousands of servers (large computers that are operating systems for the internet). These servers it then sells (or rather rents) to other companies.

For instance, Netflix pays Amazon to store and allow you to stream its shows on the internet. Not only this, it also uses AWS for its machine learning capabilities – machine learning is the stuff that allows Netflix to ‘learn’ what you like and recommend shows based on what you just watched.

Its not just Netflix though: companies like Facebook, Twitch, LinkedIn, the BBC, Twitter, and even NASA and the US Department of Health all pay Amazon for use of its web services.

Currently, Amazon have something of a monopoly on this sector – this is all because they were quite simply there first.

Is powering the web the same as owning it?

The simple answer to this is no. Whilst Amazon may power a lot of the internet, it is not the only cloud service company in the mix competing for customers. Google and Microsoft are also in the running, along with many others trying to gain a bigger share of the cloud computing market.

Cloud web services are also only one part of the internet. The internet existed well there is a lot of glue. The problem is, they aren’t designed to be opened. Like much technology today, they are designed not to be repaired. Yes, it’s stupid, and yes, it needs to change.

So, beneath my AirPods and their shiny white allure, is there just a ton of glue and some shoddy design?

Of course, this is not just a problem in the world of earbuds, it is a wider problem in the world of tech as a whole. You could argue your alternative-indie old-school wired-earphone wearer is still a victim, after all, how do you repair or recycle wired earbuds either? The issue of planned obsolescence and electronic waste spans almost all electronics sold today. It is one of the most pressing issues of our time and it’s tiring to see how companies get away with still manufacturing these products for mass market, alongside some dodgy ethical practices and, quite simply, lack of creative ambition to create tech that can be disassembled and recycled. There is a need for a new generation to see beyond the goal of increasing profit margins, establishing trends, and forcing everyday people like you and me to keep buying gluey products with falsely clean, sleek branding. We need tech entrepreneurs who will truly make something new – everyday technology that is designed with strong ethics and erasure of waste at its core.

Daniel Gordon-Potts

before Amazon started its web services in the 2000s. The internet is also crucially comprised of that ‘world wide web’ of physical infrastructure – cables making up astonishingly complex physical networks, crossing boarders under oceans and bouncing from satellites.

As well as this, the makers of your devices that allow you to access the internet in the first place also have a share in owning the internet – after all, without them building the hardware such as your phones and laptops, you wouldn’t be able to access the internet.

Arguably, your web browser and search engine providers are just as much ‘owners’ of the internet as a company like Amazon too. Any site that allows you to ‘create’ data on it also arguably own the data you make on their sites (e.g. Instagram owns your data and sells it to other companies for targeted advertising services). Therefore there is, embedded within the internet, a sort of decentralised-ness that is impossible to completely dismantle. Nobody can own the internet.

However, this doesn’t stop it from being fascinating that one company has such a big role in powering the internet we use today, and that company can also sell you groceries and deliver a last-minute present to your doorstep within 24 hours.

Bagging Bargain Books: A 3-Part Help Guide

If you’ve done all three on the following checklist, congratulations, you’ve achieved full bookworm status:

1. Spent a fortune on that pristine copy of the book you really want?

2. Bought that gazillionth book that hasn’t even been added to your never-ending reading list… yet you’ve somehow become instantly emotionally attached to it?

3. I shouldn’t judge a book by its cover - that would make me so shallow, but that front cover’s immaculate. I need it. Why? Don’t ask.

You might be a bookworm, but it’s a financial investment, so chances are you’re a broke bookworm if, like me, you’re a student. Rising prices are defining our lives, so I want to dedicate this guide to those who need tips for saving money on book-buying. It’s an area that may not be obvious - like those sneaky Nisa trips, where £2 a day surely can’t hurt the old bank account. Though when you buy often enough, learning how to bag a bargain is vital.

I. Romanticism in a bookstore: the wicked ‘W’ word