The technology industry is captivated by titans fighting over voice-activated home speakers. The war among Amazon, Google and Apple is technology's newest frontier, but it's also pretty small potatoes. People might spend a few billion dollars this year on computer-assisted speakers such as the Amazon Echo, based on forecasts from research firm Parks Associates.

The big-ticket fight on the tech frontier is happening not in happy homes bathed in WiFi but in the cold, warehouse-sized buildings that house rows upon rows of computer equipment that function as the invisible locomotive of the internet. About $1 trillion will be spent in 2017 on this and other gear typically purchased by corporations and governments. (Yes, you read that stunning figure correctly.)

From the article "Forget Speakers. Big Money Competes in Servers." by Shira Ovide.