AWS isn't a utility because utilities sell commodities for which you can switch to a competitor easily, as you're buying the same thing. There are companies selling similar products to AWS but none that sell AWS itself.
replyEarly utilities tend to not be built on standards. See how early electric utilities within a country or even a city couldn't agree on voltage, frequency, phase, or even AC vs DC.
replyThe fact that electricity was quickly commoditized does not guarantee that AWS will commoditize.
replyS3 is. But obviously not all of it.
replyStill, there is a difference of degree. The engineering cost of making one city's electrical grid compatible with the consumers of a different city's grid were much lower (even if one grid was AC and the other DC) than the engineering cost of moving from AWS to a competitor because electricity is not that complicated.
replyAlso, I doubt anyone was referring to electricity as a commodity in the early days before the industry developed standards.
Aws is closer to monopoly than to utility
replyA monopoly with at least 3 major competitors and which exists because it created a new thing, not because it controls a fixed shared resources.
replyMost utilities are monopolies.
replymost utilities are natural monopolies. The cost to run wires/pipes to my house are a significant portion of the cost to serving me, so you wouldn't run wires to my house in hopes that I buy from you later.
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