There are as many definitions of cloud computing as people who venture them. Some include software as a service in the mix; others describe it strictly as the infrastructure portion of things. I subscribe to the one that is simplest as an end user and consumer: Cloud computing is any processing provided to me by a third party over the net. Period.
Why can I be so bold as to disregard all other definitions? Because cloud computing is neither a discipline nor a science, there is no regulation for it, no union for cloud workers, no nothing. Cloud computing is a concept and a buzzword in the full extent of its definition. Companies are already using it to show how fashionable and up to date they are and I’m sure soon men will use it in pick up lines to dazzle girls: “You know baby… I cloud a lot.”
I love the possibilities of the cloud and understand the skeptics that find issue with the security of their critical data. I would not confide in any web cloud service to handle my sensitive info just yet. For now I keep my skeletons in the closet and my dollars under the mattress, but these fears are part cultural barrier part sensible lack of faith in a new model that still needs adjustment: Did you ever read the terms and conditions for any of these services?
Some stuff I do in cloud city:
- My blog is hosted at WordPress.com.
- My blog’s e-mail is hosted at Google via Google Apps.
- I use Google spreadsheets, documents and sites to collaborate with co-workers.
- I backup non sensitive information in my online backup service (yes, in case you are wondering, there is porn among that)
Those are just a few. I do a lot more. I cloud baby.
I would like to play the divination game for a while and venture some changes I believe will happen in one of my favorite areas: Music.
Michael Jackson’s Thriller is the best selling album of all times. It sold more than one hundred million copies worldwide. I’m sure those sales came in an array of formats: vinyl records, compact discs, cassette tapes and possibly more, but let’s just say, for the sake of argument that all those were CDs. That assumption results in 100M plastic cases, 100M booklets, 100M CDs, etc.
Think of all the effort, environmental strains and elevated costs for such a distribution model when all you need is a single copy in a server (purists are welcome to add all the mirroring they want, the overall idea remains) to be accessed by 100M people instead. Would Mohammad go to the mountain if the mountain had wheels?
Nowadays you pay for downloading the song and basically for the right to listen to the song as many times as you want. The important thing, however, is the latter, because coupling that with a song stored in the cloud, you will be able to listen to that song wherever you want: your home computer, your office computer, your car stereo with wireless connection, etc. The present model is online shopping; my bet is the next model will be online shopping plus cloud storage.
I admit I like buying a CD in a brick and mortar shop, but I believe it’s purely a cultural thing. If recording music was invented today surely the distribution model would not be imprinting it in a piece of material, packaging it and delivering it, would it?
There is a very powerful piece by Nicholas Carr describing the dumbness produced by having all music in the universe available at whim. I seriously recommend you read it. I happen to agree with Nicholas, but I’m afraid the music industry is re-shaping to be something radically different and there is nothing we can do about that.
How long until you can do a jam session online with you playing the guitar in Argentina and the drummer and bass player in Australia?
How long until a wave widget for collaborative songwriting is created?
Let’s cloud baby, let’s cloud like vapor.
Shuje
On my next post I will uncover Michael Bay’s secret alchemy technique for turning everything into crap. While you wait, post your comments below or mail them to shuje@holoom.com
Cloud computing is (apart buzzword) possible on high speed lines.
And thats the main problem when you leave big cities. Speed. Or at least, usable speed. Google is always trying to attack that problem, having is own electromagnetic spectrum (or whatever its name is), or developing a new http protocol (SPDY, yes, you read speedy).
When you’ll have a internet speed as you can have on local LAN, then we can start talking about apps on cloud computing, or listen online music, or etc. for everyone.
Gabo, that problem will cease to exist in a few years. I’m doing futurology here, so I need to paint pretty pictures