I’ve been itching to post on this for quite a while, but my problem with it is that I could make one monster posting on this topic. I’ll try to keep this short though. What’s this about? Cloud Computing!
Running right along side hot technologies like virtualization, online music/video subscriptions, and multi-core processors, cloud computing is an interesting concept that is starting to gain some serious momentum. It’s not really a new concept, but it’s something that’s becoming more visible because of the wide reach of the Internet.
What is Cloud Computing? Well, ya could click the link at the top of this posting, but I’ll give you a basic rundown. The idea behind it is that you are using an application or service that is not running locally on your computer. Your computer becomes simply a portal to use services that are accessible via the Internet…the “cloud”. You’re no longer tied down to a specific piece of hardware. You can access all of your services, software, and information from any Internet-connected device.
Many of you are already using cloud computing, and you don’t even know it. If go to gmail.com or mail.yahoo.com to get your email, you’re using cloud computing. You are getting your email without using a locally installed email client. You can access your email from your own computer, your work computer, a coffee shop computer, or a computer at your parent’s house….anywhere! That’s cloud computing. Being freed from the limitations of a single PC and getting all your “stuff” from anywhere by using remote services.
Email is one thing, and we all know and love that, but what’s starting to gain more momentum is things like office suites, file storage and sharing, photo sharing, and social networking. You used to have to purchase an expensive office suite for hundreds of dollars to be able to create documents or spreadsheets. And then, you were limited to only being able to use that license on one single computer…basically tethering you to that PC to do your work. With the introduction of Google Docs and Microsoft Office Live, you now have the ability to simply open up a web browser and point it at one of these services to be able to edit documents or spreadsheets.
Of course, there are limitations to what is available as far as features on these online versions of office suites, but it’s been shown that in general most people don’t use the majority of the advanced features available in high-priced office suites. The benefit of having your documents stored centrally in the cloud and accessible from wherever you’re at without a client application can easily out weigh the need for special features you may only use once in a while.
And it doesn’t stop at office suites. Cloud storage offers the ability for you to store more than just documents. There are plenty of services out there now that allow you to securely store files online, essentially taking the place of your USB thumb drive. You would never have to worry about losing your drive again because your files are stored in the cloud, accessible from anywhere. Microsoft is taking this one step further with their announcement of Microsoft Mesh, which offers an online Live Desktop where you can store files, share them with other people, sync them with mobile devices, and even get updates on changes made to files in the cloud by other people your collaborating with.
Online backup services, distributed processing, social networks, blogging, office applications, email, photo processing and storage…there are many services available to Internet users which promote the concept of using the vast compute resources of servers on the Internet to power the applications that you may have used on your local PC in the past. Most of the time we don’t even really know “where” these services are running from, nor do we care.
I think there’s a solid future for this concept and I’m jumping into it as much as possible (in fact, I’m actually writing this article from an Everex Cloudbook PC…how’s that for working from the Cloud). I haven’t installed an office suite on my laptop in almost 6 months now. I’ve been using web-based email for years, access all my IRC chat rooms via java clients, read all my RSS feeds via Google Reader, and utilize a number of other services and applications online now. It’s made maintaining my PC a lot easier. I no longer have to worry about patches for my office suite. I don’t have to worry about getting my POP/IMAP settings correct to get my email. Life is simpler in the cloud.
Technorati Tags: cloud computing, cloudbook, Google Docs, Microsoft Mesh, Microsoft Office Live, the cloud
I use Twitter, not a whole lot like Scoble or Calacanis, but enough. What is it though with people that over use the @ reply feature to the point that Twitter is no longer a microblogging tool for them…it’s a chat channel? I see it every day, and damn is it annoying. My friends feed is just littered with tons of meaningless @ replies to me because I’m not following everyone that is being @ replied to.
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