Cloud Computing on the Horizon
by Brent Haeseker on 17/09/09 at 2:35 am
The sun is rising to light up the skies of cloud computing. And it looks like Google Chrome OS.
Cloud computing is on the horizon. And despite the jargony term, it’s more familiar than you think.
“Cloud computing”, you ask?
Well, you could consider this blog article cloud computing. Although you see the article on your screen and you are reading these words, this article doesn’t exist on your computer – unless you purposely copied it to your computer or are reading it from your computer cache. No, it exists on a server… somewhere… heck, I don’t even know where. And really, that is the case with all websites – you are pulling up website that exist somewhere… out there… in the CLOUD.
“So if the internet can be consider the CLOUD, then what’s the big deal about cloud computing? We’ve been on the internet for years.”
Yes, but we are still grounded by our interface – hardware and software that makes that fluffy internet accessible. However, more and more of the software and content has already been slowly moving to the cloud.
Who here uses Outlook or Outlook Express to view their email? Or are you using Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, or some other online service? More and more of us are utilizing web-based email. Instead of using a piece of software (Outlook) that we paid for and installed on our computer to access emails that get downloaded to our computers, we have webmail where we setup a free account and view all our email online. And it stays online – forever (in theory, anyway).
“Ok, I’ve been using Gmail for years – I’m a cloud computing expert”, you say.
Well, you may be – I’m not here to judge – but we’re still left with hardware. You know, that big box with the hard drives and the OS installed.
“But I’m on a netbook”, you respond.
Ok, you sipping the expresso, take your rain cloud computing over there please, before somebody gets wet. But, um, leave the expresso please. Oh, and we’ll get back to you in a moment.
So now that I have hopefully lifted the… well the cloud on cloud computing, you are probably thinking that it seems pretty familiar after all. But if we’re not entirely there, then what is the next step?
Actually, Google is.
You see, back in July they annouced a new operating system that they are currently developing, Chrome OS. Now, it had long been rumored that Google might jump into the operating system wars that is currently dominated by Microsoft Windows and Apple OS X, but this OS won’t run on your hardware – it will exist in the cloud.
“But how?”
Well, again, all those servers that house your Gmail, your Google Docs and Picasa photos will also house your Chrome OS. And that also long rumored Google GDrive, well most predict that when Chrome OS deputs it will do so with GDrive as the online storage solution for everything you do via Chrome OS.
Now, you just need a basic device that has an internet connection and the Google Chrome browser. No spec’d out processor, no multi TerraByte hard drives, no maxxing out on RAM cards, no OS. Oh, and here is where you netbookers can join us again – you’re actually the first primary market Google will tap. But they’ll want some of you expresso in return – they love Caffeine.
As excited as I get by the concept, there are definitely pros and cons to cloud computing. First off, it is dependent on the internet and the internet’s bandwidth and availability. Where I live, I can only get high speed internet via satellite. If you have never had satellite internet, be thankful. And believe it or not, a decent percentage of internet users are still using dial-up. I don’t see power users like those that do graphic design, video editing and 3D modeling to be on a cloud computer anytime soon, but for the casual and business user, it just might do. After all, Google Docs and Gmail is proving that business can be done online without Microsoft Office and Picasa and Youtube can be used to manage large media files. And having all that content available wherever you have an internet connection is tempting.
Although we have probably hit a point already where we have the best of both worlds – powerful local hardware with unlimited cloud-based applications already online – the simplisity and affordability of cloud computing mixed with the clout of a name like Google, could make total cloud computing mainstream.
