Are you living in the Technology Cloud? My hunch is that it will not be many more years before we all are.
So what is the Technology Cloud? First off, it’ usually just called The Cloud, and is basically another way of saying The Web. Why the name change? I am not really sure. Perhaps because The Web has historically been associated with computer accessibility, whereas it is now accessible via cellphones and other devices as well. No doubt there are other reasons for the name change, but who cares? The name is here and it is just something else we have to get accustomed to.
I recently mentioned my venturing into storing some of my data “in the cloud.” But there is so much more. For example, just in some of the recent news, TechCrunch had an article about yet another online ToDo list and one on the top 10 productivity apps for FaceBook. And, LifeHacker has its list of FaceBook productivity apps. And many of you are no doubt using online applications such as Remember The Milk and Google Apps. One thing I really like about Google Docs is that you can make a document available for collaboration with partners, if desired.
We currently live in what is called Web 2.0, which is conversation-oriented. Google CEO Eric Schmidt recently stated that Web 3.0 will be more data and application oriented, with applications often living in The Cloud with the data:
Bernard Lunn of Read/Write Web has an interesting article on “Who Will Be Your Web Office Provider?” … I think he lays out the key players pretty well. While Google may be on top right now with Google Apps, I am not sure they will keep the lead: Amazon has the potential to rise to the top in this area. For one they have an impeccable reputation for data security. And, they also have a very good reputation for customer service.
After tinkering a bit with FaceBook, I can see that it is accelerating us toward the model Dr Schmidt described. Although I got out of FaceBook, I am still fascinated by its technology. I may even get back into it some point because of my fascination with its technology and with its potential.
What about you? Do you make much use of “Cloud Apps” and “Cloud Data?” Do you see us headed toward that being common place in the near-term or is it still several years away?
Eric Schmidt talks a good game. I remember hearing him a couple years running at Brainshare when he was heading up Novell. He might be the source of the term “cloud” as you’re using it. Novell has long referred to the network (be it a LAN or the Internet) as “the cloud”. I always assumed it was just a nice fuzzy reference to a connection that you didn’t feel the need to enumerate. Kind of like calling a complicated technical device a “black box”. As to having data hosted in “the cloud” – I’m wary of it. I weigh security, privacy, convenience and cost together to make that decision on a case by case basis. At this point, I keep as little important personal information as possible anyplace but on my local machine. The sad part is that the horse is already out of the barn. The government, insurance companies and financial entities know all about me, so regardless of how careful I am, my information interests are still largely at the mercy of others.
Interesting points. I had not considered that the horse is already out of the barn, as you say, but you are certainly right. In that sense we cannot avoid the cloud.