Send in the Clouds

Cloud computing is a natural step in the evolution of the digital workspace. As server space and Internet connections get cheaper, it makes sense to move work off the desktop and into the cloud. And with the proliferation of free services, most notably the Google suite of office apps, it doesn't even have to cost to go all cumulonimbus.

As recently as 2007, a story in the NY Times (http://nyti.ms/dD6ZYz) asked "Why Can’t We Compute in the Cloud?" But from another piece published later that year, Google was already explaining the cloud in terms we could all understand. "'Cloud computing' — essentially software hosted on the server instead of on the desktop — is a natural outgrowth of Google’s model and network of datacenters around the globe." (http://nyti.ms/bXaY4y). And in an NPR story from last year, "Cloud computing has also been likened to utility computing, whereby individuals and companies purchase additional network bandwidth, storage and computation capacity as on-demand services — the same way people buy more electricity to fuel their power needs. Historically, different companies have handled these elements" (http://bit.ly/cLePL7).

With the advent of the netbook, a laptop with a little memory and not much storage, the cloud makes a lot of sense. I'm posting this on a Dell netbook with 8gb of storage, It's too small to store anything, so almost all of my docs are on Google. I got 1gb of storage for free, but paid $5 to get 20gb!

"Cloud computing is a vehicle for using that technology. It enables users to work and collaborate completely online, without the need for special software, and independent of platform. Not only does distributed learning occur anywhere and at any time, but these conditions can be modified along a number of dimensions" (Oblinger, Barone, & Hawkins, 2001)

Needless to say, I'm a believer!