When it comes to ‘the cloud’ there’s been a lot of hype about it over the years. Ever since Google launched Google Docs you could see it coming… (well I could at least)… applications sitting on the web, that use server farms computing, processing and storing data all over the world.
Since then, there’s been a lot of development in this area… Amazon’s Web Services AWS and S3 (Simple Storage Solutions) platform is one of the most popular… providing server space, an apps platform and processing power for a measly fee. Google Code’s App engine harnesses Google’s huge data centers to provide similar services… but with the added twist of Google Gears which allows data to be updated offline and automatically synchronized online.
You only need to look at the number of Internet Desktop solutions out on the web to see where this is going… Zoho is probably the strongest in this area… the breadth of their online products and services, the ease of use and the clinical implementation of Google Gears makes it very hard to beat. (they’ve just launched a new Apps marketplace and won the tender to supply their office applications to the entire GE team).
One would assume (and many have) that all this ‘cloud’ activity will take a lot of market-share away from Microsoft who’s business is very heavily dependent on licensing their Windows OS and various suites of desktop software (MS Office for instance)… however it seems that MS have been doing quite a lot of work on this in the background… as these articles from TechCrunch and TheRegister suggest. Using Mesh, SilverLight and the new Windows 7 (or Windows Cloud as Ballmer playfully refers to it)… it seems that MS have their own ideas…
“We need a new operating system designed for the cloud and we will introduce one in about four weeks, we’ll even have a name to give you by then. But let’s just call it for the purposes of today ‘Windows Cloud’,” said Ballmer.
It’s not yet clear how this will be licensed and if it will dilute revenue from the XP and Vista markets…
The only question I have lingering in my mind is the actual value of the cloud to the average user… don’t get me wrong I love the idea and have been monitoring it’s progress in anticipation. But, aside from cheaper product available on a need-to-work basis how much value does it add to our lives when more and more people are constantly connected on their own portable devices? If I didn’t have a laptop that I carry around with me all over the place… ‘the cloud’ would be great for working, storing stuff, having access to all my applications and being able to synch between my work PC, home PC and any cyber-cafes I visit on holiday.
It seems there are two tracks that technology development are taking. On the one hand we have ‘the cloud’ developing at a rapid pace with more and more apps hosted online and lighter and thinner client-side applications (see how ‘light’ Chrome was?). On the other hand we have a strong drive towards increasingly smarter, thinner, lighter and more portable every-day-use devices. Whether it’s Mac Air, Sony Vaio’s ultra-portable VGN range, the iPhone, Blackberry’s or the G1 Android phone… we’ve only scratched the surface of portable connectivity.
So how will these tracks reconcile? will they need to? or will the cloud just replace physical data centers used by developers?
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