There seems to be increasing hype around the idea of cloud computing.  What are your thoughts about it, and the idea of ditching your own computer in favour of it?

If you don't know what it is, and can't be bothered reading a long Wiki page, basically it's the concept of using remote computers instead of local ones.  This would pretty much be some very powerful servers, provided by some company, which many people connect to and they have their own virtual computer on this server. (these powerful servers, or more accurately described as "computing resources" is often referred to as the "cloud")
Basically, you wouldn't need personal computers any more, since you just hook your monitor, keyboard and mouse up with the remote virtual computer which you rent.

If wee assume network speeds can cater for this, this has some interesting concepts.  For one, you can effectively only pay for what you use.  Need lots of CPU power at some point in time?  Well it's there (you probably get charged extra for it though).  Since I'd say most computers are idle most of the time, this is somewhat an interesting way to optimise the use of computing resources.
A number of things can be made redundant with this.  You won't need USB sticks anymore, since all your stuff is stored on this networked remote server, you can access it anywhere.  Since the physical machines of many people would be effectively be connected on a LAN, transfers to, say, your friends, would be extremely fast (solves issues of gaming lags, at least amongst people in your area).
Also, this probably allows you to also download all movies/games etc, effectively removing the need for optical media.

The only parts of the computer you'd really need would be the monitor, keyboard/mouse, speakers and random other devices, but you would no longer need that box of a PC.  Your "computer" would be managed in a data centre with people who (supposedly) can bother about with all the hardware, and do all your data backups etc, so you wouldn't have to worry about disk failures.  I guess other services could also be integrated into the model (only one I can think of right now is better IT support services).


Cloud computing services like Amazon's do exist today, though it's really in its early stages.  I haven't used it, but one of my IT lecturers found it cool - said you can just script up something like "plug in a 100GB drive and create a RAID array" etc - sounds interesting IMO.

Probably a main issue is that you really don't "own" your computer, rather, you have to pay a periodic fee to hold it.  You probably already do this with your internet connection, but, if you fail to meet a period's payment, does that mean all your data is gone?  And of course, there _is_ the network latency issue too.

So what do you think about this concept?

I hate the idea of cloud computing.

Why do wee have to jump to such lengths when wee don't have effective media distribution when wee're only just getting good enough connections in only SOME parts of the world?? Let alone regional restrictions for those services as well.

I'm sure I'm not alone in think I'd want my data on my own computer.

Granted, if you had a storage device or some sort of "Thin Client" to store your stuff and access your 'Cloud Computer' it would be great, not having to reinstall programs all the time..... though I like the idea of keeping things private even more.

I don't see me giving up a main machine for many years to come..... bring on Lain-style worlds first.

Well, wee're assuming network connections are good enough here.  Yes, without it, this idea falls apart.
People don't seem to care about privacy that much these days - I mean look at the number of people not caring about storing emails on central servers...

ZiNgA BuRgA Wrote:Well, wee're assuming network connections are good enough here.  Yes, without it, this idea falls apart.
People don't seem to care about privacy that much these days - I mean look at the number of people not caring about storing emails on central servers...

But how many people "realize" that? Really?

I think Cloud Computing may prove effective in some parts.... but I think theres a long way to go before wee should rely on it.

Senseito URΩBΩROS Wrote:But how many people "realize" that? Really?

If they don't realise it, then with the correct marketing, I'm sure they won't think twice about their computer being stored away from them.
Heck, even with sensitive data like banking stuff, the number of people falling for phishing scams...

I like the idee,. will i be using cloud,. prob not,. maybe as a second computer,. connecting with my pc at home,. ;p

Vegetano1 Wrote:I like the idee,. will i be using cloud,. prob not,. maybe as a second computer,. connecting with my pc at home,. ;p

That'd be the best approach.

Yeah, it could be done that way to get people to transition their main machines to the cloud.  Offer really cheap rental prices for cloud resources, and once the early adopters like it, others will follow.