"Cloud Computing?" Sounds Familiar

"Google plans to make PCs history"
"Industry critics warn of danger in giving internet leader more power"
guardian.co.uk (January 25, 2009)

"Google is to launch a service that would enable users to access their personal computer from any internet connection, according to industry reports. But campaigners warn that it would give the online behemoth unprecedented control over individuals' personal data.

"The Google Drive, or 'GDrive', could kill off the desktop computer, which relies on a powerful hard drive. Instead a user's personal files and operating system could be stored on Google's own servers and accessed via the internet.

"The long-rumoured GDrive is expected to be launched this year, according to the technology news website TG Daily, which described it as "the most anticipated Google product so far". It is seen as a paradigm shift away from Microsoft's Windows operating system, which runs inside most of the world's computers, in favour of 'cloud computing', where the processing and storage is done thousands of miles away in remote data centres...."

Well, that's interesting. People who don't like Windows and/or Bill Gates would probably be dancing in the streets: except they may be like people I know, who don't particularly like corporate giants in general.

My guess is that, published opinions notwithstanding, Google's GDrive and "cloud computing" will have their chance in the marketplace, find their niche, and become last week's news.

"Cloud Computing" - New Name, Old Idea

Remote computing isn't a new idea. It's been around since 1940. Actually, the desktop computer was a 'breakthrough' of sorts, which made it possible for people to store data and use computing power literally at their desk. It was quite an improvement over the 'good old days,' when computing power was shared with everyone else on the network.

Personal computing has a long history: the basic technologies have been around since the mid-seventies. One thing that's stayed the same in the last 30 years is that things change.

Change Happens

Heraclitus said: "Nothing endures but change." That was about two and a half millennia back, and I think he's still got a point. Change happens.

Particularly in information technology. We're in a very exciting period.

Quite a few technologies are supposed to be the one that will replace desktops. I used "end of the desktop" (in quotes) on Google just now, and got about a million hits. And, discovered that the laptop (Reuters (January 7, 2009) is the "end of the desktop" this month. Or was, until "cloud computing" came up. Last year, WiFi wireless networks were going to end the desktop (MC Press Online (September 24, 2008)").

I'm waiting for someone to rediscover the abacus. It could be called the ZitherCalc, and be the end of the pocket calculator: no more hard-to-read displays; results at the flick of a finger!

End of the Desktop? No - Change of the Desktop - Yes

I think that Mike (The World Is My Office) Elgan is on the right track. last week he wrote about mobile computing, desktops, and (I think) common sense. He didn't mention "cloud computing," but made what I think is an applicable point:

"The big picture is that the whole desktop PC/mobile computing dichotomy is dying....

"...So is it the end of the desktop PC era? Well, sort of. But it's not the beginning of the mobile computing era.

"It's the end of the whole desktop-or-mobile concept, and the beginning of everywhere and anywhere computing."

Sooner or Later, I'll Probably Use "GDrive" - or Something Like it

There are many reasons, from security issues and the occasional gaps in Internet service to a preference for something cool on the desktop, for me to keep using a desktop computer. I also had a laptop, until it died on me: and intend to replace it when I've got the budget.

And, sooner or later, I'll probably use something like the "GDrive" - in fact, I have, by uploading files I'd need to work on to a server, later accessing them from another location.

I've nothing against using remote facilities. Right now, my websites are on servers that are about a thousand miles away from me. I regard what's on those servers as copies of the original websites, which are stored and backed up here in central Minnesota.

I don't mind working with Google, either: or Microsoft. Each are 800-pound gorillas, but got that way by good marketing - and by providing services and products that get the job done. (I also use the FireFox browser, since 'way too many hackers are dedicated to exploiting IE's weaknesses - and that's a whole different topic.)

I think that "GDrive" - or something like it - will catch on, as a service for people who want to store and access data: and whose preference for convenience and portability outweighs their need for security and control of the data.

More:

• "No, mobile computing is NOT killing the desktop PC"
  Mike Elgan, Computer World (January 23, 2009)
• "A Brief Timeline in the History of Computers"
  Bob Houghton, Western Carolina University (June 16, 2008)
  (The first entry's title is "350 millions years ago to 1000 B.C." - but aside from the occasional hyperbole and prediction-as-fact, it's a pretty good resource)
• "Google's 'Gdrive' online storage due in a few months"
  Computerworld (November 28, 2007)
• "Google Drive, GDrive, Platypus Coming Soon?"
  Search Engine Roundtable (July 11, 2006)
• Microsoft to serve up Google Gdrive storage rival"
  Computer World (April 21, 2006)