One of the hottest topics these days on the internet technology front is the irresistible raise of Cloud Computing. There is not a week that goes by without some kind of news on the subject. For those who still don’t know what this new buzz word is all about, Cloud Computing is essentially a new paradigm where data and software do not sit anymore on the end user computer, but reside in a “cloud” of servers somewhere in the network.
Several major industry players started to place their pawns on this foreseen huge emerging market and a new breed of start-ups is jumping on the wave. Mega data centers are being built and cloud applications are already common, more and more ready to replace good old Uncle Bill’s stuff and to do much more.
One of the many possible impacts Cloud Computing may have on our digital consumption habits will be on the kind of devices needed to access data and applications in the Cloud. Full fledged all mighty computers won’t be essential anymore. Simple devices, with high-speed communication, display and input interface, a bit like the terminals of the mainframe era, will be very much enough. And this kind of devices is already coming stronger and stronger into the market.
Not only we would not be forced anymore to invest ridiculous amounts of money on computers which capacities are most of the time barely exploited, but more importantly we would be a lot less the hostages of the technological obsolescence that has been the norm since the first IBM PC. You know, the kind of planned obsolescence which forces us, digital consumers, to change computer every few years just to keep up with technology’s “improvements”?
With Cloud Computing architecture, it is the Cloud that has the pressure to sustain the technological pace. As long as a “Cloud Terminal” is able to communicate, display information and interface with the user adequately, it is all that the consumer needs to use Cloud Computing. It is a lot more conceivable to design such device with good provisions against technological obsolescence than with the traditional PC paradigm. The industry only needs to agree on few standards that will be suited for several years. This might not be easy but it is nonetheless feasible.
Some might say that I’m excessively optimistic and that big evil corporations will still find ways to force consumers into constantly changing and upgrading their cloud computers? This is most probably true. Still, it is an opportunity.
It is an opportunity for consumers, and maybe more importantly, an opportunity for the environment. Our consumption society made a lot of progress towards recycling which is very good. But it is far more efficient to try to solve the problem at the source, and stop using hardware, full of toxic and unrecyclable waste, that has to be systematically thrown away after a few years only.
Like it or not, Cloud Computing is here to stay and its future looks bright, for the best and for the worst. By allowing consumers to be set free from the insane obsolescence pace of the traditional computer market, Cloud Computing offers a rare opportunity to make a small but significant step towards a more sustainable economy.
I really hope our society will seize this opportunity. For the good of our planet and for the good of our future.
Pierre M
Blogging in the Cloud 