First of all, I’m a bum for not posting two weeks in a row. All I can say is, I certainly was not raptured (apparently, ‘raptured’ is not a real verb. That’s what the Google Docs spell checker thinks anyway). I therefore have two weeks’ worth of making up to do- so if this turns into an essay I do apologise.
Don’t you just hate when the media picks up on a buzz word or a trendy concept and overuses it (like ‘super-injunction’)? Ironically I can’t think of too many right now (probably because I don’t care for them), but the one that is really grinding my gears is “the cloud”- and I mean that in the context of cloud computing. It’s doing my head in, a bit like a child so enamoured with his new toy that he feels compelled to annoy the living wits out of you with it at with every available second. In my job in particular I see the term thrown around a lot of on e-shots from computing vendors trying to sell you a “cloud computing solution”.
For those not in the know, cloud computing is the on-demand provisioning of resources via a network. Classically, when you use a computer, all of your data (music, documents, pictures etc.) or software (such as office programs or computer games) is stored on the computer you are using, and you have direct access to it. Cloud computing basically makes it so that data or software is stored somewhere away from your computer, in theory meaning you need a much more basic and much less powerful computer to complete your daily tasks. Cloud computing boasts many benefits, such as reducing the cost of buying computers, reducing energy and space consumption, consolidation of assets and so forth.
“The Cloud”, therefore, is the place where all of this stuff is stored for you to access when you want. It’s a bit like either keeping all of your money in your house in cash bills and taking some whenever you need it, or storing it in a bank account and accessing it via a cash point or Internet banking. Keeping it in your house might mean it’s all with you, but it will take up a lot of room, and if your house goes up in flames or is in any way compromised, it’s gone. Keeping it in a bank account some where remote from yourself will save you space and prevent such things from happening.
However, while there is certainly a lot of good to be said about this trendy new fad in the world of information technology, a lot of media outlets seem to be spraying the term around the Internet casually and hoping it sticks, and it all boils down to trying to sell people something they don’t know they need yet, by giving it a cool name. This in particular affects the general public, many of whom may be less tech-savvy or “IT-literate”.
It’s like when dual-core processors came out for PCs. I wonder how many clueless, middle-class, middle-aged, white Western men went out to an electronics store upon its introduction to retail consumption, and simply had to have it because they were told they wanted it, even though they probably though dual-core meant it was like having two computers glued together for the price of one. Wait, even better yet, what about when the Sega Megadrive (iconic 90s games console, as if I should have to explain that!) was being marketed back in the 90s as to have “blast processing” making it instantly better than any of its competitors? Truth is, blast processing was a complete lie, and as fictitious an idea as if I told you that Mrs. Tigglywinkle from the Beatrix Potter books taught me cookery at secondary school. But, the point is, they coined a term, and made you think you wanted it.
No comments:
Post a Comment