I'm not the most enthusiastic user of 'Cloud Computing' but I have genuinely tried to understand the mind-set of those who are. Perhaps, the cry of 'Is it free?' does not naturally burst from my lips. Perhaps I never did belong to the 'hippy-generation' and I very rarely get impressed with the Graffiti artists who ply their trade on every brick wall available. Perhaps my well-earnt salary makes me feel a bit more comfortable with paying for a product that is backed-up with a solid and free support service. Or perhaps it is my somewhat cautious fear of leaving my muddy footprints all over the ether.However, I have recently been quite impressed with the thinking of others on this subject. Firstly, I came across Hazel Owen's blog. Her post on the hypothetical Chan Sook paints a very clear picture of the mindset of our young (and possibly not-so-young) students. Probably others could add equally competitive Web2.0 applications to her list, impressive as it already is. Her mindmeister mind-map is really something to browse. However, I took the liberty of producing an A4 'compression' of her map which is just about readable.
At the other end of the spectrum, I am very grateful to Paul (see comment on 'Cloud Computing?', below) for the link to a most comprehensive 26-page document from Sun Microsystems. If other readers have good documentation or links please respond by commenting.
1 comment:
I like the idea of cloud computing in the sense that I have lost so much stuff over the years (eg thru moving, or formats changing) that it would have been nice to have had an online repository for it all. However, I, too, like the security of knowing that (a) I have my data stored on a physical object I can actually see, and that (b) I have access to it and others don't.
Having said that, am seriously considering paying for an online storage facility -- paying because (a) it is cheap for unlimited storage and (b) I am old-fashioned enough to believe that if I am paying for a service the provider has an obligation to make sure it works. My experience with a lot of free facilities is that sooner or later they disappear.
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