[Opinion] Cloud computing:The Future or a form of Control?
Cloud computing has been an idea by computer enthusiasts for years now, and with the recent news of a Google OS in late 2010 the future is right around the corner. In fact, when we look back 10 years from now, the debut of Google’s Chrome OS may well mark the moment when cloud computing finally became real.
The future you say….
Well let’s imagine a desktop with no tower or hard drive needed. With cloud computing all you would need is a monitor a keyboard and mouse. What cloud computing essentially does is turn your pc into an “invisible PC”.
How’s that possible? you ask, well let me explain what cloud computing is exactly…
Cloud computing , whether you know it or not, is already being used in the form of such email sites such as Gmail and Yahoo mail. Now imagine having your entire hard drive stored on the internet enabling you to just pull the files from the “cloud” and use anyhow and anywhere you want. This is what cloud computing is all about, erasing the need for any physical storage device on your pc. It enables the user to access their information or programs from anywhere in the world from any pc.
PCs can be clunky and difficult to maintain. They’re slow to start up and prone to crashing, wiping out precious files and photographs. They are perennially vulnerable to virus attacks and require frequent upgrades. And if you lose your laptop, or worse, it’s stolen, you lose not only your machine but everything stored in its circuitry that’s not backed up — those files, contacts, e-mail messages, pictures and videos.
But what if a computer were nothing more than an Internet browser — a digital window pane onto the Web? You could forget about all the software that now powers your computer and everything it does. All of those functions would be done through the Web. And none of the information that’s now inside your computer would be there anymore. Instead, it would all be on the cloud of connected computers that is the Internet.
That sounds great so what’s the down side?…
Well that seems pretty obvious to me, privacy and security. Imagine if someone could hack the cloud and get access to all your personal files and programs. But a bigger argument among the tech savvy people on the net as well as myself being part of the “Underground” would be a matter of privacy. “Who’s stopping someone from monitoring and scanning your entire PC for content that would be deemed illegal by some” This is the main concern when it comes to cloud computing for myself, seeing as most of my pc is made up of “questionable” materials found in the not so legitimate way. For example, say I had an illegal copy of a video game or movie I had downloaded from a torrent site, “now what’s stopping the company who owns the servers containing my program from deleting it or prosecuting me?” Nothing at all. I believe that all you would be doing in accepting cloud computing is giving away your privacy completely to some company.
So what do you think?…
Well fortunately for us this concept of cloud computing is only being implemented gradually into our computing lives. But with this glimpse of where our computing future is going, would you embrace it as a cheap alternative to buying a couple thousand dollar PC? Would you trust a multi-billion dollar company with all your personal files and programs? Do you trust the fact that your PC content would constantly be scanned for questionable content?
Me personally, well at this present time I’m still very skeptical about this whole idea. But I guess it will all be revealed to us in the near future as to what direction cloud computing takes our digital lives. Enough of my opinions on the subject. I want to hear from you, the underground reader, What do you think about cloud computing and our future? Shout out in the comments.