What is "the cloud?"

paddyrg

For 99.9% of users 'the cloud' is just marketing talk. What it means is 'one or more servers sitting in a datacentre' (just like any other network including the internet).

For the remaining 0.1% of users (basically companies) it is a way to distribute services on temporary (often virtual) hardware without having to know anything of the network topology, as all of that side is remotely managed by a provider. Anything beyond that is just spin and marketing.

[Deleted User]

There's all sorts of huge problems that go along with using Cloud based services e.g. Knowing where your data is (especially when it's sensitive)

esuhl

I can't understand why "cloud" has become such a buzzword. It's just an abstract definition of one or more servers. Big deal.

Will everyone get excited about the next big thing - vocal teleportation? We could have portable auditory teleportation devices where humans could record voice messages for each other, that get stored in the cloud and magically appear in the recipients ear when they use their teleportation receiver. You know -- exactly like voicemail. We could pretend it was a revolutionary new thing! Woo!

paddyrg

And all because to denote 'internet' in a simplified point to point network diagram in Visio, we used to use the 'cloud' shape to denote something large, nebulous and without any real tangible structure.

davidbeckham

that has been so informative, thanks

Norman_Castle

You're wrong. Its a white fluffy thing that rain comes from.

LucianH

Have just got a new Asus mobo with "WiFi Go" which boasts that it provides a "home cloud computer environment" !

GunJack

It's just more marketing b0ll0x........would you trust your valuable personal data to some unknown server somewhere ???? I think not......

Carcluster

Just got an iPhone and have a Mac at home - very useful to have all of the same contacts and appointments in both places automatically. For me, that convenience outweights worrying about someone knowing my name or phone numbers of people I know - there are much more important people than me!