Friday, December 10, 2010

Question of the week 3: Cloud Computing

Hi and welcome to this week's question of the week!

For this week, the phrase "cloud computing" will be covered:


Question: How does cloud computing change the way we gather information?

Cloud computing is becoming a hype these days with big companies such as Microsoft, Apple, and Google investing and researching into this new form of sharing information. But what exactly does this term, cloud computing, mean?

Cloud computing focuses on the Internet, where users connect to the cloud and use the services on it. This cloud is run by companies that invest in powerful computer hardware so that users themselves won’t have to spend on it. In other words, with this concept, any person can run resource intensive applications by just plugging into the cloud. One such example is ‘OnLive’, a gaming service where customers can play current up-to-date games just by connecting to the cloud with a simple and cheap hardware.

In terms of changing the way we gather information, cloud computing will enable more users to access data rich information which at first may not have been possible due to computers not meeting the minimum requirements. This is especially appropriate for countries where computers are seen as a luxury good, or for users that are tied to different operating systems. Thus a greater role is put on the Internet for work, entertainment, and educational purposes, allowing us to be more up-to-date than was previously possible with periodic upgrades and updates to information.

In short: Cloud computing, which puts the actual performance of applications on the cloud providers, is an upcoming way of using and emphasizing the Internet for work, entertainment, and educational purposes.

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