Failed technology trends tend to be recycled every five or so years in hopes that businesses and consumers eventually will be ready to adopt what surely is a great idea.
The idea of the “thin client” — a processor and monitor setup that loads all files and even the operating system from a central server — has been trumpeted as the next big thing at least three times since I replaced my baseball mitt with a keyboard and mouse.
The latest incarnation of the thin client finally is starting to gain a hold as a “netbook,” an incredibly portable notebook.
Perhaps more than netbooks, the idea of storing data and applications on the Internet rather than on your hard drive has failed time after time. Whether it’s call “on-demand computing,” “grid computing” or “software as a service,” many consumers have not been quick to give up boxed software for Internet applications. They especially had no interest in saving documents on a remote server.
That was then. The idea now is called “cloud computing,” and it’s starting to gain traction.
Storing data “in the cloud” means no longer having to transfer a file from desktop to laptop via a thumb drive, network connection, disk, etc.
Also, while a failed hard drive means an afternoon of reinstalling the operating system, you’re files are safe on some big server in the sky.
What’s not to love?
File storage is only half of the cloud computing equation. Applications, too, are being shifted from the hard drive to the Web.
The first wave was the transition from mail programs to Web-based services, such as Gmail or MobileMe.
The second phase has been pushing applications, such as word processors, spreadsheets and news readers, to the cloud.
For 90 percent of the Microsoft Office-using world, Google Documents or Microsoft’s upcoming online version of Word will suffice. Neither is…