The Cloud has been a theory since the 1960’s when scientists imagined that people would one day be able to access information via small computers in their homes.
They believed that the computers would be connected through a ‘web’ and people could learn while at home. While the reality didn’t come to pass for decades longer, eventually the internet was born. However, software didn’t evolve nearly as fast as computers which led to software needing to be contained on a hard drive for access.
Cloud Storage
Cloud storage was one of the first phases of cloud use.
Companies offered cloud storage as a backup for hard drives both commercial and personal. People could pay a fee to keep their information stored and access it anywhere. Dropbox, Google, and Microsoft began offering free solutions to their users for storage.
People accepted cloud storage and found that it was much easier to use the cloud than to move information from hard drive to thumb drive to hard drive again. The cloud meant that no one really needed to keep buying extra thumb drives or burn data to disc.
Cloud Based Software
After the success of cloud based storage, software was the next logical step.
Instead of installing software that could only be used locally, people were able to use software or other solutions directly from the cloud. Web sites and web hosts were able to utilize the cloud for web storage and deployment, which makes web sites move faster and decreases load on internal servers.
Not only can the cloud be used for online sites, medical records are able to be access by doctors all over the world. Specialists can pull a patients records and help local doctors find solutions to health problems, or take care of a patient that is on vacation.
In The Future
As the cloud grows in acceptance, it has helped reduce the possibility of hacker attacks. When information is not stored on an on-site server, it can be hard for a hacker to determine where the information is stored.
Cloud computing consists of shared resources among many different servers, this means that even though the possibility of being hacked might be lower, information is still not stored on a person’s local hard drive.
There is always the possibility of data loss. As the cloud moves forward, stronger security measures will be put into motion.
The cloud already hosts a number of applications from storage to online gaming. With the announcement of Microsoft’s Xbox One – gaming in the cloud has gone beyond PCs. Entertainment from the cloud will be available from the television, along with phones and computers.
In about a year the cloud will be sending television programming, games, and music streaming through gaming consoles, cable boxes, and more. Everyone will technically have access to the cloud, whether they own a computer or not.
The cloud is becoming ever more present in the way life moves around us and for us.
Question is, will you be in the clouds a year from now?
About the Author: Tina Samuels writes on Steve Wynn, social media, cloud computing, and small business topics.
License: Creative Commons image source