Technology Advances Aim To Hit Your Pocket

This month’s article deals with one of the current trends in computing technology that ultimately is designed to cost you much more money for facilities you now have free. As usual the industry has already started in earnest to push this technology and many of you may already have considered or indeed purchased the devices that incorporate these new technologies. I personally believe many of these technologies are of advantage to certain individuals or companies based on their requirements but understanding the pitfalls may help you avoid being sucked into what I refer to as the “Revenue stream”.

Cloud Computing

You’ve probably heard the term bandied about but Cloud Computing is viewed by many as the new ongoing revenue to the computer industry.
The idea is simple: all of your information (photos, email, office documents) are stored on a remote computer somewhere on the internet. (if you use hotmail or gmail you already are a cloud computer user!). You can access your data from any internet connected computer in the world and you never have to worry about backing it up. Not alone that but you won’t have to buy any expensive office or other packages as theses will all be available via the cloud.
Sounds enticing doesn’t it ? So what’s the catch?
The Answer: you will be charged for the storage of your data and you’ll be charged for using the software.  Once you stop paying then say goodbye to accessing your data. Quite apart from the costs involved with cloud computing there are four other questions which need answering about a cloud computing environment.

·    How can you ensure my data won’t be hacked ? (If hackers can penetrate the IMF they can certainly get at less well guarded data)
·    What happens if the company storing my data goes out of business?
·    How can I be sure that my data is actually backed up regularly and can be recovered if necessary?
·    How private will my data be and who will be able to access it?

In a nutshell there is nothing new in cloud computing. Back in 1980, as a young programmer, cloud computing was the only way I was able to program in the College of Commerce Rathmines. We had a remote terminal to a computer somewhere in the USA. The technology may have changed but the concept is just rehashing of old computing principles. Personal computers freed the ordinary person to compute and store information relatively cheaply. Cloud computing if implemented across the board could end that era.