Against the Cloud

[t3knomanser]

Screw you, Cloud

I hate the term cloud computing. I'm generally opposed to the idea of it. I know that this goes against the current fad, but I really really have a philosophical problem with it. Before I go into a long-winded history lesson to make a point, I want to address one point first: the utter stupidity of the name "cloud computing". When

Comments

[kat1031]

Thank all the gods that I'm not the only one. I'm fighting the cloud battle at work and fortunately winning (so far).

[t3knomanser]

Oh, of course. Certain tasks should be centralized. Search engines wouldn't work very well as a distributed application.

I'm not sure how I feel about smart-gridding appliances. But in any case, it's not really the same sort of idea- this isn't user focused stuff, but infrastructure. The rules for infrastructure are always different than user focused applications.

Also, on a technical note, even if we didn't allow hinting, if appliances were a bit smarter about predictive consumption, it would allow better balancing on the power grid. For example, before the A/C kicks on its compressor, it shoots a message onto the grid announcing, "Hey, I'm about to do this." It would also allow the user to tie appliances together to cut down their consumption as well- running the A/C compressor and the refrigerator compressor at the same time is not only loading the grid, but probably inefficient- the waste heat from the fridge should be allowed to dissipate some before any attempts are made to cool the area.

[mqstout]

[mqstout]

[t3knomanser]

The frustrating thing is that software as a service is what's anti-progress. It's progress only for the business pushing this garbage as a way of maximizing revenue.

[canissum]

Funny you should mention netbooks. They have enough processing power to manage everything you mentioned. I'm terribly mixed about the rest. Social network sites are useful, and they're hard to do without at least a little coordination. Gmail gives me features I want, and I don't have to manage any software. And yet, while using these tools, I occasionally think back to the British enclosure movement (17th century?) and the modern water buyouts. What's happening now does feel like a bunch of corporations swooping in, buying up the commons, and slowly closing it off. I think that's the part that worries me: the closing of the commons.