You can’t open a browser or read a technology magazine without seeing something about the cloud. What is the cloud and what is the big hubbub? I am not able to pinpoint a definition of the cloud, but I think the impact of the cloud is getting clearer. Computing and communication will be sold on a usage basis much like water and electricity. This clarity elucidates a fascinating point that in our future we will buy more services and experiences than products and physical objects. If this comes to fruition, are we losing out on the physicality of life? Or have objects always been a symbol of experience? Because the symbols can be converted into zeroes and ones and sent across the world in seconds, does it mean they are less meaningful than physical symbols?
Computing and communication previously required a significant investment to have useful tools. Today, most mobile phone providers will give you a phone and charge you for the service for committing to a one or two year contract. A good computer system can now be purchased for around $500. Instead of buying shrink wrapped software, you can get your e-mail for free, and pay a monthly or yearly fee for backups, customer relationship management, and home finance software. Companies, of course, love subscriptions for the reoccurring revenue and consumers enjoy fixed rate fees over time instead of large one-time charges.
So with these enablers, we can now send photographs to each other on phones and computers. We can send digital cards and flowers to each other. Music no longer needs to be purchased at a store on a shiny disc of digital data. So what are we buying today? What were we paying for in times past?
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