by Corinne
2. October 2008 15:38
‘Cloud computing’ may be the new buzz-word in the tech industry but many of the industry’s key players are dubious of the concept.
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer dismissed it as being nothing new, while the outspoken CEO of Oracle, Larry Ellison (world's14th richest person) ranted: ‘Maybe I'm an idiot, but I have no idea what anyone is talking about. What is it? It's complete gibberish. It's insane. When is this idiocy going to stop?’
Read more consternated industry opinion here.
Well, this is what we at atom42 make of the term. Put simply, the ‘cloud’ refers to the internet and ‘cloud computing’ is a way of using the 'cloud' to take advantage of the new technologies which are improving the storage and access of information online.
Two of the benefits of using the 'cloud' to store information instead of, say, a PC desktop, are that people can access material from any location and that they can share resources with other users.
The main drawback is that, despite developments in online data protection, the nature of the internet means that the security of sensitive information is still an issue for many.
For a more in-depth account of cloud computing, you could try taking a look at the (frankly rather confusing) explanation on Wikipedia.