Is It Real?

So are you wondering if this cloud thing is just a fad, or will it really take hold? If you think about it, there’s already evidence that it’ll be around for a while. I’ve been reading a book that discusses this: The Big Switch: Rewiring the World from Edison to Google by Nicholas Carr. Carr compares the introduction and adoption of electricity as a utility to the information systems we’ve all grown to love.

Consider that prior to Edison’s invention of the power plant, power for most manufacturing was derived from waterwheels and plants had to be located to flowing water to take advantage of it. Edison’s invention allowed plants to be located anywhere but, initially, it was still only the large companies that could afford to buy and operate their own electrical power plant.  The next step was centralized power that was shared by smaller concerns, all close together. More efficient, perhaps, but not enough to convince the big dogs to give up their private power.

Enter Samuel Insull. A clerk for Edison, Insull saw the opportunity that lay ahead in truly centralized power. He developed the concept of a utility service that could provide electricity cheaper than the big companies could produce it for themselves. A new industry was born!

Compare this to the information age. From Hollerith’s card reading machines to the mainframes found only in the largest concerns, to the concept of shared computer time for those smaller entities, the development of the information world closely mirrors that of electrical power. With the internet, we can access data (“electricity”) from a central station, but still need to own considerable infrastructure for our working lives. The cloud is that final step: all the infrastructure (hardware, software, data) will be outside of our walls where we don’t have to worry about maintenance, obsolescence, or replacement. If we can believe what happened to electrical power, it’s inevitable.

If you’re interested in reading Carr’s book, you can find it here at Amazon. By the way, I’m reading it on my smart phone, not as a printed book. One more step into the cloud!

Stuart Nottingham
Management Applications Inc. of Raleigh
http://www.manapp1.com