We all like to speculate about what’s coming down the pipe, what “THE FUTURE” will look like. One thing is becoming abundantly clear however, a good chunk of what’s coming is going to be delivered via networked, over the air, services. AKA The Cloud.
I know, shocking revelation. I’m sure none of you saw that coming, which is why it’s a good thing you read this blog, as I’m pretty terrific at delivering the obvious. All joking aside, we’re seeing some pretty exciting trends, and a few concerning ones.
Storage & File Delivery
This was essentially a proof of concept that basic data intensive services could work online. Putting larger files onto a server for easier delivery than email or “sneaker-net” style solutions. From YouSendIt to DropBox and everything else in between, we’ve flirted with the cloud primarily to sync and share information. It’s only been recently that data networks have gotten robust enough to offer…
Media Services
We’ve had Youtube for about nine years now. It’s made such a profound impact that it’s difficult to remember the internet without it. Of course, the push for HD video, and then competing services like Netflix and Hulu, really took hold over the last couple years. Online streaming radio is hot right now, and improved sharing and creation tools have lead to…
Collaborative Services
It’s not enough that we can upload a document. Multiple people can now work on it at the same time instead of emailing revisions back and forth. It’s not enough that I can vlog in front of a webcam, I can now broadcast to a live audience with multiple participants and have that automatically added to my Youtube channel.
So What Comes Next? Continue reading “It’s a Cloud Services World. We just pretend it’s about the hardware…”