To the CLOUD!

In his chapter “Physical Media,” Alexander Galloway describes what exactly “distribution” is, as well as how protocol works within distributed networks.  A distributed network (like the Internet) has no central hub or node, but rather is made up of autonomous agents (entities, computers), between which information passes on pathways that vary significantly and are never predetermined. In addition, the autonomous agents that make up the distributed network operate “according to certain pre-agreed ‘scientific’ rules of the system” (38), not a chain of command.  Galloway marks the tremendous success of the Internet throughout the last few decades as a “shift,” quoting Branden Hookway who writes, “The shift is occurring across the spectrum of information technologies as we move from models of the global application of intelligence, with their universality and frictionless dispersal, to one of local applications, where intelligence is site-specific and fluid” (33).  Information and “intelligence” are available any time, to any person, in any place, because we have the Internet, and the possibilities for communication and intelligence sharing are only increasing with developments such as cloud computing.

We’ve all heard of these new “clouds” – from big names like Amazon and Apple – but it seems that the majority of folks out there don’t quite understand what “cloud computing” is and are therefore hesitant to use it.  However, I believe that as an extension of the distributed Internet network, “cloud” technology will catch on and become very widely used.

For those of you who don’t know, cloud computing delivers computing as a service rather than as a product, allowing for typically shared resources between “nodes” or “agents,” like software and information, to be provided as a utility across a network like the Internet.  Users who use cloud computing do not know the location of whatever computation services, applications, or data they are using.  Instead, these users access their cloud utilities through a web browser or mobile app while software and information are stored on servers elsewhere. 

I would venture to suggest that people who do understand what cloud computing and still choose not to use it do so because it makes their “stuff” intangible, in a way.  One would feel comfortable knowing that all of his music, documents, and software were at hand within his own personal computer, as opposed to having all his stuff stored on a server that he wouldn’t know the location of.  Apple is taking a hybrid approach to cloud use, which seems to be a good transition tool for people like this, as they allow data and music to be stored locally while simultaneously syncing them to their cloud.  This hybrid model is great because it allows for the user to experience the benefits – unlimited storage, syncing and organization services, back-up, added security and safety, and file access from any device or location as long as there is a connection – without fully giving up the comfort of local storage.

I guess the question becomes whether or not cloud computing is an extension of a very successful distributed network (the Internet).  We widely use the Internet for sharing and socializing, so why are we hesitant to “share” our stuff with the various clouds out there?  Perhaps “cloud” technology is a hybrid of the distributed network and centralized network in that users (instead of computers) become the nodes of the network but all information and data is stored in a central hub.