..and this is why I don’t do Cloud Computing.
The concept of cloud computing isn’t new new by any means. The idea of being able to view and process information / data regardless of what device we’re using, has been around for a while. However it’s only recently that innumerable services and startups have come up offering ’solutions’ to these ‘problems’. But the recent downtime of Gmail serves as a stark reminder of how 100% availability simply cannot be expected of any online service. It doesn’t matter how grand the infrastructure is or how scalable the application is, it is the smallest of problems that bring down the biggest of setups.
I still insist on using Outlook for my email, calendar and contact needs. Most of the time when I need access to this information I am on or around my laptop so I have instant access to this data. In the off chance that I am not, I have my phone (Nokia E90) which syncs up with my desktop giving me the exact access (emails are only the recent ones). The situation is exactly the same with my RSS Feeds (Feeddemon) and Office Suite.
Now I’m a student and as such not particularly bothered by any of the issues the privacy evangelists have with data being in the cloud. My main issue of concern is data availability. If I am to completely depend on web applications for my daily computing it would also mean constant availability of a data connection which as we all know is not possible in even the world’s most connected cities. I went travelling across Europe recently for about 2 weeks and it was particularly hard to find cheap , let alone free, hot spots. If I did find a free hotspot, I would quickly do a ‘Send/Recieve’ in outlook and refresh all my feeds in Feeddemon so I could go to my hotel and read them. Even though the issue of data availability on a holiday is no minor one, the bigger issues comes in when your internet access is disrupted in your daily routine. I’ve had my Internet connection disconnected three times in the last two years for a couple of hours each time; two of which were unplanned downtimes. If i was completely reliant on web apps, I would have been rendered completely helpless in such a situation.
My second issue is that of application speed. There is no doubt that AJAX and technologies alike have improved our browsing experience tremendously and even in the recent past it was hard to even imagine the things we can do right in our web browser. However the snapiness and responsiveness of desktop applications still lack in a lot of the web applications. If it isn’t that then it’s pure functionality. Come to think of it, it’s only in version 2.6 did Wordpress include the Word count feature.
Don’t get me wrong, I love the fact that I have options available should I for some reason not be around my desktop and have my phone battery die on me. That is exactly why I sync my Outlook calendar with Google’s and enjoy having a webmail interface. But the lack of 100% Internet availability and lack of speed are reasons why I don’t do cloud computing.
Proponents of Cloud computing say it is very useful especially when dealing with a multiple device setup which I can understand. I’m getting a netbook next month (not sure which one yet) but I know I’d rather use one of the sync web services to truly keep data current across both machines. Live Mesh is looking to be a good option and I’m particularly looking forward to try it. Even with getting the netbook I still intend to install one of the office suites on it among other desktop applications. That’s the reason why my netbook will not serve so much as a ‘Netbook’ - in it’s definition and implied meaning - but as a extremely light and portable laptop to carry around for lectures and meetings.
All in all, I am of the opinion that that web applications serve as perfect compliments to our desktop applications but they will however remain that - compliments.
Tags: cloud, laptop, live mesh, netbook, ultraportable