Out of the blue, here’s the new dot.com

A new technology is revolutionising the way people use computers and mobile phones.

The revolution is bound to cut your expenses. You therefore don’t need to worry about storage size for chips. There is no need to bother about software updates either.

Welcome to the fast-paced “new dot com” that is specifically known as “the cloud”. The new technology has hit Facebook, Twitter, and Google with a bang.

Cloud computing allows users to simultaneously access a suite of different online applications through access to the internet, without worrying about issues like storage because they are stored on different servers across the world.

Process data

The East Africa office linkman for Google, Mr Joe Mucheru, says the new technology allows internet users to process data from sites like Google, Amazon, Facebook, and other simultaneously.

“In a nutshell, cloud computing removes the need to have a hard disc on your computer because everything happens online and so you don’t have to worry about storage or administration,” he says.

“It is like KPLC. As a consumer, you don’t need to worry about things like how many watts your house needs or how it is used. It is for the company to regulate that.”

He sees the rise of cloud computing as having been brought about by the high cost of personal data storage needed to process information.

“We never need to buy any software updates or hard discs because these are tested and updated by operators like Google. You also don’t have to worry about losing your laptop data or constantly backing up your contents because no important data is stored on the device,” adds Mucheru.

The Sunday Times magazine breaks it down further: “Today, most of us use electronic devices with closed systems. We store Word documents and spreadsheets on our laptops and PCs, contacts and e-mails on our mobiles... The cloud reverses that model.”

“Cloud-based devices create and store nothing... The internet becomes our operating system. We use online software that runs in our browser to create the files we need. The files are stored in remote data centres.”

Mucheru agrees adding that other benefits for corporates is that cloud computing helps in cost reduction and efficiency.

“The need for each user to invest in servers or other softwares like anti-virus is negated with cloud computing. The more users share a cloud, the cheaper it is and companies save on expenses such as management, data storage, and software updates costs especially during this time of recession,” he says.

Mucheru says local companies are taking interest in cloud computing to save on overheads although the numbers are still down.

“Once they understand its power and advantages, the numbers will rise tenfold although we are happy with the interest so far. With the fibre optic landing, we expect it to be a big phenomenon,” he says.

“Whoever does not get on it will be left behind and will continue to use a lot of money on their administration and storage end,” he adds.

Its effects are already being felt in telecommunications and in the media. Things like mobile phones that do more than just call and text are the “in-thing” and the Sunday Times says companies like Apple have joined the cloud.

Mucheru says “iPhone has been such a remarkable success because it syncs with MobileMe and gives consumers access to all their personal files and e-mail, as well as YouTube, news, weather, maps and share prices.”

Google has joined the fray by launching its first handsets — the G1 and the HTC Magic — with an inbuilt system called Android to interact with the cloud. It offers extraordinary cloud-based applications.

“Take ShopSavvy. Press a button and the phone’s camera turns into a bar code scanner. Scan the bar code of a product you want to buy and the handset will tell you where you can buy it at the lowest price and pinpoint the shop with that price on a Google Map,” reports the Sunday Times.

And the media is not being left behind. Reports say from next year, all new televisions will come with an internet connection and people will be able to watch YouTube and the BBC’s iPlayer on TV.

Video cameras are also being fitted with internet connections so that high-quality film can be automatically uploaded to the likes of Facebook.

Internet TV services like Hulu — a website that stores hundreds of thousands of hours of programming that viewers can watch on their computer and, soon, their TV — has grown by 490 per cent year on year, according to Nielsen Online. It is the third most-watched video site in the US.

Music executives think that their industry has a future, too. They want to use the cloud to give people the chance to listen to any song ever recorded, on any device they want, wherever they are.

But the cloud has its downside to. The issue of privacy is on top of many people’s concerns as they have to surrender their information to subscribe to the net.

But Mucheru disagrees, saying people ought to be on credible websites that will guarantee security.