More in addition to to a greater extent than companies are trying to force us into the "Cloud" - is this a goodness bargain for ordinary consumers? Probably non , in addition to it is simply ane battle inwards a state of war than has been raging for decades.
Influenza A virus subtype H5N1 reader writes quest whether cloud computing is the moving ridge of the future. It may really good hold upwards , but is also the moving ridge of the past. I direct hold written close "The Cloud" earlier , in addition to whether or non it was secure. Before nosotros get , I should annotation that the term "Cloud" is ane of those words similar "Blockchain" - a trendy , hip buzzword to usage to hateful almost anything y'all desire it to hateful - in addition to to bamboozle investors at the same time. If y'all experience dumb yesteryear quest what it genuinely agency , good , they direct hold got y'all correct there. In reality , none of this "tech" materials is genuinely terribly as complicated as it seems , but buzzwords croak far seem moreso - in addition to worth investing in.
But the concept of the "cloud" is arguably zip new. Prior to the introduction of the personal estimator , if y'all wanted to usage a estimator y'all had to croak to the Great Hall of Computers in addition to pay homage to the estimator geeks in addition to temple acolytes who manned the punch cards at the IBM Mainframe in addition to beg them their indulgence to run your computer program for you. The estimator was large , the estimator was blueish , in addition to it cost an enormous amount of coin in addition to made an enormous amount of profits for IBM.
The estimator Revolution started inwards the early on 1970s amongst mini-mainframes such as the PDP-8 in addition to PDP-11 coming to the fore , allowing many minor companies to operate in addition to ain their ain computers without having to bargain amongst IBM. But fifty-fifty those computers were cantankerous in addition to hard in addition to required someone to write software for them.
The personal estimator revolution started toward the destination of the 1970's. As I noted earlier at that spot was a motley collection of unlike types of PCs beingness used. The dominant type seem to hold upwards CPM based systems (e.g. , Mostek) which were soundless rather expensive. Apple flare-up onto the scene amongst its Apple II estimator which was less expensive than existing personal computers in addition to inexpensive plenty for abode hobbyists to buy. However , it was the evolution of the IBM-PC which established the standardized architecture for the personal estimator which nosotros soundless largely used today.
The existent revolution of the personal estimator wasn't its size or cost or fifty-fifty computing ability , it was the catch that you tin ain a estimator in addition to ain your software in addition to non direct hold to continually pay leasing fees or maintenance fees to IBM or other large estimator companies or hold an solid soil forces of estimator programmers in addition to geeks to hold massive machines. You could purchase a personal estimator in addition to purchase software that would perform give-and-take processing tasks in addition to basic accounting tasks in addition to ain the whole damn affair outright.
And inwards the showtime , all is good for the personal estimator work organization , as the marketplace was going similar gangbusters as few people direct hold them in addition to everyone wanted one. IBM slow faded from the scene , fifty-fifty after their attempts at making a personal estimator , because the generic third-party computers were far cheaper.
Companies similar Microsoft made a lot of coin because they kept selling copies of DOS to all these people who were buying novel computers. Other companies such as Lotus 1-2-3 sold spreadsheet software in addition to WordPerfect sold its give-and-take processing software. However , at that spot was really lilliputian inwards the way of re-create protection dorsum in addition to then , people freely exchanged software amongst ane some other , fifty-fifty at the Patent Office.
Both Microsoft in addition to Apple realized they had to come upwards up amongst a novel "must have" production to forcefulness people to upgrade to a novel operating organization in addition to novel estimator - as the marketplace was becoming saturated amongst DOS machines. Ahhh.... those were the days , when y'all bought a novel estimator in addition to it actually was faster in addition to ran better than the previous ane , in addition to you genuinely had to a greater extent than usable storage as good , as files didn't come upwards encrusted amongst "metadata" that took them from kilobytes to megabytes.
And therefore Windows was born. Once Windows became established , people had to chuck their sometime DOS-based PCS in addition to DOS programs. Microsoft also expanded into other areas including give-and-take processing , amongst Word replacing WordPerfect inwards a massive ocean alter inwards the industry.
But Microsoft was stuck amongst the same problem. Once people bought a re-create of their software , they were sort of laid for life unless it was a compelling demand to upgrade , in addition to most upgrades were non really compelling. People felt they could skip ane or 2 or fifty-fifty 3 upgrade cycles without besides much harm to their business.
Microsoft attempted to forcefulness upgrades on people , for instance making Windows 10 solely unlike from Windows vii yesteryear using comport upon enshroud technology scientific discipline - in addition to forcing people to charge it on their estimator using the "Windows Update" feature. Once installed , all the sometime programs would no longer piece of work , forcing people to purchase novel copies - or lease copies - of their software. They also created the novel .docx format for Word documents forcing people to upgrade to a novel version of Word - a version which relies on subscriptions rather than purchasing.
If y'all hold off at the history of the PC , you'll run into that at that spot has been an internal tension since its creation , betwixt the centralization of the estimator versus de-centralization. And people direct hold tried to accept the PC in addition to re-centralize it since it was born. The catch is to destroy the people's PC revolution in addition to supersede it amongst a corporate architecture instead.
I foremost ran into this at a constabulary theatre I worked at , where nosotros used a "Thin Client" network to gear upwards our documents in addition to accounting. We had a massive server amongst a RAID drive array comprising a number of parallel hard drives. Each ane of the computers used yesteryear the attorneys in addition to secretaries contained only a floppy drive in addition to access all information in addition to programs was from the network.
It all would piece of work fine unless the drive array failed. And y'all tin jurist what happened next. Our information technology mortal ran into problem amongst the backup software in addition to for several weeks stopped backing upwards the drive array because they had interface difficulties amongst the backup record system. Then the drive array crashed , in addition to at that spot was no way to restore it. The array was removed in addition to sent to remote information processing oculus to recover our information in addition to reformat the drive array or supersede it. In the meantime , we're all stuck amongst basically the equivalent of an IBM XT amongst a unmarried floppy drive.
I speedily made copies of floppy disks amongst a basic features of DOS on them as good as the basic features of WordPerfect (without the lexicon in addition to thesaurus). This would all stand upwards for on ane 720K floppy , in addition to I handed this out to the secretaries who were somewhat disappointed as they felt this was a peachy chance to accept a week-long opor-garai piece soundless getting paid. They were able to kicking upwards their computers create documents in addition to impress them. And since most of our physical file folders contained a floppy disk amongst all the documents for that file , nosotros were able to access existing files inwards most cases.
That experience amongst "Thin Client" illustrated why centralizing all your information at ane source is sometimes fraught amongst peril. And it also Illustrated that information technology professionals are something of an oxymoron. The best in addition to brightest estimator geeks don't piece of work as information technology people inwards a constabulary theatre other minor company. This experience volition hold upwards repeated afterward on some other constabulary theatre , where our information technology professional person downloaded a virus into the companionship server in addition to crashed the entire organization for several days.
Cloud computing takes this "thin client model" to the side yesteryear side bird - putting information in addition to programs on the Internet , instead of a local server. It also is zip novel , as it's been to a greater extent than or less for years in addition to is only simply at in ane trial taking off , to a greater extent than oftentimes than non for fiscal reasons non technical ones. The catch is genuinely uncomplicated - lay all your information in addition to operating programs on the meshing in addition to and then access them through whatever type of device.
There are many advantages to this architecture. For starters , y'all tin hold upwards device agnostic inwards that whatever device that interfaces amongst the meshing tin operate these programs in addition to access information normally through a spider web browser or app or some other interface. Thus , y'all tin access your information from a smartphone , tablet , laptop or PC - or fifty-fifty a Mac or iPhone. You are less outflow to formats in addition to brand-names in addition to operating systems.
Second , your information is e'er backed upwards on the Internet so y'all don't direct hold to worry close losing information - at to the lowest degree inwards theory - in addition to your information is accessible anywhere. The only downside to this is if the server holding your information inwards the cloud crashes in addition to the people who are managing your information for y'all don't direct hold it properly backed upwards or their backup server crashes , good , y'all are upwards the creek.
Influenza A virus subtype H5N1 3rd wages , which is especially useful for minor companies , is that it takes a lot of your information technology piece of work in addition to puts it upwards onto the cloud. Your application software that y'all usage is constantly beingness updated in addition to revised yesteryear the cloud provider , so y'all don't direct hold to worry close reinstalling software , updating software , in addition to otherwise revising or re-configuring it. Your information technology professional person (if y'all fifty-fifty direct hold one) demand worry only close the computers beingness plugged inwards in addition to operating. The repose is offloaded to a remote location.
Of course of report , all of this comes at a cost - in addition to that's the argue why cloud computing has acquire to a greater extent than pop as of belatedly - amongst the companies that furnish it. The catch is that instead of buying software in addition to owning it in addition to operating independently of whatever estimator companionship , y'all instead rent your software in addition to information space from a companionship similar Google or Microsoft in addition to pay them a monthly fee for the privilege of using your ain computer.
Again , for a large venture , this may top the cost-benefit test. The cost of maintaining your ain information technology subdivision , purchasing copies of software in addition to installing the software in addition to backing upwards your information may hold upwards rather steep. Not only that , but traditionally purchased software was amoritized over a number of years , where is cloud computing charges tin hold upwards expensed out for taxes - although today I imagine software is a expensed out as much anything else.
For most corporations , anything that is exterior their primary surface area of expertise is simply a drag on the companionship in addition to it distraction from the work organization at hand. If y'all are making widgets y'all desire to concentrate on making widgets as cheaply in addition to as fast as possible. You don't desire to concentrate on operating a estimator network or upgrading software or doing whatever of those sort of things , as they are simply overhead items in addition to distractions.
So yeah , for large corporations or fifty-fifty minor companies , perhaps this cloud computing catch makes sense. Rather than purchase a re-create of Word , y'all simply rent it online in addition to your rent your infinite inwards the cloud to shop all your documents. Basically you're taking your companionship server in addition to pushing it upwards onto the meshing in addition to letting somebody else bargain amongst it.
For the private , soundless , it may non hold upwards such a peachy deal. For instance , I run Windows vii Ultimate on my computers , which seems to hold upwards really stable in addition to copies the software tin hold upwards purchased inexpensively on the meshing - even legitimate copies. Also information storage is non genuinely an number as I direct hold over 3 terabytes of storage infinite , which is non expensive to buy. Influenza A virus subtype H5N1 ane terabyte hard drive , on in ane trial an unthinkable amount of information (at to the lowest degree when I was a kid) is at in ane trial only close $100 or so. Most of the 3 terabytes of information storage I direct hold is duplicate , triplicate , quadruplicate , or to a greater extent than copies of my piece of work information as good as videos , photographs , in addition to music files. I direct hold to a greater extent than storage infinite than I know what to do with. I'm non certain that putting it on the cloud would hold upwards of whatever usage to me.
There is also the number of security. I direct hold patent files for clients some of them dealing amongst really high technology scientific discipline applications. If I lay these upwards on the cloud , for instance on Google Drive , what guarantee do I direct hold that someone cannot direct hold access to these files or read them? In fact , it may hold upwards possible that Google does hold off at some of this information for keywords to create upwards one's hear what I'm interested inwards an social club to advertise to me (they just stopped doing this today , amongst our e-mails!). For a minor users similar myself , they offering gratis drive infinite inwards the cloud in addition to they must direct hold to pay for that infinite somehow. Google is an advertising companionship that sells demographic data. Nothing is free.
Whenever some tech companionship or online website offers y'all something for free comport inwards hear it isn't genuinely free. Nothing is free. They are trying to build coin off y'all somehow , normally yesteryear advertising to y'all in addition to harvesting your demographic data. They also promise y'all volition pay for a premium subscription service as well. Such as.... cloud computing , for example.
Of course of report , the software companies are at in ane trial pushing this technology scientific discipline on the people whether they desire it or not. If y'all desire to purchase a re-create of Microsoft Word , they would rather y'all rent a copy inwards the cloud rather than purchase the software as nosotros did inwards the past. Similarly when y'all opened upwards a document on your smartphone or fifty-fifty on the meshing , Google helpfully offers to opened upwards it inwards the cloud for y'all in addition to shop it there. Even Adobe is patently getting into the dissonance , renting out software rather than selling it , in addition to making this seem to hold upwards the only selection that people have. You genuinely tin soundless purchase a re-create of the software for over $400 , but at that toll , most people chose to rent , instead.
For the software companies , it is a dream scenario. As y'all tin imagine it's really frustrating if y'all piece of work at a software companionship in addition to y'all write a genuinely goodness slice of software that is so goodness that people experience no demand to supersede it. Once everybody has a re-create , your sales plummet in addition to inwards fact it gets to a greater extent than in addition to to a greater extent than expensive to do work organization as people are calling upwards amongst client service issues but are non buying novel copies. You tin genuinely destination upwards losing coin over time supporting older software. This is why Microsoft in addition to others cutting off back upwards after express number of years , increasingly a really , really express number of years.
But amongst cloud computing , if you're renting the software to people , your income flow is based on the number of users , rather than the numbers of copies sold. So if y'all direct hold a user who uses your software for 10 years y'all collect 10 years worth of revenue from him. Under the sometime model , y'all sold him a re-create of the software in addition to y'all collected from him once. Many users mightiness usage the software for 10 years or to a greater extent than - or sell it to a 3rd political party when they upgrade - a revenue flow y'all don't acquire to see.
I'm soundless using give-and-take 2000 which is at in ane trial a feisty 17 years old. It soundless prepares basic work organization letters other documents perfectly fine , though. And that's the problem. There genuinely is no argue to upgrade to novel software when the sometime software industrial plant simply fine. Bill Gates despises me.
So is this cloud computing the "Next Big Thing"? I'm non so sure. I think for a lot of enterprise solutions , large companies , in addition to fifty-fifty medium size in addition to minor companies , the catch of renting software may hold upwards appealing. So long as at that spot is contest inwards the marketplace , prices volition stay competitive. However since Microsoft Word sort of dominates the marketplace for give-and-take processing , they tin basically accuse whatever they desire for their software in addition to people probable won't switch to other alternatives.
Open Office volition piece of work amongst Microsoft documents , although my agreement it that the companionship "supporting" it has been sold in ane trial already. I went to download a re-create of late , in addition to it tried to download a lot of additional junkware along amongst a re-create of Open Office. I don't genuinely usage the computer program so much as I usage it to opened upwards .docx documents in addition to speedily convert them to .doc documents in addition to and then edit those inwards Word 2000.
I suppose many younger people today in all likelihood think this cloud computing is a genuinely cool bargain , is it floats a lot of the information in addition to software requirements into the cloud in addition to , of course of report , is trendy in addition to new. However coming from the era where I learned to computer program Fortran on IBM Punch Cards in addition to dicked to a greater extent than or less amongst Digital PDP-8's in addition to PDP-11s inwards high schoolhouse , the liberation of the personal estimator has a profound in addition to deep pregnant for me.
When the personal estimator came out , it was a really liberating experience. For the foremost fourth dimension inwards my life I owned a estimator lock , stock in addition to barrel. It was mine , I didn't demand permission to usage it , in addition to I didn't direct hold to pay anybody to computer program it for me. It was the anti-mainframe estimator inwards an IBM era , in addition to none of us inwards that era were really fond of IBM in addition to its monopoly practices. We wanted to liberate the estimator for everyone in addition to intermission gratis of whatever monopolistic bonds or corporate oppression.
Perhaps the younger generation today doesn't experience that way , having non gone through that experience. Today they grow upwards amongst a plethora of computing devices including a smartphone which is almost placed inwards their mitt at birth. They give lilliputian catch to the companies that command these devices , how they command our information , in addition to how they harvest our information in addition to usage it to manipulate in addition to command us.
Maybe to them , cloud computing seems similar an interesting affair that has some practical advantages over traditional methods. To me it seems similar some other chance for Microsoft in addition to Apple in addition to Google to lay their mitt on my wallet or at the really to the lowest degree hear inwards to my conversations in addition to information in addition to usage that to marketplace in addition to manipulate me.
This is why I'm glad going to hold upwards retiring from the patent business. Very presently at in ane trial I volition no longer demand to usage whatever of this software , other than occasionally crank upwards my ancient version of Word to generate a document or usage my as ancient version of QuickBooks to residue my checkbook. And as my life in addition to finances acquire simpler in addition to simpler over fourth dimension , my demand to usage these things may hold upwards less in addition to less.
But for younger people , it is soundless a conundrum. Do y'all pay Microsoft $10 a calendar month inwards social club to usage Word (or wherever it is they charge)? Or do y'all seize amongst teeth the bullet in addition to usage some other option software - or is at that spot whatever option software?
Like I said at that spot are alternatives out at that spot that are oftentimes gratis or inexpensive. OpenOffice tin hold upwards downloaded in addition to it volition perform most of the functions of Microsoft Office at no charge. This has require a modicum of talent for y'all to install the software however. Adobe Acrobat 8 Professional is available online freely in addition to performs most of the functions of Adobe Acrobat. There are also gratis 3rd political party readers in addition to the similar which tin hold upwards used (Adobe Reader has turned into a estimator locking turd of a computer program inwards its final iteration).
Older versions of QuickBooks piece of work really good , although they're non compatible amongst newer versions if you're interfacing amongst your accountant (and why this is so , good , y'all guess). From what I sympathise QuickBooks is also subscription fatigue. If y'all were paying so many dollars a calendar month for Microsoft Word , so many for Adobe , so many for QuickBooks , eventually the subscription costs add together upwards to tens of dollars or perhaps fifty-fifty hundreds of dollars a calendar month , which is an awful lot of money. It's similar having some other cable in addition to jail mobile telephone phone neb on top of your cable in addition to jail mobile telephone phone bill. People croak broke non amongst huge purchases but a lilliputian fighting at a time. And for the middle bird American , so many "small" subscription fees in addition to designer coffees chisel away at our wealth.
But I suppose , if these companies acquire besides greedy amongst their subscription fees , someone volition come upwards along amongst an option in addition to offered to the populace for less money. But we'll direct hold to hold off in addition to see. No uncertainty these companies volition seek to usage proprietary formats , patents in addition to other intellectual belongings , as good as other agency to seek to lock inwards their clients to their exceptional play pen or ecosystem , much as Apple tries to lock their customers inwards today.
For myself , I'm non so certain I'm eager to acquire involved inwards cloud computing.
And oh yesteryear the way , I forgot to cite the most obvious flaw amongst cloud computing: What happens when y'all are exterior the hit of meshing service? Not only volition your applications non piece of work , y'all won't direct hold access to your data. Your smartphone , tablet , in addition to laptop volition plow into bricks , much as the "Thin Client" computers did at the constabulary theatre , when the server crashed.
UPDATE: Influenza A virus subtype H5N1 reader writes amongst the next helpful links:
LibreOffice is what y'all desire non OpenOffice.
https://www.libreoffice.org/
It's my agreement most of the Oo developers went at that spot as Oo dissolved.
There is gratis , stripped downwards , "cloud" version of MS Office:
https://products.office.com/en
in addition to its Google equivalent:
https://chrome.google.com/webs
Sign inwards amongst a Microsoft or Google account
All storage providers hold off at y'all information , for reasons goodness in addition to bad.
The only ane that doesn't is Spider Oak.
https://spideroak.com/features
Myself , I volition stick amongst my electrical flow programs. You volition pry my "install" DVD-ROMS out of my mutual frigidity , dead , hands. And many of these older programs are soundless available on eBay. It took me over 2 decades to acquire MS-Word , I ain't starting over at this bespeak inwards my life.
Funny how the DVD is considered "old tech" these days. Geez , I hollo upwards when CDs foremost came out , in addition to nosotros catch it was scientific discipline fiction! All that data! On ane lilliputian shiny disc!
P.S. - the blogger website is basically a simplified HTML give-and-take processor. It illustrates how y'all tin lay almost whatever computer program on the "web" in addition to run it as a website. No longer does a "program" demand to run on a exceptional O/S. Ironically , I wonder if many of the servers running these online versions of software are running.....UNIX. Maybe!
UPDATE: DropBox is talking close doing an IPO. Here nosotros croak again. I am only aware of this companionship because their "app" came pre-installed on my Samsung Milky Way (I never usage it). DropBox got out of the "free" storage for civilians work organization as Google in addition to Microsoft direct hold pretty much swallowed that up. Instead , they are pushing work organization solutions in addition to smart-sync of local devices amongst the cloud - in addition to yeah , I wrote Patents on that materials decades ago. Good Luck DropBox!
I'm soundless using give-and-take 2000 which is at in ane trial a feisty 17 years old. It soundless prepares basic work organization letters other documents perfectly fine , though. And that's the problem. There genuinely is no argue to upgrade to novel software when the sometime software industrial plant simply fine. Bill Gates despises me.
So is this cloud computing the "Next Big Thing"? I'm non so sure. I think for a lot of enterprise solutions , large companies , in addition to fifty-fifty medium size in addition to minor companies , the catch of renting software may hold upwards appealing. So long as at that spot is contest inwards the marketplace , prices volition stay competitive. However since Microsoft Word sort of dominates the marketplace for give-and-take processing , they tin basically accuse whatever they desire for their software in addition to people probable won't switch to other alternatives.
Open Office volition piece of work amongst Microsoft documents , although my agreement it that the companionship "supporting" it has been sold in ane trial already. I went to download a re-create of late , in addition to it tried to download a lot of additional junkware along amongst a re-create of Open Office. I don't genuinely usage the computer program so much as I usage it to opened upwards .docx documents in addition to speedily convert them to .doc documents in addition to and then edit those inwards Word 2000.
I suppose many younger people today in all likelihood think this cloud computing is a genuinely cool bargain , is it floats a lot of the information in addition to software requirements into the cloud in addition to , of course of report , is trendy in addition to new. However coming from the era where I learned to computer program Fortran on IBM Punch Cards in addition to dicked to a greater extent than or less amongst Digital PDP-8's in addition to PDP-11s inwards high schoolhouse , the liberation of the personal estimator has a profound in addition to deep pregnant for me.
When the personal estimator came out , it was a really liberating experience. For the foremost fourth dimension inwards my life I owned a estimator lock , stock in addition to barrel. It was mine , I didn't demand permission to usage it , in addition to I didn't direct hold to pay anybody to computer program it for me. It was the anti-mainframe estimator inwards an IBM era , in addition to none of us inwards that era were really fond of IBM in addition to its monopoly practices. We wanted to liberate the estimator for everyone in addition to intermission gratis of whatever monopolistic bonds or corporate oppression.
Perhaps the younger generation today doesn't experience that way , having non gone through that experience. Today they grow upwards amongst a plethora of computing devices including a smartphone which is almost placed inwards their mitt at birth. They give lilliputian catch to the companies that command these devices , how they command our information , in addition to how they harvest our information in addition to usage it to manipulate in addition to command us.
Maybe to them , cloud computing seems similar an interesting affair that has some practical advantages over traditional methods. To me it seems similar some other chance for Microsoft in addition to Apple in addition to Google to lay their mitt on my wallet or at the really to the lowest degree hear inwards to my conversations in addition to information in addition to usage that to marketplace in addition to manipulate me.
This is why I'm glad going to hold upwards retiring from the patent business. Very presently at in ane trial I volition no longer demand to usage whatever of this software , other than occasionally crank upwards my ancient version of Word to generate a document or usage my as ancient version of QuickBooks to residue my checkbook. And as my life in addition to finances acquire simpler in addition to simpler over fourth dimension , my demand to usage these things may hold upwards less in addition to less.
But for younger people , it is soundless a conundrum. Do y'all pay Microsoft $10 a calendar month inwards social club to usage Word (or wherever it is they charge)? Or do y'all seize amongst teeth the bullet in addition to usage some other option software - or is at that spot whatever option software?
Like I said at that spot are alternatives out at that spot that are oftentimes gratis or inexpensive. OpenOffice tin hold upwards downloaded in addition to it volition perform most of the functions of Microsoft Office at no charge. This has require a modicum of talent for y'all to install the software however. Adobe Acrobat 8 Professional is available online freely in addition to performs most of the functions of Adobe Acrobat. There are also gratis 3rd political party readers in addition to the similar which tin hold upwards used (Adobe Reader has turned into a estimator locking turd of a computer program inwards its final iteration).
Older versions of QuickBooks piece of work really good , although they're non compatible amongst newer versions if you're interfacing amongst your accountant (and why this is so , good , y'all guess). From what I sympathise QuickBooks is also subscription fatigue. If y'all were paying so many dollars a calendar month for Microsoft Word , so many for Adobe , so many for QuickBooks , eventually the subscription costs add together upwards to tens of dollars or perhaps fifty-fifty hundreds of dollars a calendar month , which is an awful lot of money. It's similar having some other cable in addition to jail mobile telephone phone neb on top of your cable in addition to jail mobile telephone phone bill. People croak broke non amongst huge purchases but a lilliputian fighting at a time. And for the middle bird American , so many "small" subscription fees in addition to designer coffees chisel away at our wealth.
But I suppose , if these companies acquire besides greedy amongst their subscription fees , someone volition come upwards along amongst an option in addition to offered to the populace for less money. But we'll direct hold to hold off in addition to see. No uncertainty these companies volition seek to usage proprietary formats , patents in addition to other intellectual belongings , as good as other agency to seek to lock inwards their clients to their exceptional play pen or ecosystem , much as Apple tries to lock their customers inwards today.
For myself , I'm non so certain I'm eager to acquire involved inwards cloud computing.
And oh yesteryear the way , I forgot to cite the most obvious flaw amongst cloud computing: What happens when y'all are exterior the hit of meshing service? Not only volition your applications non piece of work , y'all won't direct hold access to your data. Your smartphone , tablet , in addition to laptop volition plow into bricks , much as the "Thin Client" computers did at the constabulary theatre , when the server crashed.
UPDATE: Influenza A virus subtype H5N1 reader writes amongst the next helpful links:
LibreOffice is what y'all desire non OpenOffice.
https://www.libreoffice.org/
It's my agreement most of the Oo developers went at that spot as Oo dissolved.
There is gratis , stripped downwards , "cloud" version of MS Office:
https://products.office.com/en
in addition to its Google equivalent:
https://chrome.google.com/webs
Sign inwards amongst a Microsoft or Google account
All storage providers hold off at y'all information , for reasons goodness in addition to bad.
The only ane that doesn't is Spider Oak.
https://spideroak.com/features
* * *
Myself , I volition stick amongst my electrical flow programs. You volition pry my "install" DVD-ROMS out of my mutual frigidity , dead , hands. And many of these older programs are soundless available on eBay. It took me over 2 decades to acquire MS-Word , I ain't starting over at this bespeak inwards my life.
Funny how the DVD is considered "old tech" these days. Geez , I hollo upwards when CDs foremost came out , in addition to nosotros catch it was scientific discipline fiction! All that data! On ane lilliputian shiny disc!
P.S. - the blogger website is basically a simplified HTML give-and-take processor. It illustrates how y'all tin lay almost whatever computer program on the "web" in addition to run it as a website. No longer does a "program" demand to run on a exceptional O/S. Ironically , I wonder if many of the servers running these online versions of software are running.....UNIX. Maybe!
UPDATE: DropBox is talking close doing an IPO. Here nosotros croak again. I am only aware of this companionship because their "app" came pre-installed on my Samsung Milky Way (I never usage it). DropBox got out of the "free" storage for civilians work organization as Google in addition to Microsoft direct hold pretty much swallowed that up. Instead , they are pushing work organization solutions in addition to smart-sync of local devices amongst the cloud - in addition to yeah , I wrote Patents on that materials decades ago. Good Luck DropBox!
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