Future trends in cloud computing, social networking and mobile internet

The purpose of this article is to explain the essence of the three most popular it terminology (cloud computing, social networking and mobile Internet) in concise language, analyze their problems, and predict future trends.

What is cloud computing

The first is cloud computing. Today, my side still often friends ask, this shout loud cloud computing, in the end is what thing? In the beginning I would explain a lot of things, and later found that simple to remember the most useful. So summed up as a sentence: cloud computing is the Internet, the Internet is the cloud. The use of cloud computing, or the purpose, is to put PCs (desktops or notebooks) on the Internet.

What do you call a personal computer on the Internet? For example, you can watch TV dramas directly on the Internet, and you can watch the same TV play anywhere you can surf the Internet. A few years ago, you might have to download a TV set to your PC, and you'd have to install the playback software such as Storm audio and video first. In other words, the functions that originally belonged to the PC are now replaced by the Internet.

The ultimate goal of cloud computing is to replace the full functionality of the PC, which is to put the PC on the web. Cloud computing will eventually allow you to do anything computer-related at any time, without having to carry a laptop or a USB drive, because all the data and software you need is in the cloud, in your online account.

For friends outside the IT circle, "putting PCs on the Web" may not sound exciting enough. At best, it can make our information life more convenient. But if I tell you that this change will lead to the disappearance of the Microsoft Empire that once had a hand over the sky, then you may be mentally spirits. Is it that bad? But it's not surprising that if the PC disappears, what's the use of Windows?

Looking back at our computer operations today, which software is the most frequently used? Yes, it's a browser. When the ultimate goal of cloud computing becomes real, we will only need to leave a browser on the local computer and no longer need the other complex features of Windows. By then, we would have even wanted to turn on a running browser and no longer need Windows itself (which is the goal of Google's Chrome OS project).

For it practitioners, the transfer of personal computers to the internet means endless opportunities and possibilities. We used to be familiar with a variety of desktop software, large to office, small to Notepad, in the cloud era need to be rewritten as Web pages. This alone means billions of dollars worth of potential wealth. Not to mention another substantial change in the process of personal computers moving to the Internet-socializing.

The essence of social interaction is communication between people, and the transfer of personal computers to the Internet will provide the social arena with a much larger base of user community than today. We know that even today, when Windows and the Internet coexist, social networking services have created mega companies that are valued at more than billions of shares, like Facebook. In other words, cloud computing is not only about the potential to recreate a Microsoft Empire, but it also means the real advent of an era of unprecedented and powerful information.

Cloud computing Analysis and prediction

For the industry, even if everyone knows the benefits of cloud computing, it is unlikely that many people can really put it into practice. The surface of the vigorous development of cloud computing industry, to now seems to be just a number of computer room pull funds gimmick. Cloud computing is just a broadband, on the machine? The lesson is that telecoms operators are throwing large sums of money at 3G, until they finally find themselves more like wedding skirts for internet companies.

Hardware investment is both necessary and profitable, but it is only the lowest part of the industry ecosystem. The infrastructure, which has a very low threshold for technology, should not be a cover for cloud computing.

The real highlight of cloud computing is the software industry. Although all internet companies are related to cloud computing in terms of "Internet as cloud computing", not all internet companies are truly involved in the development of cloud computing. Not want to participate, is not know how to participate.

How should cloud computing be implemented? Grasping the essence of the "personal computer moving to the Internet" is the key. Following this line of thought, a network operating system, or online windows, may be the first major development event in the cloud computing world. If you can not do the OS, then the next step, the development of cloud-era application software, or Internet services, is also a positive solution.

Look at the operating system first. What will the network operating system look like? Some people think that browsers even the future cloud era of the operating system. Wrong! Remember, the cloud era is characterized by "everything in the Cloud". Therefore, the browser this local software doomed it and the cloud missed. Work on it, is bound to go the old way of localization, away from the cloud more and more. In the final analysis, the browser is just a client, a cloud terminal display driver, it is impossible to become a network operating system. Browsers are still the web portals of the big companies, but that's just the illusion that the cloud's world is not mature enough. As more personal computer functions migrate to the cloud, browsers will eventually become a shell that does not require additional functionality, and using which browser to access the cloud will become less important.

There are also some smart companies that understand the future of the cloud. At home, Tencent is one step ahead of the move. Open web2.qq.com, present in front of the page is not so much as the online Windows desktop. This data, software, operations are in the Cloud Network desktop, is the embryonic form of the network operating system. As more and more rich third-party applications are added, the ambitions of the Penguin Empire are clear.

Lucky, cloud computing is not as simple as replicating one online windows. That's why cloud computing isn't monopolized by big companies, leaving us with a chance to get involved. The problem is that even if Tencent does the same thing as windows, the ecology of the internet will not be a monopoly of the PC era. The portal home page, e-mail, or open as usual, is not subject to the so-called network operating system constraints. You know, in the PC age, no software is possible without windows. This stark difference in nature suggests that the web desktop that looks like Windows is just a desktop. You can even interpret it as a network hard disk. Anyway, it's definitely not the real operating system.

Still, the Web desktop remains the closest to the operating system in the cloud-era ecosystem. But the glory of Windows could no longer be replicated, and the possibility of absolute monopolies would fade along with this disgraceful glory. A good web desktop, such as Facebook, may have long been the home page for most people, but it does not prevent a few users in the long tail from choosing other web desktops in their own preferences. The Web desktop products of different companies will coexist in the cloud, and all Internet services can be well run in them, without being bothered by compatibility. Because the defining standard of the cloud era is not one set, but rooted in the already popular public network agreement.

In other words, the cloud era will no longer have a real operating system. The Web desktop is not so much an operating system as another application in the cloud. It can also be argued that the cloud-era operating system is made up of all the services in the Internet.

Therefore, the implementation of the cloud era of the key, ultimately boils down to the development of Internet services. But Internet services are not synonymous with traditional internet sites. The biggest difference is that the Internet serves the software features of the interaction of users and other services, while the traditional web site is just a piece of static text and pictures, which is equivalent to a data file in a personal computer.

That's why a handful of websites in the Internet are really involved in the process of cloud computing. Even the rise of Web2.0 has allowed many sites to focus on interacting with users, and few sites have been able to coexist with the external data, like Windows software. In the context of the Internet, this can also be understood as the openness of the site. In this regard, not only the courage, but also the need for imagination. The difference between Facebook and MySpace is that the former has made a decisive qualitative leap by opening its social resources to the outside world.

In short, noisy cloud computing is simple. No proving papers, no blind government investment. The future and opportunities lie in the innovation and refinement of Internet services. Small and medium Internet content providers will play an increasingly important role. Platforms and systems will no longer be important, and absolute monopolies will be diverted to some excellent internet services. With the deepening of cloud computing, excellent internet services will become more and more, the order of the information world will eventually tend to equality and freedom.

(Responsible editor: The good of the Legacy)