There is a big difference between PC and cloud computing

Today, Wired Magazine's online edition published an article named Joen Stocks (Jon Stokes), which says that while the PC is in the tech industry with cloud computing, there are a lot of differences between the two, and they can't look at these two areas in the same way of thinking.

The article is summarized as follows:

When I first wrote the Cloudline column, I set my goal to shift my experience in the PC industry to the cloud computing field--with charts, analogies, and straightforward language, to introduce the industry to the world. However, in the past three months, I learned a lot of things, the most important thing is to understand that cloud computing and the PC is completely different, it is not like I used to write a PC column to write cloud computing column, the reason is simple: the PC orderly, cloud computing mess.

Here are the four major differences between the PC and cloud computing industries that I've summed up:

1, PC definition is clear, cloud computing is not

Since the launch of the IBM PC, there has been general agreement on the definition of PC in the industry. Until recently, with the rise of mobile devices and the advent of the so-called "post-PC" era, the broad definition of PCs remained largely unchanged. The cloud computing landscape is quite different.

In the eyes of two different people, cloud computing has a different meaning--a kind of person who thinks it's a specific technology, and another kind of person sees it as a broad business approach. While defining what cloud computing is, it has been an important part of the industry and news organizations, but it has long been inconclusive. So any business that goes through the Internet will appear in cloud-related blogs.

2, the formation of a dual-head PC monopoly, cloud computing is very dispersed

For more than more than 10 years, the core architecture technology of PCs has been directly or indirectly controlled by Intel. In the software world, Microsoft has a similar influence. When it comes to hardware, whether it's CPU, chipset, DRAM, perimeter bus, or system architecture, it's more or less affected by Intel. Indeed, AMD, Veolia and other companies have some clout, but Intel has always been a leader. Intel's leadership and relentless oppression of its rivals have made the PC industry a unified vision that is evolving along the same path.

In contrast, cloud computing is a collection of different communities, dialogues, commitments, and projects. Cloud computing seems to be a product of a group of individuals and organizations that happen to blend together without any boundaries. Predicting the development of the industry is like predicting where a mob is going.

3, the PC is an object, cloud computing is a group of subjects

To report on the latest and most important developments in the PC architecture--such as Intel and its competitor's new CPUs, the newer extension bus interface, the new chipset, the latest expansion of the x86 system--I will disappear for two or three weeks, read a lot of PDF files, make detailed notes, draw graphs, And try to understand the new technology and its impact on the PC industry. Finally, I will give the final work--the article published on Ars Technica. I'll explain how this technology works and how it affects users.

In a ruthless way, my writing is equivalent to the "miniature version" of the PC technology development process: to produce a new CPU, architects need to engage in a four or five-year secret study in the lab, eventually releasing the perfect product. This product will exist for several years in its current form.

In the field of cloud computing, it is more like reporting a set of erratic conversations. There will always be new progress, but it's hard to tell how it will affect cloud computing-if there are. The connection between the new technology and the previous technology is not clear. This leads to a result: you can't write about cloud computing by downloading tables and manuals, or writing an article in a week, but getting into it and reporting it.

In other words, a PC is a study of technology objects, and cloud computing is a series of personas that you have to interview and interact with.

4, PC like magazine, cloud-like website

The description of the PC and cloud computing technologies above can be compared with the publishing industry. Magazine writers and editors can write a perfect article by working hard to collect materials, and once published, they will be available for later reference in the established format.

The cloud computing landscape is constantly being updated. New work and patches are always on the way, and they are rarely advertised. These latest technologies sometimes screw up and have to be pushed back. This is like a website editing way, as long as there are new content to be published immediately, and sometimes in the content issued after the change.