I'd like to respond to an article I read today In PCWorld entitled "The Cloud Fails Again".
The gist of the article which I linked to above is this; the author's Comcast connection goes down and he's unable to run a podcast he's scheduled to conduct. The author argues that being dependent on the Cloud has caused his woes. I'd like to bring to light a few issues here.
#1. The internet connection went down - not the servers hosting any of the applications or websites.
It's easy to point fingers when problems occur. However, there are always work arounds. Why not go to a local coffee shop with Wifi or find a boingo hotspot? Better yet, why not tether your phone (if capable) or use a MiFi card...the list goes on and on.
#2. A new tactic emerges - Blaming the Cloud for everything.
It seems that this is all based around a scare tactic. Rather than blaming a faulty internet connection we'll blame a new technology. I do admit that a lot of my life is in the Cloud. If G-Mail went down I'd be without e-mail, if Skype went down I'd be without communications. However, for almost all of these I feel that the amount of downtime is so small it's negligible and also there are alternatives.
So what does this tell me? Until people adjust to calling web apps simply applications we'll continue to blame the Cloud for any and all problems. Let's not wax nostalgic about the old days of everything living on the desktop. The reason I use Cloud apps is because they allow me to access all of my data while at home and on the go. If all I need to do is figure out an internet connection I think I'll be fine.
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