Some Thoughts On Cloud Computing

Earlier today when I was listening to the general session speeches being made by the CEO’s of the various DS brands, I made a tweetlaration (a declaration on Twitter). I tweeted:

Actually, the only other major engineering software vendor I know that is doing anything about cloud computing is Autodesk. But they seem to be taking a cautious approach and are developing stuff that can be use by people today, not five or ten years from now. At least that is what they are talking about and letting us play with. I have no idea what PTC and Siemens PLM are doing about cloud computing. I am hoping they know what they are doing about it.

Here is how I see it. Ten years ago a mobile phone was a device I used make a calls and send short messages to people. Today the “phone” is merely an app on a device that the world, out of sheer habit, calls a phone.

Anyone who thinks that ten years from now we will be doing computing like we are doing it today is bone headed. Anyone who thinks that ten years from now we will be using the internet like we are using it today is devoid of imagination. I could go on. But I think you get my point. The common sense reality is that things are going to change. And once you accept that then as a human being who has been blessed with a brain you are obliged to ask yourself, “So what will change? And what will it change to?”

It looks like a smart fellow called Bernard Charles in a company called Dassault Systemes has already done that and has forseen the kind of turn computing is going to take in the next few years. He has decided that his company should be ready with a solution crafted to perfection when (not if) he needs to take that turn.

Hardware will always improve. Like electricity internet connectivity will always get faster and more stable. But the one thing that will always remain the same is the number of hours in a day. We will always want to do more with the same amount of time at our disposal. Tools and devices that restrict us from doing so will not be used. Its as simple as that. I firmly believe that computing is going to be more about user experience and less about the actual processing of input to yield output. Computing is going to be less about what you do and more about how you do it.

A few years ago you may have bought a mobile phone without WiFi. Will you do that today? Today you may buy a mobile phone that doesn’t act like your guardian angel, monitoring your health and safety and also notifying you about the health and safety your loved ones. Will you do that a few years from now? Think about it.

I see no point speaking sense to people who use the limitations of today to rule out the possibilities of tommorow. I will leave you with some words used in the “Think Different” Apple advertisement campaign of 1997:

“Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. While some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do. – Apple Inc.”