The change is subtle because the look and feel is familiar. It doesn’t help that y ou need to be a bit of a geek to use it but, eventually, almost imperceptibly, everything will change. I’m talking about the virtualization of information technology — what is often called “cloud computing.” The concept has been around for decades and has existed, eons ago, on IBM mainframes…but its about to go mainstream now. In a nutshell, cloud computing is about separating the interface from the hardware and making it portable or ubiquitous. Servers are being transformed into virtual machines — they still run the same operating system and
programs, but they’re sharing the metal box with other virtual servers.
That concept is fairly simply to grasp…save money by reducing your hardware (and your carbon) footprint. It hits paydirt though when you start replacing desktops with virtual desktops. Imagine all the applications you use running from a browser-like interface. Imagine your documents, preferences, email and other bits stored on some secure spot somewhere on the internet. All you need is a display device and a connection to the ‘net. You with me so far?
No need for backups. Your files are always scanned by the latest anti-virus. Your hardware has fewer moving parts, is quieter and uses less electricity. Plus your stuff is accessible from anywhere you can access the net. And from any device. The possibilities are quite endless and, please restrain me here, I suspect that we may finally enter an era where we finally free ourselves from the tyranny of the keyboard. Why? Because the sheer number of devices that will be able to access our personal and shared information will make it feasible for alternative input and output devices to be commoditized. It can’t happen soon enough.