Microsoft & the Cloud

KremmenUK · 05 Mar 2010

I can understand where M$ are coming from as they would far prefer a steady revenue stream when we are all using Office online and paying by the hour to use it but - I will never give up a locally installed version of Office given the often unreliable/slow net connection during peak times.

As/if 'the cloud' takes off, more and more users will be connected and the bandwidth can only get worse.

If your ISP has problems then you lose the ability to work until the connection is restored.

We already have some cloud applications here (application and data on a remote server) and in peak times the keystroke response times are far from ideal.

Just my opinion though

burtie · 05 Mar 2010

I agree with Kremmen.

dmex · 05 Mar 2010

Bandwidth shouldn't be a problem for Aussies once our FTTH (Fiber to the house) is rolled out over the next 8 years, I hear the FCC and Google are doing the same over in the US

jimbo45 · 07 Mar 2010

burtie said:

I agree with Kremmen.

Hi there
Lack of Bandwidth is only a "technical" problem which is easily overcome -- how many people on this forum can remember when we all thought a dial up with a "Hayes smart modem" at a whopping 2400 Baud was really great -.

The main problem I fear will be in the "Corporate" Greed of the providers -- capping Bandwidth or charging ABSURD fees to use the services -- this IMO will kill this STONE DEAD for home type users unless the price is right -- and most people DO NOT LIKE MONTHLY SUBSCRIPTIONS -- a yearly ONE OFF FEE for UNLIMITED usage would probably be more popular but not likely to be on offer.

I like the idea for example of being able to use Photoshop by just logging on without having to install this stuff on every computer I want to use it on -- would also save on license fees since your PC is now only acting as an "Intelligent terminal" to a remote server.

The idea in principle is great but until a sensible business model can emerge then it's going to be a "Still Born" idea for non business users.

The technology is available NOW and relatively easy to implement.

The Management and business structures however still have a LONG way to go IMO -- and what about the 100,000's of IT workers who will be edged out by this new technology as well -- especially in today's climate where every job is precious.

The I.T sector went through a savage decline via a lot of really "aggressive" offshoring tactics - however fortunately for a significant part of this sector the wrong pieces were offshored and a lot of core components / management project / system analysis/ architecture design pieces are being brought back leaving only the actual hardware infrastructure and basic coding to be offshored -- which is what should have happened in the first place. - Again this shows that the (higher) management structures are still very poor for the whole I.T sector in general. I don't mean of course some of the very capable people running the servers etc etc -- but at the HIGHER levels of the company where people usually have Banking or Legal training and know zilch about I.T.

Cheers
jimbo