Technology Trends

Cloud Computing: The Death of Computers(Part III)

By Todd Atkins This is part three of a three part series focusing on cloud computing. Read part I, “The Long Circular Path” if you want to learn about how we got to the cloud computing era. Read part II, “Taking the Plunge” to learn about getting your files and software off your hard drive and into the cloud. Internet Connected Devices: A look at things to come Ok, I’ll admit the title to this post is a little sensationalist. Computers aren’t going to die and vanish. Far from it. As I predicted in Part I of this series, in the not so distant future, the lines between smart phones, computers, mp3 players, tablets, tv’s, video game consoles, and even household appliaces will be blurred. We’ll no longer think of these gadgets as separate specialty items, but simply tools to…
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Cloud Computing: Taking the Plunge (Part II)

By Todd Atkins This is part two of a three part series focusing on cloud computing. Read part I, “The Long Circular Path” if you want to learn about how we got to the cloud computing era. Setting up the Basics Ready to take the plunge and jump into cloud computing with both feet and not look back? Let’s start with a little housekeeping first. Unfortunately, there is no one system that will do everything; not yet, at least. Google is pretty close. It is best to think of your your computer as files (data), programs (software), and configurations. We’ll start with configurations since it lays the foundation and ties the first two together. Throughout this guide I’ll tell you what I use. There are many other options and the review of them is beyond the scope of this blog…
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Cloud Computing: The Long Circular Path (Part I)

By Todd Atkins Centralized Computing Era: Mainframes & Terminals Personal computing has finally come full circle. Back in the late 1970′s personal computers didn’t really exist. Instead we had terminals which were really nothing more than a glorified keyboard and a monitor. Very little computing was done on the client side. Most of the computations and heavy lifting was done by the server or mainframe, depending on the network. These servers were much more powerful and the common office didn’t need to use them too frequently so it was a good setup. As demand for server time grew, users found that network speed and server response was becoming the limiting variable to their productivity. The answer was server upgrades, additional servers and more robust networks. The setup made sense. Centralize your computational power. Files and programs can be access from…
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