CNET held an hour-long event during which they declared “The Cloud” as the next big thing (to the utter disappointment of the Salad Shooter contingency.)
Cloud computing – a term that really took root during ’08 – no longer simply refers to the Internet, but rather the more specific concepts of on-demand computing, utility computing and software as a service.
Eric Feng, CTO of Hulu said that 2008 and before was all about accessibility – making content available and easy to find. For 2009, it will be about quality of service – making sure that the viewing experience is glitch-free. Brian Whitton, executive director of Access Network Design and Integration for Verizon, echoed this sentiment, explaining that we need to build the network with five-nines reliability for all data, just as we did for the old telephone system.
The event hosted by CNET editor-at-large Brian Cooley featured three separate panels that discussed the future of digital distribution from the device, services and connectivity perspectives. The panelists discussed the challenges and opportunities that arise as more people entrust their data to “the cloud.”
Are light or dark clouds in our future?