Cloud Computing, a Huge Step Backwards

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puppyite

Cloud Computing, a Huge Step Backwards

#1 Post by puppyite »

Cloud computing is really just a euphemism for thin client. Remember the dumb terminal? Employees had one on their desk, it was little more than a monitor and a network interface. Upon arriving to work people would sign on the network and begin working. All software, user files etc resided on a server. All of which was managed by the IT department and controlled by the employer.

Cloud computing duplicates this model closely. The only difference is you supply a dumb terminal and network connection (a.k.a. Internet connection). Now software and user files reside in the cloud (a.k.a. Internet). Notice I didn’t say your software or your files. Reason being is they don’t belong to you, they belong to whoever hosts those files and applications. If the server goes down or you lose your Internet connection your dumb terminal is unusable.

Just to make the point clear about ownership there is one unbendable rule about the Internet. Whoever pays for hosting is “Guy In Charge

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Moose On The Loose
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Re: Cloud Computing, a Huge Step Backwards

#2 Post by Moose On The Loose »

puppyite wrote:Cloud computing is really just a euphemism for thin client. Remember the dumb terminal?

(snip)

Cloud computing duplicates this model closely. The only difference is you supply a dumb terminal and network connection (a.k.a. Internet connection). Now software and user files reside in the cloud (a.k.a. Internet). Notice I didn’t say your software or your files. Reason being is they don’t belong to you, they belong to whoever hosts those files and applications. If the server goes down or you lose your Internet connection your dumb terminal is unusable.
There is another couple of elements to the trend you have identified (at least in the US).

The networks are no longer going to be required to carry packets with equal priority. This means that the guys who make the networks can slow the packets from services that compete with them and completely block some just by making them infinitely slow.

Many companies are switching to the "windows domain" method of doing networks. This means the companies are moving towards the central computer and terminals on a local basis along with the trend towards the cloud.

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Re: Cloud Computing, a Huge Step Backwards

#3 Post by mickee »

[quote="puppyite"]

This could be what the future holds in store for you if you go along with it. Your computer will be a thin client if you succumb to cloud control. So the question is, are you sheeple or are you “Guy In Charge
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#4 Post by DaveS »

But it does mean that your work is op system independent. I have been running an accounting system in 'the cloud' for a week now as an experiment. I was able to access the system from home on my Linux box, and from various workplaces on their Windows machines. I all cases I was able to work with the system and print invoices etc with no problem. This is the seductive side.
By using globally recognised formats I am able to download a copy to whatever box I like as a back up. Notice the role reversal.... main file is now off site, while back up is local :)
I am guessing I can even use this via my Andriod phone, though so far I have not tried, and presumably via an Android tablet should I ever get one.
I can hand off permissions to other employees to allow them access from wherever they happen to be.
But I agree, the whole thing is based entirely on trust, and history teaches us that is a bad model.
There is a little more.... I have my phone synced with Google Contacts and Google Calendar. This allows me to change my phone without having a mass of re-configuring to do. My calendar is 'shared' with my wife, so access to ANY PC or via cell phone gives us full awareness of what is upcoming in our lives.
Again.... seductive indeed...................
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#5 Post by puppyite »

Hi DaveS,
There are two mind sets. One favors convenience and the other favors control. For me control wins every time.

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#6 Post by DaveS »

puppyite wrote:Hi DaveS,
There are two mind sets. One favors convenience and the other favors control. For me control wins every time.
I am with you on that, but it pays to experiment with this stuff I think?
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#7 Post by sc0ttman »

I just dont get cloud computing... If I want to use online storage, I'll use my web hosting account.. If I didnt have one, but wanted one, I'd get one...

With web hosting, I am the "guy in charge", I got unlimited space and bandwidth, with 99.9% uptime, for about $10 a month (hostgator, only been down once in 3 years, for about 5 mins)...

And I choose or make the software that I connect to, in the 'cloud'... Some of these stupid "cloud" concepts are more expensive than unlimited, reliable, fast web-hosting!
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#8 Post by thane »

Personal computing is the equivalent of keeping your money under a mattress. Today's cloud computing is roughly the equivalent of what banks were in 1930. Maybe safer than your mattress, but you could still lose everything if the bank went under.

The answer was bank reform. The government started requiring banks to adhere to certain standards and guaranteed depositors' money. OK, personal data is not as fungible or easily replaceable as money, but additional legal protections could still make it safer than it would be on your personal PC. So we should reform the cloud.

edit: Or maybe start developing the cloud equivalent of credit unions. Cloud systems that are owned by and accountable to their users.

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#9 Post by 2lss »

For me, cloud computing is only acceptable if you physically own the server used to store your data.

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#10 Post by smokey01 »

sc0ttman wrote:I just dont get cloud computing... If I want to use online storage, I'll use my web hosting account.. If I didnt have one, but wanted one, I'd get one...

With web hosting, I am the "guy in charge", I got unlimited space and bandwidth, with 99.9% uptime, for about $10 a month (hostgator, only been down once in 3 years, for about 5 mins)...

And I choose or make the software that I connect to, in the 'cloud'... Some of these stupid "cloud" concepts are more expensive than unlimited, reliable, fast web-hosting!
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#11 Post by OFC Dark Puppy »

Before you buy into cloud OS. Like Chrome OS or Windows 8, ask yourself this. Do you trust Google or Microsoft with your life and your information?

Essentially everything you do will be going through their servers. You won't be able to download your own music or store your own files. It'll all be stored online within their servers.

Essentially it's like living your entire life in a little room full of cameras and trusting the photographers not to sell the photos. Just to give a rough metaphor.

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#12 Post by dogle »

With you, Puppyite, Scottman, Smokey01, OFC Dark Puppy. Cloud stinks, methinks, save as a handy way of parting the soon-parted ... which is not to say it may not be a great commerciaL success for the parters ... who seek to exploit that tried-and-tested business axiom 'there's one born every minute' ... as so elegantly demonstrated by the prowess of the OS we all love to hate.

thane, oh-oh, I surmise that you have not been bled by the failure of a 'reformed' bank (as have I!), but your inspired 'credit union' edit may open a new debate - is there a case for non-profit cloud arrangements?

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#13 Post by puppyiso »

I am against the cloud thing.

Let me tell you a little story.

as you might know it's Chinese labor day here. But I was told the banks wouldn't close. I had to go to bank to get something but it started with trouble.

The only bus to downtown came but fully loaded and 15 buses passed without stopping at the stop. I wasted a lot of time. When I did get to the bank, the department was closed only for that day. They offered no apology.

In China, customer is not a king but a shit.

On my way back home. same thing happened. I finally took other buses to get home.

I wasted a whole day and got nothing.

Why? I trusted the bank and the bus system. That's the reason people have private safes at home and have their own car and have guns under pillows even though cops do exist.

Same thing goes to cloud thing. What if they go out of business, deny the services, you lose the password or hacked by someone?

Would you trust the total strangers? If so, your moms would cry. mothers tell their kids not to trust strangers.

If anyone with right mind ever even consider the cloud thing trusty, you have wasted your entire life learning nothing.

It's so simple and clear. End of discussion.

-------------------------------------------------------
John May 2011 in the era of stupidity discussing cloud shit which is the closest thing to nuke power plants in Japan.

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#14 Post by mickee »

puppyiso wrote: If anyone with right mind ever even consider the cloud thing trusty, you have wasted your entire life learning nothing.

It's so simple and clear. End of discussion.

-------------------------------------------------------
John May 2011 in the era of stupidity discussing cloud shit which is the closest thing to nuke power plants in Japan.
I use the cloud for non-crucial storage. It is handy, but I would never store too much personal stuff in it. I use free solutions that fit my specific needs. If the account gets hacked, it will offer me some embarrassment and frustration, but certainly not more than that. So trusting -- not a whole lot. Convenient for me, yep. And it can be free, eh?
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#15 Post by puppyiso »

Ah.. non-personal stuff. Yes, it is a very smart way of using the not so trusty cloud services.

Keeping not so important stuff on their servers is sensible.

(for those having slow internet connection, it's still cumbersome than just using high capacity usb or portable HDD)

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#16 Post by DaveS »

Ha Ha... this thread reads a bit like 'Paranoia Today', rightly I guess.
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#17 Post by OFC Dark Puppy »

Puppyiso kind of hit the nail with the China story.

Truth is that many opressive governments have their hopes set on this because it means that many people will be out of luck when it comes to VPNs and proxies. Meaning they can't access outside information and are easier to control.

Also say goodbye to software companies. Cloud computing means nothing downloaded or installed. Basically meaning that you have to type online, draw online, and do everything online. I don't even want think about virus protections.

People have their heads up you know where. One has to understand that advertising is essentially manipulation. A company hires some actor to fool you into thinking a certain way with catchy slogans. They won't tell you the real risks involved. I mean their foolish definition of a free market has done nothing but rob people of choices and freedoms.

So to think that their new idea of giving you no control over your own data or free speech is somehow good for us and a better choice, is beyond laughable.

It reminds me of the old George Carlin stand up routine where he talked about how customer service really works. I won't say it here, I'll get muted for sure.
If your curious then watch his old stand up specials.

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#18 Post by Flash »

More Sony bad news: Sony Online also compromised (this goes beyond the PlayStation Network)
The Sony hack story just gets worse and worse. Now, in addition to the 77 million PlayStation Network accounts that were compromised, Joystiq reports that Sony Online Entertainment was compromised as well, to the tune of another 24.6 million accounts.

In addition, Joystiq reports that more than 12,000 credit card numbers were stolen.

That means that if you’re a player of many popular PC online MMOs, your information has been stolen as well. SOE operates EverQuest, EverQuest II, PlanetSide, Star Wars Galaxies, Free Realms, Vanguard: Saga of Heroes, and DC Universe Online.

Apparently, this is not a separate penetration. Although Sony has long maintained that there entertainment systems were separated, criminals apparently managed to exfiltrate data from both networks.
Seems to me this is an example of what will happen if you trust the cloud.

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#19 Post by thane »

Maybe I'm lucky, but I live in a community where I can ride a bus or a taxi without being robbed. I can put my money in an FDIC-insured bank and be reasonably sure I'll be able to get to it. I can leave my clothes at a dry cleaners and they don't get stolen. There are lots of people who choose to use these services exclusively, rather than owning a car, having a safe at home, or doing their own dry cleaning.

What makes computing as a service different? I think it has more to do with the current absence of proper legal regulation/recourse on service providers than it does with the idea of computing as a service. I understand that cloud computing today has the problems you've stated. My response is that stricter regulation (rather than simply not using the cloud) is a better answer to these problems.
Last edited by thane on Wed 04 May 2011, 22:18, edited 1 time in total.

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#20 Post by 8-bit »

Want an example of Cloud for Puppy when the ISP drops some support of someone trying for a Puppy Cloud like experience?
go here.

So is that an example, or just a case of links not being updated by the maker of the site?

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