Comments on: Cheap, Simple and Easy: the Operating System of the Future http://radoff.com/blog/2009/11/15/cheap-simple-and-easy-the-operating-system-of-the-future/ Swashbuckler, adventurer, slayer of dragons, commando, storyteller, Internet entrepreneur; explorer of rabbit holes Sun, 05 Feb 2012 17:54:54 -0500 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Jon http://radoff.com/blog/2009/11/15/cheap-simple-and-easy-the-operating-system-of-the-future/comment-page-1/#comment-5550 Jon Thu, 26 Nov 2009 15:05:10 +0000 http://radoff.com/blog/?p=143#comment-5550 @Hagan Thanks for the comments. Is the idea that you can't do computing without your central Cloud being available really much different from the idea that we need electricity, too? Clearly, there's a long way to go before the Cloud catches up to the level of reliability we have with power generation, but shouldn't that be the ultimate goal? @Hagan Thanks for the comments. Is the idea that you can’t do computing without your central Cloud being available really much different from the idea that we need electricity, too? Clearly, there’s a long way to go before the Cloud catches up to the level of reliability we have with power generation, but shouldn’t that be the ultimate goal?

]]> By: Hagan http://radoff.com/blog/2009/11/15/cheap-simple-and-easy-the-operating-system-of-the-future/comment-page-1/#comment-5535 Hagan Tue, 24 Nov 2009 19:19:18 +0000 http://radoff.com/blog/?p=143#comment-5535 The problem with Operating Systems is that these days, we don't know nearly as much about how they operate as we should. We've come a long way in 20 years from when DOS was top dog on the desktop, but the further along we've come, the less we know or understand about how the computer works, what its doing and what its running. Hundreds of processes can be processing away in the background, and most of the time we don't need them too. And in the case of spyware, keyloggers and adware, its undesirable to have them running without our knowing. Modern Operating Systems hide too much from us, as much as they help us get on with our productivity and business we need them for. Computers wont get easier just because of the cloud, if anything, it'll get more messed up, convoluted and twisted. The network at my old college was a decent enough network, hundreds of individual workstations each running only a set OS, programs and tools, each unlocked depending on you login (why have programming apps if your an Art student?). This is networking as we know it now, with a basic CPU that does not change one bit, but all your data is dragged off from the central server. The Cloud Computing idea is pretty much the same idea, with the processing done by the server instead of the workstation. Nice idea with two fatal flaws: 1) Your processing centre goes down, you can't even run your workstation to carry on working whilst the technicians get on with bringing the Cloud back up. 2) Equipment needs, NEEDS! to be top of the line. Fiber Optic networking, A Network Hub (Cloud) Ten times more powerful than anything we currently have, Cooling the equivalent of a walk in freezer, workstations capable of handling the fiber optic load and a security network (Physical and Software) of dozens of techs to keep out the virus and spyware nasties. Cloud computing on any scale requires a massive support and logistical arm to keep it running, and the larger the cloud, the more you need. It also mean that it only takes one malicious, incompetent person in the wrong place to effectively render millions of users data useless/inaccessible. Yes its Doom-saying, and yes this is the worse case scenario. But lets face it, Humans are going to be involved, cock-ups on all scales will happen. Thanks, but I think I'll be keeping my data close on hand with my USB memory stick and not in the Cloud. The problem with Operating Systems is that these days, we don’t know nearly as much about how they operate as we should. We’ve come a long way in 20 years from when DOS was top dog on the desktop, but the further along we’ve come, the less we know or understand about how the computer works, what its doing and what its running. Hundreds of processes can be processing away in the background, and most of the time we don’t need them too.

And in the case of spyware, keyloggers and adware, its undesirable to have them running without our knowing. Modern Operating Systems hide too much from us, as much as they help us get on with our productivity and business we need them for.

Computers wont get easier just because of the cloud, if anything, it’ll get more messed up, convoluted and twisted. The network at my old college was a decent enough network, hundreds of individual workstations each running only a set OS, programs and tools, each unlocked depending on you login (why have programming apps if your an Art student?). This is networking as we know it now, with a basic CPU that does not change one bit, but all your data is dragged off from the central server.

The Cloud Computing idea is pretty much the same idea, with the processing done by the server instead of the workstation. Nice idea with two fatal flaws:
1) Your processing centre goes down, you can’t even run your workstation to carry on working whilst the technicians get on with bringing the Cloud back up.
2) Equipment needs, NEEDS! to be top of the line. Fiber Optic networking, A Network Hub (Cloud) Ten times more powerful than anything we currently have, Cooling the equivalent of a walk in freezer, workstations capable of handling the fiber optic load and a security network (Physical and Software) of dozens of techs to keep out the virus and spyware nasties.

Cloud computing on any scale requires a massive support and logistical arm to keep it running, and the larger the cloud, the more you need. It also mean that it only takes one malicious, incompetent person in the wrong place to effectively render millions of users data useless/inaccessible.

Yes its Doom-saying, and yes this is the worse case scenario. But lets face it, Humans are going to be involved, cock-ups on all scales will happen. Thanks, but I think I’ll be keeping my data close on hand with my USB memory stick and not in the Cloud.

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