Project Proposal
The increasing speed, bandwidth, and ubiquity of the Internet has changed the way we access multimedia. We can watch YouTube videos almost instantly, listen to a band's songs on their MySpace page, and play simple Flash games. However, everything we do on a computer may be changing soon, as we seem to be shifting more and more toward cloud computing.
Cloud computing is a style of computing in which various resources are provided as a service over the Internet. "The cloud" simply refers to the Internet-connected computers and servers that offer various services. A simple Google search is a good example of the power of cloud computing. It would be impossible for a standard desktop computer to search the entire Internet for pages that match a word or phrase. However, this is a small task for the hundreds of thousands (possibly millions) of Internet-connected computers that Google has. When you enter a search query, Google's cloud of computers does the heavy lifting, and gives you back the results.
But how might this change the way we access and use multimedia on our computers? The major shift is that the files and applications we use would not be stored or run on our computers, but on the servers and computers in the cloud.
Cloud computing takes files that would normally be stored on your local storage drive, and makes them accessible by the Internet, without even downloading them. For example, a music service called Lala allows you to store your entire music collection online, and listen to it wherever you have Internet access. With all of your multimedia files stored in the cloud, you would never have to worry about transferring files between computers, or running out of storage space. This is especially handy on devices with limited storage.
Cloud computing also takes applications that would normally be run on your computer, and runs them in the cloud. For example, Google Docs lets you create and edit text documents, spreadsheets, and presentations without having to download anything. This idea is currently being pushed to new levels by a service called OnLive, which allows computers with limited resources to play cutting-edge games, by running the games on servers in the cloud, and sending the video stream to your computer.
By making the cloud do the hard work, a whole new type of devices could be created. An iPod that was always connected to the cloud could have (almost) infinite storage. Computers could have little to no storage of their own. Turning on one of these computers would immediately connect it to the cloud, where its operating system and applications would be run. These computers could be very small and very inexpensive.
However, this style of computing is not without issues. The ubiquity and reliability of the Internet would be absolutely critical. If all of our files and applications are stored on the Internet, we must be able to get online wherever and whenever, and the connection must be fast enough. Could this dependence on the Internet be a hazard if something goes wrong? What kind of bandwidth does all this require? How do I know that my files are safe, secure, and private on someone else's server?
With this technology picking up speed, people need to know the direction computing and the Internet may be going, and also the potential issues with it. This project will cover all these topics, and let the listener decide whether this is the future of computing, or simply a pipe dream.