From The Economist print edition, Special Report
Oct 23rd 2008
Information technology is turning into a global “cloud” accessible from anywhere, says Ludwig Siegele. What does that mean for the way people conduct business?
…This special report will chronicle the rise of the cloud and try to predict where it is heading.
…Irving Wladawsky-Berger, a technology visionary at IBM, compares cloud computing to the Cambrian explosion some 500m years ago when the rate of evolution speeded up, in part because the cell had been perfected and standardised, allowing evolution to build more complex organisms. Similarly, argues Mr Wladawsky-Berger, the IT industry spent much of its first few decades developing the basic components of computing. Now that these are essentially standardised, bigger and more diverse systems can emerge. “For computing to reach a higher level”, he says, “its cells had to be commoditised.”
http://www.economist.com/specialreports/displaystory.cfm?story_id=12411882