We Want Everything but Can we give some too???

There you go. Lots of responses - views, feedback, contradictory views and they all made my day. As I was talking about how the cute cloud could help us make our lives easier, I unknowingly forgot about one important aspect - a feeling lot of us have about technology - that it is BAD for us and has made our lives robotic.  We'll come to that eventually but let’s first talk about all the things people expect from the cute cloud. This has of course come from the feedback everyone gave me.

1. The Refrigerator - Well, I think the refrigerator idea has been tested as a part of the networked home concept a few years ago. Only thing is, we didn’t see it coming out of those labs at all. But yes, the cute cloud could make this transformation from lab to our homes easier.

-> Doable

2. True Plug n play - I want it too! Every device either has or can have its unique identification which can be mapped with an online db for a matching driver which can be downloaded and installed automatically before you start using it. But there's a catch, a lot would need to be done on the trusted hardware and software lists, blacklisted IDs have to be tracked so that you don’t end up crashing your PC/Lappy just because of the automatic driver download feature.

-> Doable

2. SaaS applications - Well, Security as a Service (SaaS) is already one of the marked offerings that the Cloud providers are looking forward to. If successful, this will generate a lot of revenues for the providers and lot of savings for the subscribers. Why "If successful"? Because it is about Security, of information, resources etc - Isn’t that tricky enough to be given into the hands of a provider unless you trust it like you trust your mother????

-> Doable

3. Medical Science or Services (amazing suggestion I must say) - A cloud based medical facilitation could revolutionalize the entire way we get or give medical services to people. Recently, we heard about a top of the market Video Conferencing product being used for medical consultation or even remotely guided surgeries. Now look at what all do we need for this kind of technology to reach rural areas of any developing nation. We need network connectivity and bandwidth; we need the hardware, the software for enabling the service subscription and management. Of course we would need people to manage it but people are not technology.

-> Doable from technology point of view.

If we look at the technology part, it is nothing impossible in today's world. Service providers can provide ample bandwidth anywhere in the country if they want to. It is only a matter about money and will. Both will come from people. So, in fact, the bottleneck in bringing the best of medical services to the rural areas or small towns is not technology. It is the People - WE.

Start from the Govt whose people may not have the vision or will to do this. Then, look at the Service providers who may not extend an inch of their network until they see exponential profits. Then the techies like us. Would we be ready to take a job in rural areas to setup and maintain this service for the people there? I doubt it. Another solution, we can go and set it up, train local people to manage it and come back. This way you also generate some local jobs. And after all, you would still be wired via the cloud isn’t it?

This has become intense I must say. Can't help it. Its just the feedback I received. Now, there have been some questions about whether these claims about cloud based services are really going to take off. All I can say is - it ain't an easy pitch but you can score here if you keep batting and not loose your wicket. Lots needed, high bandwidths, software licensing paradigm change, Quality of networks needs to be 6 sigma level atleast and so on and so forth.

There was a comment about human aspects of this machine world but it looks like it is again pointing at technology. I mean, when did a television prevent you from sitting on the dinning table with your family. It may be only your addiction of the soaps or reality shows which is preventing you to dine with the family. Peace and Happiness. Lets take one at a time.

Peace in today's context can be best achieved by communication and think about all the ways technology has helped you to communicate. Happiness - Well one way I get happy is whenever I buy any new gadget. But thats just me. Think about all those parents whose kids live abroad and when technologies like internet based video chat enables them to see their grand children online, face to face. Imagine the happiness that shows in their smiles. I'm not saying that technology can give you Peace and Happiness whenever you want but it sure does contribute whenever we want it too. Technology can take the role of anything you want. You cannot apply your ethics and morals to technology. You need to apply them on yourselves not your mobile phone or your computer. Think about it :-).

I could go on forever but lets keep some of this for future posts. Meanwhile please share your comments, views on the blog. Till we meet again, Happy Reading and Keep Up With Technology!

Cheers

N E O

From Gadgets to Cloud

There's only one thing I want to start my second blog post with. A note of thanks to all the people who read my first attempt at blogging and gave their valuable feedback. This will be the drive which will keep me going in the future and push me to put in some content which:

1 - is not a test of your brain's computing power.

2 - lets you take something with you.

3 - touches the non-machine parts of our body.

Coming back to talking about the technology beast and how it has been performing in the last few decades or maybe a century. The evolution, I must say (and everyone would agree), has been tremendous. Even if we take the friendly neighborhood washing machine or the so called Idiot Box, the way these gadgets have transformed our lives is remarkable. Ah, I think you probably do not think of a washing machine or Television as a gadget. Well, they sure are gadgets of their time even though these have been a given for some of us.

So, the point is that today's gadgets may or may not become tomorrow's necessities. Why did I say may not? Well, ever heard of a thing called Soda Maker. I know this poor thing was a rage when it came in the market but now no one even wants to acknowledge that they had one at any point of time. With all due respect to the people who made it, it has failed miserably in becoming a necessity.

After all this chit chat about gadgets and a bit of their lifecycle, let me take you to an altogether different realm. Assume that if you want to play a game, you really do not need to buy a gaming console. You can order this as a service on the internet and play online. It is like you rented a gaming console online for an hour and after you are through, someone else can rent it. Of course, you have requirements at your side of the computing device too but they are really nothing as compared to the requirement of having a gaming console with you.

Does this sound exciting, boring, foolish or anything else? Well, however it may sound it is happening Now. This has started its course mainly from the businesses where any organization would be able to buy processing power online on the fly to - lets say, do some word processing, use MS Excel like software on web, be able to manage workflows or even host their intranets on such secure platforms on the web.

Where would all this come from? How would such services be available to me? Does this mean I really shouldn't buy a gaming console? Aaaah, too many questions but all can be answered by one word - CLOUD. Some of you may have started thinking of me as someone needing psychiatric help by now. How in the world can a cloud in the sky be able to give me MS excel or word proc software? And then, this means when there are no clouds, I get no service??? All I can say is - Rest your brain; the answers are coming.

This is how I wanted to talk about Cloud Computing. Theoretically, cloud computing refers to the possibility of having on the fly availability of computing resources, using competent networks, which removes the need to have all the computational resources on a user's computer and moves the complex part to a entity which has a cute name -  the cloud.

Now, this cute thing is actually a mammoth for the service providers who host it for you or your business. But who cares, it is their baby. I only need my gaming

experience ready when I order it or my address book and calendar managed with SMS alerts on my phone whenever I have an urgent meeting or need to take my

kids to the Zoo (you see, we are touching on humane things. Cloud should enable you to do that as well if it can have that cute a name. isn’t it?)

When we say who cares, it might sound rude but that is the way it is supposed to be now friends. Now lets look at the things which this cute cloud can deliver. You must have had a situation when your phone (another gadget) crashed and you loose your contacts. Phew, what to do now? ask people to send their numbers to you over every possible online or mobile medium. But still not sure how much of the phonebook you can get back by this method. What’s the next best thing we can do, backup our phone. That's correct. But who cares to back it up at a regular interval. I get reminded to take my phone's backup whenever I see someone begging his/her friends to mail their contact numbers on a Social Networking site. Well, that’s another way but it is not a foolproof one for sure.

So, the cute cloud should be able to track these phone backups and even get them completed on scheduled time without you even knowing about it (don’t worry, it will tell you if you choose to know). You can easily expect it to provide you with a simple horoscope or Sudoku software on demand as well as look for complex software and network services like single point communication medium or a security framework and service (UCaaS, SaaS - yeah these are the buzzwords used by business people).

Now, we can talk about more stuff to expect from the cute cloud but I would like to know from you. Yes, please feel free to pour in your imagination and tell me about what all would you like the cloud to be able to deliver. So, these things can make your life easier or your business easier. Note that when your business becomes streamlined, your life becomes easier and you will have more time to do what??? The Humane things we talked about. So, please choose your medium for providing me these thoughts. I would then do a post receipt analysis of your needs and try to categorize them as "Doable/Not Doable/Can be looked at" by the cute cloud.

I think we will have more things about the cloud for the next post (I'm counting on your inputs). So, we continue the cloud talk in the next post. Meanwhile, keep the suggestions, bouquets and brickbats pouring in as comments.

Happy Reading and Keep Up With Technology

Cheers

N E O

Technology is our F R I E ND

What’s all the buzz about technology? Why is that we hear or see new things coming out of this technology beast almost every day (maybe more)? Technology was always meant to make our lives easier so that we could give time and effort to other humane things we are supposed to do. We won't talk about these humane things at depth but to give you an idea, I'm talking about stuff like giving quality time to our family, being able to do good deeds in life (this does not include charity for tax saving..), add value to our life or help others do it. Alrite, that’s enough for the humane stuff.

Now the question arises, has technology really made our lives easier or is it making it complex. I mean, sometimes I do think that it is the other way round. When I was a kid, my choices were simple enough on what I should do or can do after school. It was broadly about studying or playing. In both the activities, gadgets, PCs etc did not have any role. Playing was synonymous with going out instead of staying indoors even if that was during the hot Indian summers. I remember playing cricket in hot summer afternoons and football in the rain. Both were enjoyed equally. Coming back to technology again, you talk to any teenager today. In fact, not even teenager, every school going kid and you'd find they know more about their parents' smart phones than the parents themselves. They would be more worried about posting an update on their Facebook page than meeting their friends. So, really would you call it simple or complicated? That’s an individual choice of course.

But let’s look at it this way. Is it really the technology which is at fault for this? I really do not think so. I have always been happy in saying that "Technology is our Friend". It is up to us how we want to use it. How much control we can have on our use of it? Do you still remember your close friends' phone numbers? I know the answer would be 'No' from most of us (including me..) as we are now depending upon our smart gadgets endless memory for storing it. I sometimes cannot even recall my wife's cell number. Its risky, I know but....

Let me tell you that since this is my first blog, I would not like to go into the tech stuff which is really my turf. I just wanted to have this first post as a disclaimer for all the tech-dreams and tech-reality stuff I would be talking about in my future posts. So, be assured that this blog will not be talking about whether technology is good or bad forever. In fact, the basic fabric of this blog is going to be based on the fact stated above - "Technology is our Friend".

I will leave it with these thoughts and we'll talk about some clouds which do not turn into rain when I return. Meanwhile, your feedback for this post would be vital in improving the next one and the ones after that.So, pour your feelings on this one. Happy reading and keep up with technology.

Cheers
N E O