Do Your Friends Know What Cloud Computing Is?

[Jeff Campbell]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/11/08/09/apples_icloud_faces_consumer_confusion_over_cloud_computing.html' target='_blank'>http://www.appleinsider.com/article..._computing.html</a><br /><br /></div><p><em>"As Apple plans to push its iCloud service to consumers this fall, a new survey has found that most people don't even know what the term "cloud computing" means."</em></p><p><img height="437" src="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com/resizer/thumbs/size/600/at/auto/1312911706.usr105634.jpg" width="600" /></p><p>They may not even refer to it as cloud computing but pretty much everyone uses it. Actually, if they are connected they use it is a more appropriate statement. Even so, only about 22% of those that use some form of cloud computing know what the phrase means. There seems to be a double digit disparity between those that know what it means and those that don't, when it comes to the online sharing of photos and videos, but that disparity narrows to 5% when it comes to the use of online tax services. Taxes bring us together. Who would have thought it possible! What are your thoughts on this survey, have you run across anyone that doesn't know what cloud computing is, especially those that utilize online services?&nbsp;</p>

[Brad Adrian]

Of all the TV advertising that Microsoft has done, I think the ONE THING they got right was their "To the CLOUD!!" campaign of last year. Of course, as with anything that Microsoft has ever done that flirted with actually being intelligent, that campaign was pulled from the air just when it was starting to catch on. It did the best job of giving true-life examples people could relate to of the real promise of cloud computing (retreiving remotely-stored videos for viewing on mobile devices, accessing Webcam feeds of home while on vacation, etc.).

I wish they'd bring that campaign back. It was effective and had some great potential for providing humorous examples.