The difference between Internet and cloud computing center now.

Cloud Computing, Social Networking and Mobile Internet

What is cloud computing?

The first is cloud computing. Today, friends around me often ask, what is this screaming cloud computing? At the beginning, I also explained many words, but later I found that simple memory is the most useful. So it is summed up in one sentence: cloud computing is the Internet, and the Internet is cloud computing. The purpose of cloud computing is to put personal computers (desktops or laptops) on the Internet.

What do you mean, personal computers are online? For example, you can watch TV series directly on the Internet, and you can watch the same TV series anywhere with Internet access. A few years ago, you might have to download TV series to your personal computer and install software such as Storm Video. In other words, the functions of personal computers have been replaced by the Internet.

The ultimate goal of cloud computing is to replace all the functions of personal computers, that is, to put personal computers in the network. Cloud computing will eventually enable you to do anything related to computers at any time and any place. You don't have to carry a notebook or USB flash drive with you, because all the data and software you need are in the cloud and in your online account.

For friends outside the IT circle, the phrase "put a personal computer on the network" may not sound exciting enough. At best, it can only make our information life more convenient. But if I tell you that this change will lead to the disappearance of the Microsoft empire in Absolute Monarch, then you may feel refreshed. Is it that powerful? But it's not surprising when you think about it. What's the use of Windows if all personal computers disappear?

Looking back at our computer operation today, which software is used the most? Yes, it's a browser. When the ultimate goal of cloud computing is realized, we will only need to leave a browser in the local computer without other complicated functions of Windows. At that time, we even wanted to see a running browser directly after opening it, without Windows itself (this is the goal of Google chrome os project).

For IT practitioners, the migration of personal computers to the Internet means endless opportunities and possibilities. All kinds of familiar desktop software, from Office to Notepad, need to be rewritten as web pages in the Internet in the cloud era. This alone means hundreds of millions of potential wealth values. Not to mention another substantial change that accompanied the migration of personal computers to the Internet-socialization.

The essence of social interaction is interpersonal communication, and the migration of personal computers to the Internet will provide an unprecedented user base for the social arena far beyond today. We know that even with the existence of Windows and the Internet, social networking services have produced a super-large company with a market value of more than 1000 billion like Facebook. In other words, cloud computing breeds not only the potential of recreating a Microsoft empire, but also the real arrival of an information age with unprecedented influence.

Cloud computing analysis and prediction

For people in the industry, even though everyone knows the benefits of cloud computing, not many people can really implement it. On the surface, the vigorous construction of cloud computing industry seems to be just a gimmick to get more computer room funds. Is the implementation of cloud computing just to spread broadband and get on the machine? The previous lesson is that telecom operators have invested a lot of money in 3G, and only when the pipeline is laid can they finally find themselves more like marrying an Internet company.

Hardware investment is necessary and profitable, but it is only the lowest part of the industry ecosystem. This kind of infrastructure with extremely low technical threshold should not be dragged under the guise of cloud computing.

The real charm of cloud computing lies in the software industry. Although all Internet companies are related to cloud computing from the perspective of "Internet is cloud computing", not all Internet companies really participate in the development of cloud computing. Not that I don't want to participate, but that I don't know how to participate.

How should cloud computing be realized? It is the key to firmly grasp the essence of "personal computer migration to the Internet". Along this line of thinking, the network operating system, or online windows, may be the top development event in the field of cloud computing. If you can't do OS, the next best thing is to develop applications in the cloud era or Internet services.

Let's look at the operating system first. What will the network operating system look like? Some people think that even the operating system in the future cloud era. Don't! Remember, the cloud era is characterized by "everything is in the cloud". Therefore, the browser, a local software, is doomed to be out of the cloud. Working hard on it is bound to take the old road of localization and get farther and farther away from the cloud. In the final analysis, the browser is just a client, a cloud terminal display driver, and it is impossible to become a network operating system. At present, the browser is still the internet portal that major companies compete for, but that is only an illusion when the cloud world is not mature enough. As more and more personal computer functions migrate to the cloud, the browser will eventually become a shell without additional functions, and it will no longer matter which browser to use to access the cloud.

There are also some smart companies that understand the future of the cloud. Domestically, Tencent's actions in this regard can be described as one step ahead. When you open web2.qq.com, it is not so much a web page as an online windows desktop. This kind of network desktop with data, software and operation in the cloud is the embryonic form of network operating system. With more and more third-party applications added, the ambition of Penguin Empire is also obvious.

Fortunately, cloud computing is not as simple as copying an online windows. This will prevent cloud computing from being monopolized by large companies, thus leaving us with opportunities to participate. The problem is that even if Tencent makes the page look like Windows again, the ecology of the Internet will not suffer from the monopoly of the personal computer era. The portal home page and e-mail can still be opened as usual, completely free from the so-called network operating system. You know, in the era of personal computers, no software can exist without Windows. This completely different essential difference shows that the network desktop that looks like Windows is just a desktop. You can even understand it as a network hard disk. In any case, it is definitely not a real operating system.

Nevertheless, the network desktop is still the most closely linked link with the operating system in the cloud era ecosystem. However, the glory of Windows can no longer be replicated, and the possibility of absolute monopoly will gradually disappear with this disgraceful glory. An excellent web desktop (such as Facebook) may be set as the home page by most people for a long time, but this does not prevent a few people in the long-tail user group from choosing other web desktops according to their own preferences. Different companies' network desktop products store * * * in the cloud, and all Internet services can run well in it without being bothered by compatibility. Because the decisive standard of the cloud era is not formulated by a company, but rooted in the public network protocol that has been deeply rooted in people's hearts.

In other words, there will be no real operating system in the cloud era. The network desktop is not so much an operating system as another application software in the cloud. It can also be considered that the operating system in the cloud era is composed of all services in the Internet.

Therefore, the key to realize the cloud era ultimately boils down to the development of Internet services. However, Internet service is not equal to traditional Internet websites. The biggest difference is that the Internet serves the software characteristics of the interaction between users and other services, while the traditional website is just a static text and picture, which is only equivalent to a data file in a personal computer.

This is why only a few websites on the Internet really participate in the process of cloud computing. Even with the rise of Web2.0, many websites begin to pay attention to the interaction with users, and few websites can live with the system and external data like the software in the Windows era. In the context of the Internet, this can also be understood as the openness of the website. In this regard, not only courage but also imagination is needed. The difference between Facebook and Myspace is precisely because the former has opened its social resources to the outside world, thus making a decisive qualitative leap.

In short, noisy cloud computing is actually very simple. There is no need for lengthy papers and blind government investment. The future and opportunity lie in the innovation and improvement of Internet services. Small and medium-sized Internet content providers will play an increasingly important role. Platforms and systems will no longer be important, and absolute monopoly will be diverted to some excellent Internet services. With the deepening of cloud computing, there will be more and more excellent Internet services, and the order of the information world will eventually become equal and free.

Social network

Compared with cloud computing, the concept of social network is easier to understand. After all, people are no strangers to socializing. Social networking means socializing on the Internet. From a broader and simpler perspective, social networks are networks in which many users participate.

In this sense, the core concept of the Web2.0 craze-social network-is not new. Well-known instant messaging software, such as QQ, multiplayer online games, such as Legend, are social networking services that have been successful long before Web2.0.

Today, we have big social networking sites like Facebook and Tencent. Does this mean that social networking sites have developed to a mature stage? Does it mean that future generations have no chance to enter this field?

The conclusion is just the opposite. With the deepening of the cloud computing process centered on "personal computers migrating to the Internet", the number of people using the Internet will far exceed today's number. At the same time, every computer operation in the future will be related to the network. The mode structure of cloud computing and the superposition result of its total number of users will be an unprecedented new social demand. What we need is more imagination to explore these potential possibilities without worrying about Facebook, which looks big today. Socialization is still very promising.

The profound meaning of third-party login

What's more gratifying is that most large social networking sites have successively opened the third-party login function. Today, we can already see the option of "login with QQ account" on many small and medium-sized websites. Users can log in directly through their existing QQ account without additional registration. This is called third-party login. For small and medium-sized websites, this is definitely an important event to effectively attract user traffic.

Why do social networking giants do such charity? You know, a little-known website today may grow into a terrible competitor tomorrow? What's the mystery?

There are many different answers to this question, but the deep answer is still to be found in cloud computing. As we said before, the ecosystem of cloud computing will eventually be composed of many Internet services, which will present an open and interactive state, just like the relationship between software and data files in personal computers. The "personal computer" in the cloud needs the "software" in the cloud to interoperate rather than fight alone, and the key to interoperability is unified user authentication.

In other words, an account accessing the Internet is a natural demand of cloud computing. At present, the pattern of one website and one user account on the Internet has become a stumbling block on the road of cloud computing development, and it is imperative to break it.

The self-engine contained in this technological development is the driving force behind the giants' behavior of opening up user data. Long before Facebook took the lead in opening up user data, OpenID, a network pass technology for account exchange, has been surging like an undercurrent and may break through the ice at any time. Even if Facebook itself is not open, other websites will do so sooner or later. Instead of clinging to vested interests until you get old, it is better to follow the trend and advance with the world. This is also the gene of whether first-class companies can continue to be excellent.

In the long run, open account information will indeed gradually weaken the platform monopoly advantage originally owned by giants like Facebook, and even risk becoming an account provider. But this is the general trend. Since its birth, the Internet has been shouldering the mission of freedom and equality, and no one can change it. Follow the trend and keep an open attitude. On the contrary, on the basis of our existing advantages, we can concentrate on strengthening and providing in-depth and targeted content services to maintain our advantages in the new stage. For example, in the service of social space, I believe that Facebook will maintain its advantage for a long time (the so-called social space, that is, the occasion where users engage in frequent social activities. Not all social activities are completed in social space, but social space is the occasion with the most social activities.

For the vast number of IT practitioners, an open Internet certainly means good news, which is a win-win situation. With the deepening of the cloud era, the social cake will show more vitality.

mobile Internet

Mobile Internet is perhaps the hottest IT field nowadays, and even friends outside the circle are happy to talk about it as a fashionable word. After all, I don't understand cloud computing, SNS, and the small mobile phone you play every day?

However, what I want to say is that the mobile Internet is exactly the direction I am least optimistic about. Once there is another IT bubble (I hope not), its source must be the so-called mobile Internet that investors are scrambling to pursue today.

Mobile phone and mobile internet

The biggest problem and the most confusing point is that mobile phones are not equal to mobile Internet! If you carefully read the first part of this series of articles, you should understand that the future Internet will become everyone's "personal computer", and any terminal with a display screen, whether it is a desktop, notebook, mobile phone, wrist watch, camera, public inquiry machine or even ATM machine, will become the display terminal of the cloud "personal computer". In other words, the future form of the Internet is mobile, whether you use a mobile phone or not. We will use different devices in different places to access the "personal computer" in the cloud, which is the real meaning of mobile.

So will the mobile phone be the most important part of the mobile Internet? No, it isn't. It is true that we often use mobile phones to surf the Internet, but at the same time, most of our work is still done through other devices, especially traditional desktops or large-screen notebooks.

In the final analysis, the mobile phone is limited by the size of the screen and the fluency of input, and it is impossible to become a suitable device for most computer operations. You can send text messages to Weibo with your mobile phone, but you won't use it to edit word or excel, or even use it to send longer emails. Similarly, you shoot birds and zombies with your mobile phone, but do you spend a lot of time playing Warcraft or Call of Duty? Even if it is a racing game, you will find the desktop refreshing.

Can you help make the mobile phone screen bigger? Don't you see that all smartphones that look like Apple are competing for the size of their faces? Just really doubt, how long can this brick wind that makes the majority of MM unhappy last? Do we really have to put our notebooks in our trouser pockets for shopping? Don't! Is that still a cell phone?

The definition of a mobile phone determines that its size cannot grow indefinitely. Its input methods from keyboard and touch to voice and image recognition have reached the upper limit of imagination. The top equipment can't change the characteristics of mobile phones that are not conducive to reading and input, so please accept this reality: mobile phones ≠ mobile internet, mobile phones are only suitable for simple applications, at most, they are simplified versions of ordinary applications.

Give the following suggestions to mobile phone design developers. The application you develop should:

1. Don't always look at the screen.

You don't need to look at the screen carefully.

3. If your application must always look at the screen and look at it carefully, then you don't have to take pains to attach yourself to the mobile phone. A traditional computer with a mouse and keyboard and a normal size screen is the goal you should consider. Mobile phones can't replace traditional computers.

the second question

The second fundamental reason why I am not optimistic about the mobile Internet lies in the immature infrastructure. Even in the 2 1 century when 3G is aesthetically tired and 4G is king, what we lack most is infrastructure construction. Today's mobile Internet hardware environment is very similar to the era when we just entered the new century and the Internet just showed signs of universal popularization. Practitioners are full of blood, but users are still wondering whether 30 wallets for 20 hours or 80 wallets for 60 hours are cost-effective.

The striking similarity of history can not help but remind people of the bubble crisis. Have you noticed that after the last Internet uproar, many Internet pioneers were photographed ashore and died tomorrow. It took seven or eight years for the Internet to recover. As a result, the happy children got a big bargain. Only QQ survived from the previous shadow, but they didn't use the Internet.

Unless the infrastructure is mature enough, entering the mobile Internet is a martyr's adventure. The author's suggestion is that it is not too late to make plans after five years.

Smartphones go astray

Last question, let's join in the excitement of mobile phones. The smart phone revolution led by Mr. Joe Wang has successfully broken the bubble created by the leaders of China shanzhai, making mobile phone shops, large and small, embarrassed to say that they sell their mobile phones without putting apple-shaped bricks, and making fashionable young people embarrassed to say that they have mobile phones without putting bricks. But the fact is that smartphones are not as beautiful as they are supposed to be.

I upgraded the Android system once. It takes two hours to download the upgrade package from the Internet and finally install it successfully. It is said that this is a good result. Ordinary users probably won't compete with the system, but if they want to try a new software function, they must also go through the process of downloading, installing and reusing. As for dealing with installation conflicts, failed upgrades, abnormal operation, controlling emotions to avoid system setup madness, and even learning the use of new antivirus software and firewalls, it is also a routine quality that every smartphone user must have.

All this is very much like nostalgic Windows 95! But please, sixteen years have passed in our school. Cloud computing has clamored that Microsoft is no longer the protagonist of the historical stage. Why do mobile phone developers try to make us repeat the past?

Don't download! Don't install! Mobile phone software should be directly made into a web application, just open it in the browser! You said that local software can run smoothly. Don't you know that even online games are not installed in the transitional web version now? You said that shortcuts on the desktop can attract users. Don't you know that web icons can also be placed on the desktop? By the way, browser developers should learn UC well. Is it difficult to make the browser's entry interface look like a desktop?

Only by turning your mobile phone software into a ready-to-use cloud application will more people be willing to try your development results. Only in this way, after users lose their mobile phones/change their mobile phones/change their operating systems, your development results will have a greater chance of not being abandoned by users.

It can be predicted that the upgrade war of mobile phone operating system will tend to be calm after a period of time. Apple's closing or Android's opening, or Nokia's backwardness will all become unimportant past tense. What is necessary for any smart or non-smart mobile phone will only be a fully functional browser, and more exciting things will enter the Internet and enter the big stage of cloud computing.