iWoz, more like iHasbeen
I think Wozniak's relevance has been dubious since the early 80s. I read quite a bit of his book 'iWoz' , but found it difficult to get past his self aggrandising nature, particularly since he hasn't done anything of note since the apple II in 1977. For this reason I generally see his media appearances through the lens of 'iHasbeen'.
The cloud is what you make it. We have already been using cloud technologies for years, any web mail service is a 'cloud'. I used gmail online, but also use an offline client with it's own copy of files should something happen to gmail or my connection.
On the contary Is not the risk of relying on local backup 'horrendous'? I have a copy of my files online with carbonite, secure in the knowledge that local fires, floods or theft will not result in loosing my digital photos. Along with other online services I'm able to have access to the files I need from anywhere without the need for a laptop or remembering to copy files onto a USB key.
Furthermore cloud computing opens up a world of possibilities previously only available to institutions or large companies. I'm talking of the ability to access and manipulate large data sets or process complex calculations with no more than a basic computers or even a tablet. Examples already existing are rendering 3d models, which can take hours on a powerful workstation, but when farmed out to a cloud can be rendered in a matter of seconds. Soon (if not already) doctors will be able to compare and diagnose through access to terabytes of X-ray, cat scans and patient histories that would be inconceivable on a local computer and available to only the richest of hospitals if IT wasn't outsourced in the form of a cloud.
Not saying we should charge ahead without thought. Cloud technologies provide too many opportunities to simply brand it 'risky' and run away. Privacy and data ownership amongst other concerns will need addressing, but these are just part of being a digital citizen with or without the cloud.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
