Apple has tried to acquire Dropbox for around $800 million, but it was rejected!
Dropbox is a web based file hosting service which keeps all of the files in perfect sync across numerous operating systems and devices. Dropbox has already received around $7.2 million in funding and is expected to have $100 million in revenues in 2011.
It seems a shock that Dropbox investors didnt jump at that price, but Im guessing they are holding out for over a billion dollar valuation.
The mobile and cell phone industry has seen a lot of innovation in just the last decade. It’s a far cry from a time when most people were merely content to make phone calls or a phone number check. Now we ascribe the term, “mobile device” to our phones in order to more accurately represent their myriad functions. Mobile devices and their constant evolution and pushed the boundaries of current technological capability and the industry is quickly coming a point where its reach will exceed the industry’s grasp. It’s for this reason that mobile apps and devices need to become increasingly Cloud friendly in order to offset the increased demands placed on them.
A study conducted recently by ABI Research discussed this very issue and found big problems with limited processing power, battery life, and data storage. These concerns will further limit application growth among much of the mass market if Cloud computing isn’t applied with greater strength. No smartphone is save, it seems, and even Apple’s iPhone has shown to perform at a deficit when factoring in these same concerns. It’s been shown that applications that are connected to cloud resources are far more likely to run successfully than if they were run solely from the mobile device alone.
Factoring in these issues, it’s likely that cloud-computing services will become a new market and will deliver annual revenues coming in the range of an annual 20 billion within the next five years. These are big numbers and it’s getting a lot of attention. It’s also thought that it could further drive innovation among cell phone development. Researchers and developers will no longer have to concern themselves with finding new ways to adapt a mobile devices’ processor to meet increased application demand. If this were the approach, people would likely have to have a separate device just to run their applications. However, cloud services offer developers a way to free up the processor and focus on other innovations.
Cloud computing software is likely to introduce an unprecedented sophistication to the world of mobile applications that has proven to be an industry all its own. Businesses are already benefiting from collaborations and data sharing through similar approaches. Users will be able to gain remote access to apps that could do anything from monitoring their home security to social networking. You’ll be able to do everything you already can, and more.
It’s not likely to be a touch decision for mobile device developers. It’s a win-win situation. This will create a new market for cloud services and free up companies to find better and more efficient ways to mobile their products. Every company, large and small, will likely be utilizing the power of such services, which will probably become a benchmark of the mobile community in a very short space of time.
It’s called the cloud, that nebulous, inter-computer realm of software sharing and file uplinks. Sites like Google thrive on their cloud-hosting capabilities, providing software to companies at a fraction of the price of traditional, out-of-the-package software and offering an astonishing variety to meet their clients’ demands. It’s a new way of managing computing resources and takes the infrastructure of a company’s, or school’s, computers out of a central hub and puts it in a manageable, scalable format provided by a third party. Yet cloud computing has another side, one that is breaking into classrooms across the country and changing the way teachers and students interact. However, just like any new technology, for as many benefits as cloud computing presents students and teachers alike, it also presents challenges and pitfalls that must shape how interactions, and content, are managed in the cloud.
One Teacher’s Experience
Les Pang , a Program Director and Collegiate Professor in the Graduate School of Management and Technology at the University of Maryland University College implemented cloud computing in his Information Technology Foundations course. He used Google Docs, a cloud computing alternative to traditional word processing software, in the class. Students created a Google account and posted their assignments to the account. All students could view the responses of other students and the professor could display any document on a projector screen at the front of the room. As Pang notes, this created an online education environment in which collaboration and group discussion was easily facilitated. It eliminated the need for flash drives, e-mails and network drives to move documents from the student’s computer to the professor’s.
At the same time, Google Docs took some students out of their comfort zones. They had tried-and-true software with which they were familiar, and oftentimes they had difficulties interfacing with the new software. This was particularly pronounced when it came time to load PowerPoint presentations. Overall, Pang found that cloud computing enriched his classroom experience, but he, like many teachers, has reservations about the extent to which cloud computing should be employed. For each advantage, there is a disadvantage.
Advantages
Among the advantages that Pang noted in his classroom was the ease with which cloud computing facilitated collaboration and classroom discussion. Students could view documents prepared by other students before the class ever met. It also standardized the technology that students used, meaning they were able to interface and collaborate on the same software across the platform.
Cloud computing also allowed students to access their documents regardless of the computer they were using—all they required was access to the Internet. Likewise, most software available over the cloud is compatible with a variety of operating systems, adding to its ease of use.
The Smart Schools Program offers further observations of the uses to which cloud computing technology can be put in the classroom. Using cloud computing software, it is possible for students to create independent workspaces that still offer collaborative capabilities, and teachers can customize the software applications they employ to create a truly virtual learning experience. It also reduces the need for backup files and file transfers, which can be the bane of the teacher’s existence. Similarly, it speeds up the processing of information to make for easier demonstrations, and it gives students a constant link to the learning environment.
Disadvantages
Still, just as cloud computing offers a wealth of opportunities for teachers and students alike, there are a number of disadvantages that highlight the fact that teachers should proceed with caution when integrating cloud computing into their classrooms.
Primary among them are the Internet ethics that, while students should know by the time they reach high school, they may not. Cloud computing is another form of interactivity, and programs like Google Docs offer students the chance to interact together in a way similar to that of social networking sites. While it would be nice to think that students will behave responsibly, the reality is that there is always a small percentage that will not. Unfortunately, as the Smart Schools Program points out, misuse of the technology will fall upon the shoulders of the teacher. Thus by using cloud computing in the classroom, teachers will become responsible for teaching and enforcing Internet ethics.
Cloud computing may also leave computers and documents more vulnerable to malicious attacks. Internet filters might limit the risky sites which student can access while in the classroom, but the very aspect of using cloud computing technology carries an inherent risk. Unauthorized visitors could also gain access to the site, leaving personal information vulnerable, Pang noted.
Conclusions
Ultimately, cloud computing offers a new frontier to integrate technology into the classroom. Students of all ages can benefit from the collaborative environment and convenience that cloud computing offers, but it must be introduced with care and circumspection. Security of both students and their personal information must be paramount, and consideration should be given to those who may not have easy access to the Internet or a computer. Still, cloud computing offers promises for creating a collaborative learning environment that extends beyond the walls of the classroom and integrates itself into students’ daily lives.
Amazon Web Services has just launched CloudFormation. Allen Stern over at Centernetworks probably has the best description of the announcement.
The blog post announcing the launch, written by Amazon’s Jeff Barr, talks about baking and recipes and the difference between a cook and a baker. I guess today if you use Amazon Web Services, you can become a baker.
Becoming a baker means, “you can create an entire stack with one function call.” You setup a template of services and then when you run the job, Amazon will create and setup everything to your recipe. The recipe can include pretty much all of Amazon Web Services offerings including EC2, load balancers, Simple DB, SQS (Simple Queue Service), SNS (Simple Notification Service), etc. The template is written in JSON.
The blog post provides a sample template which “bakes” a WordPress setup on Amazon Web Services. It appears that if your goal is to run WordPress on Amazon, you could use their template, make your specific changes, and be up and running in minutes.
Jeff has another blog post showing how the CloudFormation process works within the admin console. Some of the sample templates include: Drupal, WordPress, Joomla, PHP Hello World and Rails Hello World applications.
Jolicloud, the operating system developed originally from Ubuntu OS especially for netbooks, will reach the final 1.0 version by the end of this week, as was announced in Jolicloud blog.
The open source community as well as the non-open source really loves this operating system, mainly for the simplicity which is offered and the small footprint making very suitable for netbooks (maybe for tablets later?).
The name already says it, this operating system will be “cloud-friendly”. Here are some of the specs:
- Built in HTML5.
- Over 700 apps available for download. Including the most important ones for Gmail, Facebook, Twitter, Chrome, Skype, etc.
- Applications are installed with one click.
- Applications updates are simplified.
- Install Jolicloud on as many devices as you’d like, and they will always be automatically synchronized. Any app you download, delete, or move around will be the same on all other machines with no extra work on your part.
The download will be available from here.
