Data in the Cloud, Applications on Demand

Have you ever heard of the expression data in the cloud, applications on demand? No? Then I guess you haven’t heard of Web2.0. It is time to grasp the concepts and move forward with a whole new generation of ideas.

So what is Web2.0? For some it is simply a marketing buzzword. For others, it is a tagword designed to summarize the characteristics of a set of technologies which includes things such as AJAX, Feeds, Social Networks, Syndication, Wikis, Blogs, etc, etc, etc. Web2.0 is also the natural progression of the Web as we know it, although what we eventually try to reach is summarized by the phrase data in the cloud, applications on demand.

The data is in the cloud as it has to be accessible to all that can or have the permission to make use of it. If you think about it for a second, it does make a lot of sense. Currently we are bound to physical devices since most of our data is stored on portable disks, laptops, mobile phones and range of other utilities. This type of mechanism makes the communication and exchange of data quite cumbersome. Just imagine, in order to listen to your music collection on your iPod you need to synchronize it first with your PC. Changes on both ends (the PC and the iPod) wont reflect into the opposite ends. This simply is not the right way to go!

So in order to free the data we need to metafy it or simply upload it into the cloud in such a way that any single device will be able to access it when given enough permissions. This is the first goal of the Web which I believe will result into passing the problem over Web2.0, Web3.0 and whatever else that might come along the way.

What about applications on demand? What about it? If the data is free of any form and representation then we need a mechanism that will pull it down to the client and transform it in such a way that it makes sense to the user. This problem is solved by what we refer to as applications on demand. We demand applications that will work with our data. Therefore, if we need to calculate our financial data for the next month, we can simply fire Google, Yahoo or any other vendor and look for the appropriate application that will serve the purpose. The application of course needs to dynamically bind to our data so that the process is as transparent as possible.

This is what is known as utility computing. The data becomes free out of form and shape. The application becomes just simple business logic. The binding of both produce the utility which is agile and delivered when demanded. This is what the Web is all about. So the next time when you design applications, do not hide the data. Make it free and open so that can be utilized by others. Remember, the power is not in those that control the applications. The power is within the content. The intelligence worth more then the actual business logic.

(Via Hakiri.)