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The Google-Apple Cloud Computer


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Nick Carr, a super-smart technology pundit who I respect a lot, says this is the future of personal computers: Apple's sleek front-end matched to Google's hyperscale back-end. All of your data gets stored out there on the network, and you never have to worry about it. All you have to worry about is how to keep your shiny silver gPodBook Nano free of dust and fingerprints.

Seriously, this post is a fascinating read. But do you believe it?
sloan

10 responses // The Google-Apple Cloud Computer

  • certainly seems doable. the major concern here seems to be privacy, but i think most people would gladly trade that away for a $99 computer. however im not sure about the idea that it's a war between google and microsoft that will have one clear winner. there is such a growing distrust of google that it seems like plenty of people would be willing to support a competitor even if the apps are not as good or as cheap.
    dmarcusfreed
  • dmf ~ do you think there is a mainstream distrust of Google? I hear it on the blogotubes, which may be a sign of things to come, but I don't see any backlash in the mainstream. yet.
    danlevine
  • I dont want to buy it. I'd like to think that the golden age of Open Systems that is the Internet of the past decade will never collapse into a dark age of Closed System run by a megacorporate duet.

    It does make sense that it will come to be run by fewer and fewer companies in this age of corporate mergers, and Google is obviously right up there. (antitrust in the making anyone?) Is there any chance that Google would stake the claim for an actual open system in the greater good of information sharing, eventually, when push comes to shove?

    Yah, probably not.
    danlevine
  • i think that among right-leaning members of the blogosphere AND the mainstream media there is plenty of distrust of GOOG already. that could easily be whipped up even further over a system where everyone in the world stores all personal data about themselves. that is enough to make privacy advocates nervous. add to that a little dose of right v. left inflamed fears and you've got a recipe for serious backlash and room for other competitors to step in.
    dmarcusfreed
  • doesn't it require an internet connection? when that's everywhere...free, i'm all for it...in the meantime. besides, when Google is bought by some evil empire, you are gunna be soooo scared.
    Danny
  • Danny ~ internet everywhere? that's like... next week?
    danlevine
  • http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/16/technology/16digi.htm...
    Sounds great, but look at the big picture.
    Sounds great, but look at the big picture.
    I love Macs and will never use anything else, but let's remember that we're hugely in the minority. Apple's 3% market share makes it hard to envision a monopoly of any kind in the near future. But who knows? Maybe a Google cloud computer partnership will finally get Macs into the hands of more than just graphic designers, video editors, and young people.
    dosborn
  • I think this may all be true. It makes sense, though there are certainly reasons why some of it may not work. There are two parts to this story, of course:
    1. Cloud computing. It's coming, like it or not. The power will be irresistible to users, and the potential for control and income equally so to providers. It'll provide tremendous, real computing benefits to us all -- the good news -- and totally rob us of any illusion of privacy we may still maintain. I'm not sure how much we have as it is right now. And, of course, good luck to us all in a major power outage. (One thinks of the "pulse" that preceded the Dark Angel TV show of a few years back.)
    2. Google and Apple. Very interesting, and Apple fans like me have seen the two companies drawing inarguably closer. They're fairly attuned culturally, it would seem. And both very smart. And if there's one thing Apple's proven freakishly good at (or Steve Jobs has), it's staying *way* ahead of everyone else's curve.
    I've been thinking for a while that the guy likely has a more profound life work in mind than iPods and helping to usher in the age of digital media delivery, which was inevitable anyway. Maybe this is part of it.
    groganb
  • @grogranb -- Funny you should mention electricity. Nick Carr's big notion is that computing is taking exactly the path that power generation took a century ago: First it's this exotic, high-tech thing... then it's something companies all provide for themselves (with on-site generators! can you imagine it?)... then it's a remote utility, something you just plug into and never worry about.
    sloan
  • I am guessing the price points are off. Might be something more like $299 and so much a month for the service. Perhaps $14.95. This makes far more sense to me. There is a cat and mouse game going on here if you ask me. Tom and Jerry might soon figure out how to work together no doubt, but, and this is a great big one.

    Both sides will want to share the action hence the bump up in price. The idea to reach the masses perhaps on a 0% payment plan giving everyone a chance to own one for around $29 per month. All upgraded gear extends your new contract. Perhaps.
    1Eco_Media

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