Silicon Shecky

So Microsoft is declaring this year, yet again, the year of cloud computing. I’m going to a meeting with a different partner on cloud computing. You hear that cloud computing is the wave of the future and can save SMBs money. while all that might be true based on a cost per on site server and maintenance versus cost of having a hosted solution, there are reasons why cloud computing hasn’t quite taken off the way everyone figures it will.

The biggest issue with hosted solutions, otherwise known as cloud computing, can be summarize in one word, bandwith. From experience with my clients, they get a T1 line, a business class cable line, or some other line that at best offers them maybe 3MB upstream and 6MB downstream. Most use T1’s which is only 1.5MB up and down stream. Heck I have clients that constantly complain about their speed, and yet are not willing to pay more than the $500-$1000 that they are already paying for Internet access. Some have remote locations where a user or two sits, and then complains about load times (even when they are just going into a terminal server) because of lack of bandwith.

Now, you take an average SMB office and the people in it. for a 5person office, you have e-mail, documents, maybe some web sites they need to connect to. Now add on the family type atmosphere that allows, music streaming, YouTube, and all sorts of other fun stuff that can eat up bandwith. All of a sudden that T1 is filled. Now if you try to move that server up to the cloud, you hit more traffic that needs to go up and down that 1.5MB pipe. Talk about lag city.

Unfortunately, we are a culture where T1 is fast has been ingrained in our brains. My home Internet has 1.5MB upstream but is 18MB downstream. Yeah, that’s 12 times as fast. People who have Verizon’s FIOS can get 50-100MB up and down. A T1 line now compared to what one can get for their house for way less, is like a 36K modem compared to a T1 10 years ago. The pricing for a T1 is way out of whack with the times, and faster speeds for business become cost prohibitive. The slow upgrade of the ISPs to a full cost effective fiber solution is the biggest barrier to point of entry for cloud computing.

The day will come when bandwith will be affordable enough that cloud computing will take off. That day though, is not here yet.

Ok, so Apple wants to represent the high moral ground. While this can be called commendable, the new $2 app called Puff Puff Pass is all about smoking. You can’t have it both ways Apple.

Steve Jobs recently said something along the lines of, “If you want porn, get an Android.” Jobs scoffed at the open development and that porn apps were made for the Android phones. Now don’t think of the fact that there are apps for the iPhone/iPad from Playboy, which makes the statement somewhat laughable, not to mention that you can get porn on the iPhone through the browser. Now they have allowed an app that is all about smoking. Cigarettes, Pipes, Cigars, yes smoking. I don’t know about you, but smoking is far worse than porn, as it really is a drug that is addictive and bad for you. Now add on that kids can get this app and one has to ask, “What are your morals Apple?”

Coming off the heels of IE, Firefox and Safari getting hacked at the recent Pwn conference this week, I have to sit back and wonder what has happened to the browsers out there. Why must they all be hunks of junk?

IE has more security holes than swiss cheese, we all know that. Even IE8 is turning into a security nightmare. Safari is, well, and apple product that is ok, but doesn’t seem to be fast enough, nor does it have great windows support. Chrome is a bland browser based off the firefox core (does Google not know how to program its own thing from scratch) that reall does not make it easy to keep track of my RSS feeds.

Then there is my beloved Firefox, which is becoming the bloated hunk of junk that it was never supposed to be. Seriously, I can open up to my iGoogle home page, and it takes forever to be able to do anything. At least IE I am able to start navigating within 30 seconds of opening the browser. Firefox takes 2 minutes minimum (yes I’ve timed it). Then there is the fact that it has a huge memory hole that just keeps sucking up memory for as long as you have it open. this is a major issue that the Firefox community needs to address, because when you have multiple programs open, and your web browser causes you to have to reboot, well, this becomes a pain for business.

I’ve tried opera, but wasn’t real impressed with it either. I don’t know, maybe I’m asking too much from a browser. Somewhat Secure, fast, and easy to use with a few nice features. Oh yeah, and you better be able to run the WOT addon.