[AccessD] Cloud Development

LOL, and then there is data and bandwidth limits.

My work is on data where I select records with gigabytes of data, select a few million, get those 
into csv files and email or ftp to a site.  I move hundreds of gigs of data back and forth doing 
this just for a single order.

So for the house hold pc perhaps, for companies, it seems unlikely.  Someday of course (50 years 
from now?) all the data will just reside in the cloud, will be manipulated on systems in the cloud, 
and will be delivered to its destination in the cloud.  But that won't happen until things get much 
more reliable and everyone understands how to do this "cloud thing".

I get DVDs for crying out loud, with zip files, filled with data which I have to extract and get 
into the format I can use.  I got 100 gigs of raw data in fixed width format on a dozen DVDs, and I 
have to pull that into SQL Server, strip out the padding spaces and get into real tables.

And of course, relative to "Star Trek" kinds of systems we are still in the horse and buggy days.

We have come a very long way in just the last 20 years in terms of infrastructure.  Remember in 1990 
when we were dialing up servers on modems and praying for 12 kbit connections?  In 1999 (when I 
lived in Mexico) I was dialing into servers up in the US to do remote desktop (VNC).

But as Jim says, "out in the country"...

John W. Colby
Colby Consulting

Reality is what refuses to go away
when you do not believe in it

On 11/30/2011 12:12 PM, Jim Lawrence wrote:
> Hi Mark:
>
> Some people believe that Cloud development will do exact that. Steve Jobs
> went so far as to announce, "The PC is dead."
>
> The understanding is that there will be no need for desktop type computers
> as where ever you go all you data and work capability will travel with you.
> All you will need is a dumb terminal like an iPad and you can go anywhere.
>
> Within major centers this scenario can work but once into the rural areas
> the desktop is still king and will be for the foreseeable future. This may
> very well be why Windows 8 was created with two UIs. One, when you are
> downtown and one when you are further out in the community.
>
> The Cloud is great as a remote hard drive, development platform and
> application host and coupled with full communication to the internet it is a
> potent back-end.
>
> For me the whole Cloud scenario is great but if I drive 20 miles, out of
> town, an iPad is almost useless, as internet communication and cell phone
> coverage is spotty at best and I had better have my laptop ready if I want
> to work with my office or programming applications...even if I am developing
> for the Cloud or Smartphones.
>
> Jim
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com
> [mailto:accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com] On Behalf Of Mark Simms
> Sent: Wednesday, November 30, 2011 7:25 AM
> To: 'Access Developers discussion and problem solving'
> Subject: [AccessD] Cloud Development
>
> Could someone please tell me what the difference is between the above vs.
> Web Development ?
> Seems as though "Cloud Development" is the next huge growth area.
>
> It's likely to be the proverbial "last nail in the coffin" for Lan or
> Desktop development.
>
>