Monday, October 25, 2010

Hype and vaporware - welcome to The Cloud

If you watch NFL football on Sunday - and you know I do - then you've seen the BS Microsoft ad where the condescending shrew/wife/mom creates a wonderful family photograph by invoking the power of "The Cloud".  I can't watch this commercial without my head exploding.

I am an applications programmer who for the past decade and change have been working in environments that are just "one-off" from the bleeding edge of technology.  I am usually aware of what's coming a good 6 months before it hits the "real" marketplace, as it's been bandied about in tech journals, various conferences, etc.  Some of the hyped products make the grade, some don't.

I've been hearing about "The Cloud" for over 2 years now.  I'm sick of it.  It's what we in the industry call "vaporware".  Vaporware is just what it sounds like -- over-hyped, wonderful-sounding futuristic does-it-all software that doesn't really exist.  I think you get the concept.

I did a quick Google search on "Cloud real or hype".  All of the returned links referred to how "The Cloud" was on the verge of moving beyond hype, how it was over-hyped, etc.  Here's a sampling.

Cloud computing moving behind hype to real-world use
Keeping it real: Cloud hype in the IT Industry
Toning down the hype and getting real
The promise is real, but the hype is extreme

I think you get the idea.  It's a big steaming pile of hype, with a smidgen of bombast lumped in for good measure.

Memo to Micros**t: knock it off!  No more commercials hyping "The Cloud" until there is one...and, no, the one on the flow diagram marked "a miracle happens here" is NOT the "cloud" I'm talking about.

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