The forecast for the next couple of years certainly looks stormy in the consumer tech world. Three of the world’s largest technology companies, Google, Apple and Amazon, have recently confirmed launch details of their consumer cloud computing services, where the battle lines have been drawn not on storage capacity or file types, but on the very essence of data storage itself. Just as VHS overcame Betamax, each company wants its version of the cloud to be the de facto standard for cloud computing.
Here we highlight the differences between the two main types of consumer cloud on offer, what they reveal about how the companies supporting them see the future of the internet and what we see as the implications for media companies.
The cloud as the sole storage provider
This approach to cloud computing, championed by Google, is one where all your files and data would not be stored on your laptop or tablet but held remotely on your provider’s servers and accessed through your web browser. Should you ever lose your laptop, all your information would be backed up and accessible immediately from any device. In fact, very little would be stored on your actual device at all, though a constant internet connection would be required for access. This eliminates the need for vast amounts of storage space on your device, and paves the way for a much more streamlined (and cheaper) breed of laptops. Indeed, Google has partnered with Samsung and Acer to launch Chrome Books – a line of low spec (16GB storage) and therefore relatively inexpensive notebooks created specifically to provide access to web-based apps and Google’s cloud.
The cloud as a backup storage provider
This approach views cloud computing as a backup for all the data, apps and software stored on your
devices, and is the type of cloud Apple is pushing in its iCloud. The files themselves will still be stored and run from your laptop or tablet, meaning that they can be used without an internet connection. This provides users with the assurance that their data will be stored independently in two places at the same time, eliminating any risks to access should the provider’s servers go down. However, this requires a larger storage capacity on your devices, which of course comes with a larger price tag.
What do these differences mean?
It‘s perhaps unsurprising that Google, a company born online, would see cloud computing as solely server and browser based, and that Apple, a device manufacturer, would see cloud computing as a backup system for your devices. But more fundamentally, they signal how each company sees the future of the internet.
Google is betting that the world will have cheap, fast and widely available internet access in the near future – that we will always be connected wherever we go. However, given the difficulties in providing consistent, high quality internet access even within the UK, a system that requires a continuous internet connection may prove to be troublesome in the short-term.
Apple, on the other hand, views the cloud as a repository for all your data and a method of synchronising and accessing files (particularly media) across different devices. Apple sees physical devices at the heart of your internet experience.
What next?
Finally, the cloud may represent the start of the post-PC world. Only five years ago, Apple made half of its profits from laptops, desktops and the software for them. Today, computers represent only a quarter of its profits, whilst mobile phones and tablets account for the lion’s share. Allowing seamless access to all of your files from any device will certainly help continue this trend.
What impact will it have on media?
There is a great deal of hope that cloud based services will make piracy a thing of the past by allowing only legitimately purchased media to be shared, decreasing the appeal of pirated copies. But even if cloud providers decide not to go down this route, cloud computing may still offer record companies, for example, a chance to make revenues from pirated copies of their content. Apple’s iCloud will come with a new service able to scan devices for content and match them to a record company’s existing repertoire licensed to Apple thus enabling rights holders to charge cloud providers a fee for each of the songs they are allowing users to store and access.
Another consequence of cloud computing is that consumers may choose not to own media at all. Indeed, the transient nature of streamed and mobile access lends itself more to a rental model rather than an ownership one, which favours companies like Spotify over iTunes. Coupled with this is the risk that media companies will have to rely on a limited range of technology companies to distribute their content. There are few tech companies that have ingratiated themselves to rights holders and content producers so the world’s move to cloud computing is not without its potential drawbacks.
Microsoft: Cleaning Windows?
Outdated, dull and difficult to use – all words that have been used to describe Microsoft products, but even if they were true once, are they anymore? In this post we look at the latest developments from the world’s largest software company and consider what they mean for consumers and enterprises.
Windows (Gr)8
The first main innovation of note is in the Windows 8 operating system. It is essentially a combination of two user interfaces: that of Windows 7 (which is similar to previous versions of Windows) and that of Windows Phone 7 (which although fundamentally different is a touch UI much more akin to the Apple mobile operating system, iOS). Windows 8 will allow users to combine these two interfaces, simultaneously on the same screen. Microsoft refer to it is a “reimaging of Windows” and state that “a Windows 8-based PC is really a new kind of device, one that scales from touch-only small screens through to large screens, with or without a keyboard and mouse.”
This is important because one of the major criticisms levelled at Apple is that whilst its operating system looks good and is easy to use, and is particularly strong in the creative industries, it’s not great for doing serious office productivity work (indeed the reverse is levelled at Microsoft). The long-term trend is towards device convergence and it will therefore be increasingly important for an operating system to be able to move seamlessly between these two modes. It also signifies that Microsoft is anticipating, and positioning itself for, the post-PC world. Microsoft expects to see the iPad’s dominance seriously challenged once Windows 8 launches at the end of 2012, and competing tablet manufacturers adopt it as standard.
Windows 8 will also feature the Windows app store, in a direct attempt to compete with Apple and Google. Microsoft thus hopes to attract developers who are currently building smart phone apps to create high quality apps for Windows, because ultimately it is the apps that drive consumer adoption and revenues to the platform owner.
However, Microsoft cannot feasibly expect to position itself as the tablet operating system of choice without cracking smart phones first. As it stands, sales of Windows Phone 7 mobile handsets are underwhelming – 1.6 million in Q1 2011 compared to 16.9 million Apple iPhones in the same period in a market (source: Gartner 2011). In order to rectify this, Microsoft has announced a partnership with Nokia, where the handset manufacturer will be a key decision maker in the future development of Windows Phone 7.
Head in the Clouds?
One common misconception about Microsoft is that they have been slow to offer any cloud-based services. In fact, Microsoft Hotmail provides the most web-based email accounts in the world and has done for a very long time since being acquired in 1998. However, it is true that Microsoft hasn’t ventured beyond email whilst competitors such as Google have made great strides in terms of cloud-based document sharing.
To combat this they are launching Microsoft Office 365 this month, which brings cloud services to the enterprise market, and includes the Microsoft Office suite of desktop applications in a software-as-a-service bundle. Microsoft’s cloud will offer all the functionality that users are familiar with, as well as allowing document collaboration, and will also include Microsoft’s recent acquisition, Skype.
It is different from other cloud based services in that Microsoft also offers options whereby it provides its market leading office productivity software as a bundle or users who already have licensed software can pay less for the cloud only, but in either case applications can be used without an internet connection (which is in marked contrast to Google’s enterprise cloud, Google Apps). Microsoft Office 365 marks an evolution in the company’s business model, where users pay for service provision and management, as well as for the software licence. Subscriptions are monthly and dependent on the amount of storage and the type of Microsoft apps required. Its real strength is its familiarity – Microsoft is the de facto standard for business documents; companies will be reluctant to use cloud-based services that don’t allow for the sharing and/or editing of Microsoft Office documents and Microsoft Office 365 ought to be amongst the amongst the best services to do so. Certainly this feature gives it a potential edge over Google Apps.
What does this all mean?
Microsoft is finally catching up with its competitors who have out-innovated it and its sheer size and dominance meets that it will be able to push adoption of innovations in mobile and in cloud based services to a mass market. Savvy media companies will already be meeting with Microsoft to work out how they can position themselves to make the most of Windows 8. However, Microsoft’s latest offerings appear more reactive than proactive and we can only wonder how long a strategy of being third mover in the fast moving technology market can be sustainable.
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