Week 15 Reading Notes

It’s electricity, Dear Watson

The You Tube video gave a great analogy between cloud computing and the state of electricity 100 years ago.  One hundred years ago, companies were responsible for producing their own source of electricity until a national network grid was established and organizations were able to “plug into” a network.  Cloud computing is analogous to this seemingly radical change with what is produced and where it is stored.  Being able to have access anywhere there is an internet connection is in many ways revolutionary and will be sure to change the future of collaborative work as we know it.

The Cloud Game

Many of us have laid on the ground and starred up at the sky and watched the clouds-and seen the clouds morph into different shapes…and no one seems to see the cloud the same.  The article, “What Cloud Computing Really Means,” speaks to its evolving definition.  It depends on who you ask and how they use cloud computing to what it truly means.  I use cloud computing differently than some of my colleagues and some of my work colleagues don’t even understand what cloud computing is able to accomplish.  As people become more tech saavy this notion of how the cloud works will continue to evolve and has the potential to change the way people work and interact.

Crystal Ball for Libraries

Quite often it has been said, to know where you are going is to know where you have been.  The article about “The Future of Libraries,” provides a very important perspective on the role that libraries have served throughout history: with the vast amount of work by Leonardo da Vinci not being discovered until 1966 in Madrid.  The writer makes the argument that books are technology and all technology has a limited life span.  I am not sure that I agree-he tried to draw a parallel with the 8 track, cassette tape, CD etc however I think it akin to saying that music will cease to exist.  So far the written word continues to be a significant way in which people communicate.  Sure, you are reading the words I wrote on a computer screen or tablet but you are still reading written words.  Perhaps the delivery system will change but I cannot imagine a world without books.  I can’t imagine the prediction coming true, that in 2050 literacy will be dead and we will become a mostly verbal society.  Seriously?  Technology has created Facebook, Twitter, texting which has become so pervasive that teens and many other people don’t talk to each other anymore.  Good luck doing away with social media and living in a noisy all verbal, all the time kind of world.  Me, I will investing in some earplugs!