From what I understood, cloud computing is when you do anything that is based off the web. For example, an application that is based off of the web; not on your computer. All the activity you do should be somewhere else, not on your hardware; all you would need is an internet connection. Everything you do would be on a remote server. Basically, everything is virtualized and you can access it by just getting online; there is no need to have a special hardware to access whatever software or application you want to use.
What are the benefits and disadvantages of cloud computing for an ordinary computer user?
For an ordinary computer user, cloud computing can be one of the best things that has happened to them. Being able to access things such as google sites, docs, presentations, applications and other software through any computer has created an ease and mobility in everyones lives. Things such as checking email, looking for directions to somewhere, talking to friends, and looking at photos are all possible because of cloud computing. You can keep all your information "somewhere over the internet", and you dont need to have a hard drive yourself or any extra device. Some disadvantages are server crashes (you could lose all your information if you only have it stored somewhere online), security issues (you don't know who is reading or seeing your personal information).
What are the benefits and disadvantages of cloud computing for a start-up company?
The benefits and disadvantages for a start-up company are very similar to an ordinary persons'. A very important advantage is that they don't have to buy all the hardware needed to run their company; they can just pay another company with servers and they can keep all their information for them that will keep their business running. A very big disadvantage for a small start-up company is that if the servers crash, they will lose a LOT of money from all the customers that invested in their product.
What are the social dangers of cloud computing? That is, why might people be uneasy about the whole world's documents being stored on GoogleDocs instead of on local machines?
There are many social dangers of cloud computing; we trust that all our information is safe somewhere in the internet, when we don't even know where it is. If anyone gets to access your passwords used on the internet, you are in great danger. They can steal your money, steal your identity, and other things along those lines. If they were on local machines, you would be able to have more control over your information, but you wouldn't have the advantage of accessing them from wherever you want. Also, your valuable information might be deleted forever.
