Have the clouds blown away?

In the past few years, cloud computing was a fairly common buzzword. Cloud applications meant a PC no longer required a massive processor, multiple gigs of RAM, and software didn't need to be bought in a box. Any PC with an Internet connection and a browser was able to give the basic user access to powerful desktop-based services, such as Web-based applications and banking.

The cloud opened up a world of information and sophistication, via sleek and easy-to-use applications. Google, Facebook, Twitter, Yahoo and others have adapted the lifestyles of many people.

Desk phones in many workplaces are now IP phones. This means the phone call is converted to data, transported and managed in the cloud via smart applications. This VOIP technology is also available via many smartphone applications, which allow users to reduce or eliminate the cost of phone calls.

As for messaging, instant messaging (IM) applications make one-on-one and group conversations simple, easy and virtually free. In-chat services let people send audio, video, vouchers and payments to each other. This starts to merge one or more cloud applications together.

Watching TV in the morning, getting traffic information to a smartphone, checking the weather and location data stored by a user's device are all a result of background processes happening in the cloud.

These services have also transformed traditional applications. Apps for banking give people more than a balance request and basic transactions - they can now display and summarise a user's investment and share portfolio, and the user can buy electricity, airtime and more.

E-mail and social media apps keep users updated with important communications and what's new in their social circles. Messaging has been transformed with voice notes, group chats, location-aware chat rooms and more.

The cloud is essentially the Internet. Advancements and rapid development in technology have introduced interoperability, which means more applications can speak to each other and the capabilities that each offer.

M2M (or machine-to-machine) technology now lets applications speak to each other and make decisions on their own. This translates to a rich user experience, where machines are more aware and capable of merging user behaviour in a manner to enrich their lives. As an experiment, book a flight and use a Gmail account to send the confirmation. Closer to the time of the flight, Google, via a smartphone, will keep you updated with flight times.

The cloud has opened up a sky full of opportunity.

Big tech players have opened up their intellectual property to the public. Any business can get a serious online presence within a day, with Web site building applications that take the hassle out of Web development. Other tools make it easy to spread the word via online advertising and customer tracking. All of this would have been costly, time-consuming and not very 'DIY', but is now available at the cost of a basic computer and Internet connection, with no need to install fiddly software or to be trained to use complex programs.

The cloud has opened up a sky full of opportunity to businesses, specialists, enthusiasts, hobbyists, and the consumer. Open APIs, Web services and open databases unleash value to the programmer - there is no more need to custom-develop links and specific functions between programs.

What is blowing the cloud away?

Consider the travel app, Hipmunk, which correlates flight data (from various airlines) to suit the time, price and layover duration for the traveller. Alerts can be set up to monitor specific journeys, should the cost come down. The sale of the airline ticket is done via another online flight booking service such as Expedia. Hipmunk offers an innovative way to search and find cheap flights at convenient times. It's neither in the airline scheduling nor ticket sales businesses.

The real power was unleashed when the smartphone became ubiquitous from around 2009 in South Africa. iPhones and Android-based phones made the touch-screen and mobile Internet a part of people's lives. Google was no longer a Web site that lived on a PC, but rather the reference tool that fits into everyone's pocket.

The clouds are certainly blowing away. Intelligence has moved to the Internet and exists between devices. It is the smartphone, tablet, TV, traffic light, SMS, e-mail, virtual billboard, and anything in between that is connected to the Internet.

Putting together the cloud is deliberately and subliminally a part of all users' lives. The stakeholders in all people's lives rely on their virtual footprints to interact with them, and they can no longer go to sleep without having a last look at their device screen.