Does anyone have any ideas as to how 'Cloud' Computing might bring benefits to the food producers ?

PS. As far as I understand it. Cloud computing is where the programmes and all data is held in the 'ether', and you and I have only 'dumb' terminals on our desks. It is a bit like a massive server in the sky. The terminals would be cheaper to buy and we would not have to load software and programme updates etc.

 

 

All fine and dandy, until something happens like my Hotmail account was hacked a month or so ago, and because I never sent emails, just received and stored the information, and I have no labelled folders, I am now denied access to everything I have stored on there. It's made me realise how dangerous it is to rely on computers in general for storage. You can't beat paper back up of important stuff!!

If you've got a really fast connection and/or you use various devices, then it makes a lot of sense. I've got a moderate connection speed and only one computer, and no handhelds etc, so best to keep everything at home in my case.

 Bad points:

As already mentioned connection speed (bandwidth) will be an issue, as most of us don't live in the 97% catchment area so often quoted by broadband providers. Independence and control of data will be a major issue. When you delete a file you must always write across it to ensure it cannot be recovered, will that happen in the cloud? Security of the data and who gets to use it will also be a concern. Corporate monopoly of service provision, Bill Gates took software and charged us for the privilege to use it, will it be the same with our cloud storage/program files?

Good points:

Cheap and easy to use hardware/terminals that will bounce when you drop them. Multiple terminals feeding from the same storage files. Easy sharing of information across multiple platforms. The ability to monitor usage of a particular file (link) to monitor traffic to, for example an advertisement. Employment for highly skilled graduates in their local area. No local hacking or the need for expensive software sold to prevent it.

The most important thing is to keep with the changes, and don't get left behind. 

 

 

 

mursal:

The most important thing is to keep with the changes, and don't get left behind. 

I guess that this is good advice for pretty much everything in life. I also think that you have put your finger on the big downside which is that a central body could be tempted to access the cloud and use the information against an individual. In addition to which a central power could use the cloud to try and manipulate information in its own favour,

In both of these respects central powers, are doing what they have always done and so; 'No change in human nature there'.

With this as a constant, I would be tempted to enter the cloud once I am convinced of its technical stability and assuming a decent broadband which is reliable and stable.  Mind you, just as paper is my current back up, so I would keep some personal computing power in the event of a sunspot which wiped out all satelite activity.

In truth however, I shall probably have entered the clouds of eternity before I have to make a decision about entering the cloud of cyber life.

One of my colleagues (rightly or wrongly) claims to have coined the term "cloud computing", and is an ardent proponent. It really scores when a very large requirement for computing is required for a limited period: today gives an excellent example with A level results coming out, and hence the UCAS website getting swamped. Temporary cloud computing capacity could have been hired to help with doing that job, giving plenty of capacity for the few hours of peak demand. OK the cost per hour would have been large, but a great deal less than buying permanent computers for the job, which would then stand mostly idle for the rest of the year.

From the farming, and most other, points of view, we increasingly need screens to see data, and keyboards and other devices to input that data. By the time you've packaged keyboard , screen and batteries, the extra cost of a central processor chip is small, and the "minimal terminal" would need memory for buffering in any case, and so you have a PC. You can fiddle around with it and call it an i-pad (or very often "That B****** thing!"...) but in the end it looks very much like a PC.

Computer professionals used to control the whole business of computer use, with much the same status as high priests. That has gone (thank goodness) but there is still a hankering amongst professionals to regain the power of the priesthood, and my nasty suspicious mind suggests that Cloud Computing may be an aspect of this. The fact that the computer cloud is not necessarily localised is irrelevant: someone somewhere still has control over the system.

Cloud computing DOES have some attractive features, and I'm sure it will grow to some extent in future years, but PCs and localised computing are enormously strong and robust in systems terms, and are, I think, well suited to the large majority of farming applications both now and for the foreseeable future.