

To the BBC: I’m sorry about Cloud Reliability - justinpirie
http://blog.mimecast.com/2011/05/bbc-im-sorry-about-cloud-reliability/

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wccrawford
I think this article proves his own point: It's a complicated subject that
isn't understood well.

For instance, he says PSN isn't SaaS... But it is. It's software that's hosted
online that provides value for the users. Online gaming, a store, a 3d virtual
environment, messaging, and more. They all technically fit the definition.

He wants it to be 'Photoshop, but a website' or something like that, and it
doesn't have to be.

Having said that, if you still rule out PSN as SaaS, then something doesn't
need to be SaaS to be 'Cloud'. Many APIs online are cloud-based and wouldn't
fall under his definition of 'SaaS'. Many virtual worlds/online games, too.

The original 'cloud' graphic just meant a bunch of computers all doing about
the same thing, practically interchangeably. It actually meant the entire
internet, routing information around. You didn't have to care how things
works, just that info went in 1 side and out the other.

These days, it's still computers working together for the same task(s), but
more diverse than just routing data. To properly be 'cloud', it should be
scalable. More usage means more computers working on the task(s).

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justinpirie
Absolutely.

But I don't agree that PSN is Cloud- it's online. That's the whole point.

Where the name from vs what it is, are two completely different. The internet
per se isn't cloud, and the cloud isn't the internet. It's a marketing term.

Plus we have to be super careful about what parts of the stack we're talking
about. To be properly "cloud" is err what? It depends what part of the stack
we're talking about. You seem to be talking about IaaS whereas most of the
revenue and adoption is SaaS....

