The Cloud - A Cirrus Concept

I upgraded my phone this week and had to give far too much consideration to a ton of options.   This kind of thing always takes more time and effort than I initially think.  However, the experience caused me to examine more closely a tech feature that caught my curiosity.

I had no idea how involved researching the Cloud would become.  I thought I understood the Cloud concept until I searched for a simple definition.  I found that the Cloud shapes and reforms itself depending on the crosswinds of corporations and marketing (my take).  Basically, according to PC.net, “The ‘cloud’ is a metaphor for the Internet and represents the global interconnectedness of online services.  Anyone with an Internet connection can access
the cloud and share data with other online users.”  This sounds simple enough.  It gets tricky when you consider all of the online cloud computing services including social networking websites, such as Facebook and Linkedin.  I know I am not the only one baffled by the Cloud.  There is a website whose whole purpose is to review products and issues surrounding cloud computing.  It answers questions like: Who owns what you put in the Cloud? What can they do with it? Is it really free?  Cloud storage or Backup?  So much for tech talk, all of this is much more information than I care to consider now.

I was initially intrigued with the idea of Cloud computing because of the icon – the cloud.  Well not exactly the cloud clip art, but the idea of the cloud and the word association I have with it.  Often when I am trying to describe an idea and can’t find the right words or metaphor, I have the sense that the concept is hanging over me like a cloud.  This is not in a bad way.  I literally sense the concept is holding space waiting for me to download.  It is very similar to sharing a nighttime dream with someone. As you share it with someone, the dream’s meaning and fullness begins to dissipate as the sequence of words are strung together.  There is the sense that the words minimize the concept. 
 
I have often thought that if I could just take what is in my head (and often my heart), hand it to someone without going through the task of sequencing words that it would make a more complete and uncontaminated communication.  I feel certain I am not the only one that has felt like this, especially those who are waiting for me to get to the point. 

In a fantasy type situation that I have imagined, the Cloud could be a place to send someone to experience an idea.  An idea that has not been siphoned into a linear thought process, one that is not static and staid – a slightly swirling, not-quite-set stage.  The images, sound, and data would be fully dimensional – a kind of pre-event.  I would definitely sign up for this option!

It’s interesting to think about, even if it is a far-away, wispy veil of an idea.

The SEARCH is on - join me.