[LINK] 'Cloud Computing doesn't fly'

[Roger Clarke]

At 5:15 -0300 28/9/10, Fernando Cassia wrote:
>For me the most important thing about Cloud Computing (or FogComputing) is
>that it takes away ANY RIGHTS the end user might have had. Basically the
>right to choose what version you run of a given application, and what you do
>with it.
>
>Take Google Docs for instance. They add features, move things around, add
>features, without asking you. ...

They make the presumptions that:
-   all users want it
     OR whether users want it or not is irrelevant (ASP spells GOD)
&   it works

I've been astounded at the instability of Google News searches.

A while back, I plugged in a couple of links to the home-page at 
http://www.privacy.org.au/, so visitors could see media mentions of 
the APF.

The one for 'Past Month' seems to have settled at last, and makes sense now:
http://news.google.com/news/search?pz=1&cf=all&ned=au&hl=en&q=%22australian+privacy+foundation%22&as_qdr=m&as_drrb=q&cf=all&scoring=d

But:

(1)  the results for '2010' have been all over the place:
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=%22australian+privacy+foundation%22&as_qdr=a&as_drrb=q&scoring=d&sa=N&tbs=nws:1,cd_min:2010,cd_max:2010,cdr:1

(2)  There's none for '2009' even listed

(3)  Depending on how you go about interpolating, it seems like either 24:
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=%22australian+privacy+foundation%22&as_qdr=a&as_drrb=q&scoring=d&sa=N&tbs=nws:1,cd_min:2009,cd_max:2009,cdr:1
or 6 (2009-10 minus 2010):
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=%22australian+privacy+foundation%22&as_qdr=a&as_drrb=q&scoring=d&sa=N&tbs=nws:1,cd_min:2009,cd_max:2010,cdr:1

(My memory is that it was between 40 and 50 as at late 2009).

Frankly, I doubt Google's competence at running operations.  They get 
whizz-kids to prototype something, release it as beta (= alpha), then 
struggle.

(One of my lines for annoying people at conferences is 'will Google 
some day challenge MS as the corporation that's initiated the largest 
number of failed business lines?').


-- 
Roger Clarke                                 http://www.rogerclarke.com/

Xamax Consultancy Pty Ltd      78 Sidaway St, Chapman ACT 2611 AUSTRALIA
                    Tel: +61 2 6288 1472, and 6288 6916
mailto:Roger.Clarke at xamax.com.au                http://www.xamax.com.au/

Visiting Professor in the Cyberspace Law & Policy Centre      Uni of NSW
Visiting Professor in Computer Science    Australian National University