Abstract

Cloud computing is the latest in a repeating cycle that moves computing power back and forth between the center and the edge. This talk will give a quick tour of cloud computing, from the Columbia River to Facebook via the Hotel California, and will position the “cloud phenomenon” in the larger context of patterns of computing and their implications for social isolation and social interaction. This talk will explore the underlying implications of cloud computing for sharing, for the externalization of the social context, and for the balance of power and control. As an engineer, I will observe that cloud computing gives us the platform to create a set of human experiences, but it does not define the form of these experiences. Those who design them define them, and while in principle any programmer can be a designer, it is important to understand which actors are actually designing today’s online experience, and what their motivations are.