Resource Review #1 Cloud Computing by Brian Hayes

Brian Hayes. "Cloud Computing." Communications of the ACM 51.7 (2008): 9-11.

In his article, Hayes frames cloud computing in the context of computer history. He mentions its similarities to time-sharing systems decades ago and speculates on its technological and social role in the future. He also explores the positive and negative effects of computing in the cloud.

I really like how Hayes views cloud computing in a big-picture perspective for this article. In writing about digital tools, it is quite easy to only focus on the technological aspect of that particular tool. Hayes takes into account the technology, but also the historical, political, and social issues surrounding it. I found that this perspective helped his writing to be more accessible to me, the reader. I am still new to my topic, and this article was one of the first cloud computing articles I stumbled across. Instead of beginning with digital mumbo-jumbo, Hayes' first sentence actually references a Greek myth. Hayes' style of first describing this digital tool in its historical and cultural place and then easing into the technological aspects of cloud computing helped me to feel much less overwhelmed.

Instead of applauding cloud computing as the newest man-made wonder of our time, as I found in other articles, Hayes refers to this phenomenon as "the second coming of cloud computing". He believes that at its root it is a new look for a trend that has occurred before. This idea takes the edge off both the glamour and the uncertainty of cloud computing. I personally found it comforting to have cloud computing placed in its proper historical perspective instead of in an obscure technological league of its own.