Resource Review #3 Mining Information from the Data Clouds by Erica Orange

Erica Orange. "Mining Information from the Data Clouds". Futurist 43.4 (2009): 17-21.

In this article, Erica Orange examines cloud computing from the perspective of a business futurist. She clearly explains the various types of clouds (public, private, and hybrid) and the numerous and creative ways people are currently using cloud computing. Right now cloud computing is being utilized to download videos in record time, design trucks, and track flu outbreaks. She reminds readers that most people are already using the cloud whether they know it or not. Activities such as updating bank balances online, purchasing an item online, uploading a YouTube video, or creating a blog entry are all being done in the cloud.

I admire how Orange gives a balanced and detailed view of both the positive and negative effects from cloud computing. Similar to other articles I found, she mentions the dangers of computing in the cloud, but mainly focuses on the consequences that result from the difficulty of deleting data and ease of obtaining it. Though she mentions the possibility of terrorism and misuse of this data by governments and companies, she does not delve into conspiracy theories or 1984-type predictions. She is also more specific about cloud computing benefits than other articles I have come across, such as the truck-designing and flu-tracking.

Orange dedicates a good portion of her article to how cloud computing is changing the way information and society interact. As the title implies, she shows how companies are planning to use increasingly available user information to shape how they do business and target customers. This can be seen as beneficial in that users are able to contribute to and ultimately control the type of services they get. However, Orange points out in her conclusion that the exact opposite may be true: that the technology may in fact be contributing to and controlling what we want. This is certainly an intriguing idea, and one I hope will be explored more in the cloud computing dialogue.