BLOGS

You still storing stuff on that creaky old desktop PC? How 2010.

The new way to work, as you probably know, is in the cloud. That’s where magic happens in a digital Shangri-La — hardware never crashes, software updates itself and every screen saver is of Pamela Anderson.

The cloud is “a concept and direction where most of us are headed,” Dan Paquette (in photo) told a group of about 35 GWATA members — all with heads in the cloud — at a round-table discussion on Wednesday.

Paquette is the co-founder and president of Key Methods, a Wenatchee tech consulting and software development company that leans heavily towards the cloud for doing much of its work.

So what, really, is the cloud? It’s that big ethereal universe of computing power that we access and use through the Internet, said Paquette. We can write, design, tweak photos, figure our taxes, and do a million other things waaaay “out there,” using hardware at data centers in, say, Timbuktu or Quincy, Wash. — not inside our laptops.

But is that a good thing? Yes, said Paquette, and here’s why:

• You’re not chained to your desk. When your documents and other stuff are stored in the cloud, you can reach and modify them through your smart phone, tablet or laptop while sitting in Starbucks or atop Badger Mountain.

• It’s relatively cheap. Using the cloud means you don’t have to buy new computers every time you fill up a hard drive. And operational expenses are kept low because you pay as you go, depending on how much stuff you store, or how many employees use it.

• It offers better online security (top-notch viral and hack protection) and better disaster recovery (data is backed up and then backed up again).

Paquette discussed all kinds of other things in his 90-minute talk, including the history of the cloud (the concept took shape about 15 years ago with off-site voicemail), how it’s expanded to store gazillions of bytes and a fun “geek-a-palooza” rundown of one of his own gizmo-filled work days.

By the way, GWATA is the Greater Wenatchee Area Technology Alliance, a local group that promotes use and understanding of technology. They provided good sandwiches, too, for the round-table discussion.

Comments

Want to comment on this story? All Wenatchee World members are invited to comment on stories, by using the form below. Please know that we at wenatcheeworld.com hope our site is useful, entertaining and civil. So we'll delete comments that are obscene, abusive or way off topic. We appreciate it when readers use the "suggest removal" button to flag inappropriate comments. For more about interacting with the site, see our Use Policy.

Use the comment form below to begin a discussion about this content.

Sign in to comment