Prelude to COFES 2010: Jon Peddie to Walk on Cloud

Jon Peddie from Jon Peddie Research (JPR) thinks our current way of keeping up with technology -- cyclical hardware updates to make sure we can run the latest software releases -- is doomed. He predicts, in the future, we would draw as much -- or as little -- computing power as we need from the cloud, much in the same we we draw electricity from the grid today. The basic premise of his argument makes sense to me. After all, we don't go out and buy a new generator whenever we need more power. In fact, we don't -- well, most of us don't, at any rate -- own generators; we just pay our local provider for the volume we use. That, in essence, is his argument in favor of cloud computing.

Peddie is scheduled to give a presentation about the topic at The Congress on the Future of Engineering Software 2010 (COFES, Scottsdale, Arizona, April 15-18). He invites you to bring your own theories in favor -- or against -- cloud computing.

"Bring your arguments and an open mind -- thinking allowed," he said. He would like to humbly request that you refrain from bringing tomatoes and eggs to throw at him.

For more on his thoughts, listen to our conversation here (roughly 10 mins long), the first in a series of podcasts with COFES presenters.