Let’s face it.  The PC has become a blender.  Desktop innovation is dead and the grave has been danced on by the rise of the “app” and the increasing power of The Cloud, the newest utility on the grid.  The essence of Cloud Computing is simply this, the application (app, program, widget, etc) and all related data sits on a server somewhere outside the device that delivers it.  Typically it is accessed through a web browser or some similar interface.  So, instead of  loading software on your desktop or notebook or smartphone and running the application from the that desktop, the device  simply becomes the delivery vehicle channeling the application through its broadband connection to the web.

It isn’t unlike the remote desktop environments such as Citrix or VPN or Windows RDP, except the desktop itself gets left behind and only the application is delivered.  In the simplest sense, a server, whether down the hall or across the world,  is the brains of the application and the storage space for everything associated with it.  Your device simply becomes the doorway through which it is reached.

Remember how the launch of  Windows 95 inspired an almost cult-like anticipation of ’round the corner lines at retailers like Circuit City (also gone from the landscape) and Best Buy?   If your data moves to the cloud, and most of your daily online activities are done on devices such as the Android or the iPad, where simple, widget-style applications cater to your precise needs, what does that mean for the computer chugging away under your desk faithfully (or fitfully) loading Windows (or OSX) every time you turn it on?  Does it mean the desktop is dead?  Well, it may not go quietly into that good night because many companies will be a long time in shifting infrastructure and cutting the cord from long-time investments in expensive business applications.  However, the desktop PC as we know it, with its focus on the operating system, particularly for smaller, more nimble SMBs  now will become a lot less important.  Some might say it is already irrelevant.

Want to learn more about The Cloud?  Catch the archived recording from our latest webinar, The Cloud Has Finally Landed. Should your Company Head in?”.