Key consequences of the cloud for business

Thinking of “cloud computing” as equivalent to an electrical utility, focused on the cheap production of a standardized commodity, is akin to calling a car a “motorized horse”. What's going on is much more fundamental. We don't use the phrase “personal computer” when we talk about our tablet, smartphone, or set-top box. Nor, beyond 2020, will we be talking about the “cloud”. We will be talking about something else entirely, something that today we don't even know what it is. But we know what the contours will be, because we know the main agents will still be humans, and humans don't change much. We know it will be about making money, socializing, being entertained, and 10 billion people struggling for a role and a voice in the first truly planetary medium. It will change our society in a manner like no previous single revolution, instead bringing the incremental revolutions of printing press, telegraphy, photography, telephony, radio, video, computer, cell phone, and internet into a single digital realm. In this talk I'll briefly cover some of the driving forces behind the change, some of the key consequences for business over the next decade, and some thoughts on what lies beyond 2020.