plaYce – Hello Cloud Computing! Goodbye SaaS?

In a previous post, I blogged about how Cloud Computing is the future, and the latest release of Google’s Chrome will speed up this process.  Companies such as NetSuite, NETtime Solutions and EnterpriseWizard publicly announced they will support Chrome last week.  This year’s TechCrunch 50 had several good examples of utilizing Cloud Computing to begin the next wave of computing.  A great example of this is the start up plaYce. While I am not yet convinced that this will be THE platform that will revolutionize worldwide, streaming, high quality gaming; I believe they are heading in the right direction and paving the way for similar companies and platforms to step in.

plaYce’s proprietary technology automatically and accurately reconstructs the entire world in 3D and streams it with high frame rate from within the browser. Consequently, this unique, immersive, “Mirror World” gaming experience does not rely on a heavy client download. plaYce is designed such that every pixel has a world co-ordinate, enabling integration with user generated content and other forms of geo-tagged data.

plaYce connects gamers with their social graph through quick engagement, synchronous, social games. At the same time, plaYce provides Game-Infrastructure-as-a-Service, enabling independent developers to design games situated anywhere in the world: car races in Hong Kong, first-person shooters in the Amazon, treasure hunts in Manhattan, etc. Aside from the technological benefits, plaYce saves game designers 50-75% of development costs and significant time to market.

What a great example of Cloud Computing.  After seeing their demo, I was curious whether this is technially considered SaaS or just falls under the general category of Cloud Computing.  It seems it fits more into the latter category.  While plaYce is not the first to roll out this concept, their platform may be the one the ultimately brings it to the masses.  RuneScape was the first and probably still is the most poplular MMORPG.

RuneScape is a Java-based MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game) operated by Jagex Ltd. It has approximately ten million active free accounts and is a browser-based game with some degree of 3D rendering. RuneScape was created by Andrew Gower, the creator of DeviousMUD, the forerunner to RuneScape, in 1998. Rewritten and renamed, the first version of RuneScape was released to the public on 4 January 2001 in beta form. It has a free-to-play option, and a simple interface that is accessible on most web browsers.

According to an article on ZDNews, Harry Derbes, CEO of Lawson, seems to think that SaaS is on its way out over the next two years and will be making way for Cloud Computing to step in.  While I don’t necessarily believe it will be gone in two years, I think Cloud Computing will become much more prevalent than SaaS in the marketpalce over the next decade.

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Sources:
http://www.playce.com
http://www.crunchbase.com/company/playce
http://www.informationweek.com/news/internet/google/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=210500320
http://cloudcomputing.sys-con.com/node/612033
http://news.zdnet.com/2424-9595_22-218408.html
http://www.runescape.com
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RuneScape

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Exploring the Next Wave of Tech

While we have discussed the topic of staying ahead of the curve in past conversations, I thought I would expand on that a little bit more.  The exact moment that Web 2.0 began is debatable, but what is more important is figuring out when we are ready to move on to the next generation.  As I was reading through Demo.com, I found an article on this topic.  Chris Shipley, the Executive Producer of Demo, makes a case that Web 2.0 is drawing closer to its end and the next generation of tech development is right around the corner.

The original “flat” Web was about displaying information, or brochure-ware as the term went in the early days of the Web. Transactions (eBay, Amazon, etc.) helped define the dawn of the term Web 2.0. She then positioned Facebook and the social networking phenomena as the third generation of the Web, an interactive trend that shifted power from site owners to users…Shipley argued that while Facebook, MySpace and other social network sites are used by millions, it’s not a mass market technology.

In her case, she states that there is a lack of transparency and trust, as well as ease of use and choice issues that are preventing MySpace and Facebook from reaching an even larger market than it does now.  She states that in the next generation, barriers will come down and Distributed Web will reach a far greater audience in a personal way through syndication and distribution.  While I wish she could have expanded more on the topic, this is all that was quoted:

Examples of the distributed content trend? Take the rise of SaaS and cloud computing as tech trends. “We don’t get there with a desktop and browser paradigm,” said Shipley.

This is probably the wave we need to explore.  The challenge here is that the ante and stakes may be upped significantly in this new space.

 

ALSO READ: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_3.0

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Sources:
http://www.internetnews.com/bus-news/article.php/3770116/DEMO+Web+20+Is+So+Yesterday.htm

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Cloud Computing and the motives behind Chrome

I downloaded Chrome and have been using it for the past couple days (it has some bugs that need to be worked out).  It is very simplistic in visual form and has minimal features, which seems to make it a bit faster loading.  It is very utilitarian overall, allowing for functionality over features.  Something that I think we should both challenge ourselves to do more of is analyze why certain business moves are made (especially by large companies that can shape industries).  The specific example in this case that I was somewhat perplexed by was Google’s decision to drift from the FireFox platform, which they have invested a fair amount of money in, in their attempt to break into the web browser market.  FireFox has grown to nearly 20% market share in the web browser market, which is remarkable for the relatively short time they have been in existence.  Well, I knew it had to be a calculated move, but if I thought if I can figure out what the intent is behind the product, that may lead us into potential opportunity.  It is situations like this that maybe we should focus on…a new concept of change that is not yet mainstream and understood by the masses.  What I am referring to is the concept of Cloud Computing. 

After doing a little bit of digging, I figured out that Cloud Computing is the reason why Google chose to create a completely different product not based on FireFox’s platform in anyway.  The idea was not to create a “better browser, but rather a browser that could eventually make cloud computing become a more acceptable idea.  Google would benefit from this by creating loyal, repeat users, a more easly segmented market base for advertising, and hence more revenue.

 

SO WHAT IS CLOUD COMPUTING?

 

“The Cloud appears as a single point of access for all the computing needs of consumers.” (Wikipedia) 

 

“Cloud computing comes into focus only when you think about what IT always needs: a way to increase capacity or add capabilities on the fly without investing in new infrastructure, training new personnel, or licensing new software. Cloud computing encompasses any subscription-based or pay-per-use service that, in real time over the Internet, extends IT’s existing capabilities.”  (InfoWorld)

    

 

 

 

 

Cloud Computing

 

Cloud Computing is still in it’s infancy, and the potential still unknown.  The first definition is what I will focus on, because the application that Google is pursuing is comsumer based.  What this means, essentially, is that the end user would be able to access software on demand from a centralized server.  For example, if I need to write a document, the Word Processor can it can be launched through accessing the cloud instead of the local hard drive.  It appears as a stand alone program, unlike Google Docs is now in html form.  (think downloading music instead of buying at the store, same with software).  Core files are stored at a local level, but the rest of the software is accessed via the internet (Google will generate advertising dollars by driving traffic, their business model all along).  To put it into simple terms, the cloud become a virutal hard drive and operating system for the user.  The computer at your desk would behave more like a terminal, but provide the same operability as a workstation.  This would greatly expedite the process of beta testing new software, software release, and software upgrade cycles.  For this reason,  Open standards and open source software are critical to the growth of cloud computing. 

 

So the questions I am left with and leave open for discussion are: 

• How will this affect everyday computing?
• How will this change social interaction on computers?
• How might this change commerce and business in general?
• Is there anyway we can captialize on this if it becomes a more accepted standard?
  
  

This is my analysis of Google’s release of Chrome.  If my assessment is correct, this may be an opportunity to create an idea that is well ahead of the curve.  I wanted to make you aware of this concept, and hopefully stimulate some thought and ideas.

 

UPDATE 9/5

Here is a good article I found on intelligent clould computing

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References:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloud_computing

http://www.infoworld.com/article/08/04/07/15FE-cloud-computing-reality_2.html

http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/sep2008/tc2008092_293242.htm

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