Cloud Computing

What is cloud computing?
-Cloud Computing is like a virtual hard drive that allows users to save and update their work on a provider, like Google's Sites. Users don't own the "physical infrastructure", but instead use a company's and some get charged for only what they use. A user can access his/her work on the provider's site anywhere there is a computer and internet hook-up. Uses applications and storage from a network rather than locally.
What are the benefits and disadvantages of cloud computing for an ordinary computer user?
-An ordinary computer user will find that cloud computing is very convenient as they can take advantage of it wherever there is a internet connection. Cloud computing allows for no carrying of heavy hardware in order to continue working on something that was saved before.
-Some disadvantages are, some companies might experience some down-time as they are repairing and making their site better. Unfortunately for the user during this time they have no access to their work. If they had a physical copy it might not halt all of the work for that period.
What are the benefits and disadvantages of cloud computing for a start-up company?
-A start up company would find that it is a lot more economical to use cloud computing, as they don't need to spend money on hardware, as they can just use a provider. It will cut costs and allow a start-up to spend money on other things such as advertising.
-It is crucial for a start-up company to be viewed as solid and doesn't have that many bugs. If their provider goes down, that could mean that they are viewed as somewhat of a failure, not being able to keep their site online.
What are the social dangers of cloud computing? That is, why might people be uneasy about the whole world's documents being stored on GoogleDocs instead of on local machines?
-There are some security ricks people need to be aware of. Since you don't have "full control" of your work when using a cloud computing model there is a security issue, not knowing who has access. There is also a problem with data availability, when there is downtime on a system. You are completely without your documents or sites when GoogleDocs or GoogleSites goes down, leaving many to be doubtful about cloud computing.