Then the LAN, Now the Cloud

We use Google Calendar for some things. Who doesn’t? Any Android phone you buy pushes you to use it.

And it’s very cool. Your calendar magically sync’s with the web, available wherever you go.

What’s not to like?

Two decades ago, we touted the LAN. Sit down at any computer in the enterprise, log on and do your work. Super-cool.

Then we rely on the LAN, and when it’s down, lots of expensive people are sitting around.

Now when “the cloud” is down we get the same thing. And, yes, the cloud does go down.

As mysterious and cantankerous as the LAN could be, the cloud is more so. More out of one’s control. Makes me nervous. Am I being curmudgeonly or prudent?

And though it’s cool that the apps are free, how much leverage do we have over Google to keep it all humming, or fix it fast when it breaks?