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Cloud Computing’s Silver Lining 「雲端」 商機風起雲湧

If you’re up-to-date with the latest tech talk, you probably have heard of cloud computing, a development attracting increased interest and investment from the IT industry. A precise explanation of the term can often seem obscure. In a nutshell, cloud computing describes a situation where users access software and services over Internet servers (the “cloud”), rather than owning special software and hardware.

Some consider it mere marketing hype, but many big names in the IT world are taking it very seriously. For Google CEO Eric Schmidt, who has been credited with coining the term, cloud computing will become more influential than the advent of personal computing. Indeed, Schmidt points out that Google itself is a cloud-computing server. Other big names to have jumped on the “cloud” bandwagon include IBM, Yahoo! and Amazon.

For the less tech-savvy among us, cloud computing may sound — excuse the pun — nebulous. However, most of us frequently use cloud services without even realizing it. Examples include online applications that upload photos, music, or documents to the Internet. Google Docs, for instance, allows users to save their work online and view or edit it through a browser.

With a cloud setup, you no longer have to worry about losing data if your smartphone or laptop is damaged or stolen. All you need is a cheap access device, a browser, and an Internet connection to store content. Meanwhile, companies can cut infrastructure investment, and maintenance costs can be reduced as online solutions are available from service providers.

如果你有跟上最新的科技話題，你可能就聽過雲端運算──一項讓資訊科技產業更感興趣、挹注更多資金的發展。該詞彙的精確解釋似乎常令人一頭霧水。總括來說，雲端運算是描述用戶在網路伺服器（即「雲端」）上使用軟體和服務，而非擁有特殊軟、硬體的情形。

有些人認為雲端運算只是行銷花招，但許多資訊科技大廠對其相當重視。對公認是創造出雲端運算一詞的 Google執行長艾瑞克‧施密特而言，雲端運算將比個人電腦的出現更具影響力。事實上，施密特指出 Google 本身即是提供雲端運算服務的伺服器。其他已搶搭這班「雲端」順風車的大廠則包括 IBM、雅虎和亞馬遜。

對比較不懂科技的我們來說，雲端運算聽起來可能顯得虛無縹緲（請原諒這個雙關語）。 【編按：nebulous 可指「星雲的」或「模糊的」之意】然而，我們多數人常使用雲端服務卻不自知。例子包含可上傳照片、音樂或文件至網路等的線上應用。比如 Google Docs 就能讓用戶將作品儲存於網路上，並透過瀏覽器來觀看或編輯。

有了雲端機制，就不用再擔心智慧型手機或筆電若損壞或遭竊時資料會遺失。你所需要的只是個便宜的存取裝置、瀏覽器和網路連線來儲存內容。同時，公司可刪減基礎設備的投資，且由於雲端服務業者提供線上解決方案，維修費用也可降低。



《 詳細內文請翻閱NO.75 3月號biz互動英語雜誌 》

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