It's always fun watching a bandwagon when the wheels are coming off, and so it is with the overhyped trend for "cloud computing". Rafe Needleman has compiled a list of the 10 Worst Web glitches of 2008 (so far), saying: "We have been reminded several times lately that Web 2.0 is in no way a synonym for 'reliable'." So
Is the Web crumbling? Well, no, it's not. But users' expectations are rising, and Web companies often get themselves into trouble by promising far more than they can deliver.
I can hear the Google sales pitch now: "Use Gmail and you can use email from anywhere, at any time ... except the times you can't log in, the times when you hit Send and we suggest you try later, the times when the whole system is down, and the times when we decide to disable your account, which therefore locks you out of Gmail, Picasa, Google Docs, and everything else that uses the same ID. Have a nice day now!"
Such problems are not, of course, specific to Google, as the Web glitches list amply shows.
Nor are problems specific to "cloud computing": the early mainframes, minis and micros were pretty flaky, too. The real issue is whether users are being told the truth or sold a pup that still has some growing up to do.
