Key consequences of the cloud for business

Thinking of “cloud computing” as equivalent to an electrical utility, focused on the cheap production of a standardized commodity, is akin to calling a car a “motorized horse”. What´s going on is much more fundamental. We don´t use the phrase “personal computer” when we talk about our tablet, smartphone, or set-top box. Nor, beyond 2020, will we be talking about the “cloud”. We will be talking about something else entirely, something that today we don´t even know what it is. But we know what the contours will be, because we know the main agents will still be humans, and humans don´t change much. We know it will be about making money, socializing, being entertained, and 10 billion people struggling for a role and a voice in the first truly planetary medium. It will change our society in a manner like no previous single revolution, instead bringing the incremental revolutions of printing press, telegraphy, photography, telephony, radio, video, computer, cell phone, and internet into a single digital realm. In this talk I´ll briefly cover some of the driving forces behind the change, some of the key consequences for business over the next decade, and some thoughts on what lies beyond 2020.