…no, it’s not what you think.  Which is sort of the point of this story.  And it’s my first foray into the “Sensational Title” genre (based on a recent video from Veritasium)

Just so it doesn’t offend anyone, as this is a ‘family’ web site, TITS is an acronym.  TITS = Truth in Titling Stuff.  I came up with this acronym after President Bush and his “No Child Left Behind” Act from the early noughties.  Yup, how’s that one working out based on the title?  See?  And I’m not condemning him or the act.  I’m pointing out the inaccuracy of the title.

Today one of the things that really bothers me is the “Cloud”.  It is a word, that elicits a friendly response to a concept that seems to be out of the reach of most people.  The “Cloud” I’m referring to isn’t one you find up in the sky, but rather what one finds in the world of Information Technology.

In a very simple description, the “Cloud” refers to an infrastructure that facilitates the transfer and storage (and manipulation) of information.  The information ranges from YouTube videos to bank account information.  The manipulation of information ranges from compression (making those YouTube videos take up less storage space) to social manipulation stuff on Facebook.  The storage of the information includes disk drives (or Solid State Drives SSDs) and servers.  The transfer of the information is the internet, which of course used to range from modems, to today’s modern fiber optic cables.

I really, really, really, can’t stand some of the poor decisions that are made by managers about important things they don’t understand.  And that’s before the term “Cloud” came about.  It just got worse after that.  Just because it has a friendly name is not an excuse to dismiss or ignore the reality behind what is going on.  It’s not going to be OK, unless you work at it.

Remember, clouds aren’t always those nice fluffy white things in the sky.  Sometimes they can be much darker, closer to the ground, and carry a lot of stuff you don’t want coming towards you.  Please, please, don’t be mislead by friendly titles.  See the reality and the truth.  Dig in and find out more about what’s going on.  You’ll feel better and more empowered if you understand things.  And you’ll be surprised at all the nice people you find along the way that are willing to help out.

The truth and reality of something is actual, factual truth and reality, not opinion and manipulation.  But that’s a story for another day.  Oh, I think it was put very well many years ago: “Don’t judge a book by its cover.”

And that’s the end of this little tirade, which is a bit out of character for me.  It’s different because I’m preaching, which is not something I usually do.

Categories: Stories