Do you remember the first time that someone explained to you what exactly the “cloud” was? Did it seem to you like some sort of abstract concept that was going to take years to perfect? For many, it did. But the fact that it was so abstract has proven to be cloud technology’s main strength: for as vague as it may have been defined to you by someone that heard from someone, the developers hard at work were really creating a technology that has truly redefined the way that the average citizen lives life in 2014.
It’s tough to think about, but we are living in a time where technological advances–no matter how regular they may seem to us–are coming to us at a pace that history has never seen before. They’re changing the way consumers take in information, and the ways that businesses are run. But most importantly, they give us options: the option not to settle for something less than what we normally would have beforehand. This infographic defines cloud computing as we know it, singling out the many uses that the technology possesses, and the uses that the average citizen hadn’t considered before. It’s an excellent illustration of why we need to continue to embrace change as a society, and as a lesson in innovation from a group of people that aren’t so different from us at all.
Ivan Serrano is an info-graphic designer from the Bay Area in California. He prefers to cover business, technology and marketing.