The next? How does cloud computing make a profit after the successes of social websites? I

How long do you use your iPhone or Android Phone everyday? I think most of the handset devices users always plug on internet and use their Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn...etc. When you take bus or wait your train, you can see the people around you using their handset devices connecting with their friends or playing the Angel Birds! The cloud computing changes our life greatly and it is becoming a part of life. Especially, those social websites change your social communication channels and network. They also become the stats on the investment markets and really make a profit for their shareholder! We know the cloud computing will be the trend in IT area but who is the next super stat? Maybe it grows up from the Apple Inc.!

No more free

The Apple Inc. creates a success business model: “Apple App store”. It is not a new idea but it lets the users start being used to pay for digi-contents(musics, software, news, or games). Even you can download thousands of software for free, many people don’t mind paying 3 or 5 dollars for downloading interesting software in App Store! You also can download any software you want in Google Market. But sometimes you don’t like playing game or using some software with ads. The internet account with the paying system is the basic way in online shop and you have to use the cloud computing service. It becomes more difficult to do piracy and easier to pay for using.The customs are staring to be used to pay money for cloud computing. I think platformlize the cloud computing is a good way for making a profit. But it isnt fair competition for beginner. If you wants to build your own platform, you have to get big amount of users in the being stage. For example, telecom companies, cell phone brands companies, social websites, or entry websites, they have good chances to build their own platforms. Although it is too difficult to join this game for new players, there are many good opportunities for them in the free markets.

The customs are staring to be used to pay money for cloud computing. I think platformlize the cloud computing is a good way for making a profit. But it isn’t fair competition for beginner. If you wants to build your own platform, you have to get big amount of users in the being stage. For example, telecom companies, cell phone brands companies, social websites, or entry websites, they have good chances to build their own platforms. Although it is too difficult to join this game for new players, there are many good opportunities for them in the free markets(Google Market or App store).

Small but big force
The free online markets provide great soil to grow up new businesses. This business model replaces the traditional IT industry. You don't need building "The Seventh Fleet" but you can flight with big antagonists and gain a large market. The customs don't care which company you are. They forcus on how interesting and useful. Accounting to those reasons, I think the mobile games and personal optimization software maybe become the easiest way to build new business in cloud computing age. You might think "It's not new ideas on IT industry." Probably, games and personal softwares have developesd for over 15 years. But it isn't easy to build your own software and make profits from your works in the "PC Age". For the Android System software enginners, it is not so difficult to develop some small software and the most imporant thing is that you can use Google Market making profits easily. And so on the Apple App store system is the same. The two biggest handsets user group provide the same business environment to their users and any developer. It will become more common to use cloud computing. Even the attitude of cloud computing for the two companies is quite different. It dosen't matter for user or developer. You just put your softwares to the online markets and the users move their fingers, download the ones they want, then pay 1~5USD by their online payment account. Those actions happen in few mins and all the people get what they want! The software market might be despersed but few software will be much more powerful in this age.

從平價iPad 2上市與AT&T合併T-mobile看雲端產業的競合(How iPod 2 and AT&T mergering T-mobile change the competition of cloud computing industry)

    


         新一代平價iPad 2 昨日(March,25th)在美國海外上市，又掀起全球
蘋果迷的瘋狂排隊搶購熱潮！伴著前幾日AT&T合併T-mobile準備大舉進軍4G的新聞(ps.AT&T為美國最大apple產品最大電信合作者)，這不蒂是Apple陣營在目前消費型雲端產業上取得重要競爭地位的關鍵。

       從技術規格看iPad2，除了外型跟基礎功能上的漸進式創新外，並無太多新鮮的技術。成本結構而言，3G版本賣499USD~550USD(各國匯率稅率各有差別)，仍有許多獲利的空間，但對於尚未將Pad產品上市的跟隨者，卻是一記重擊！以高階netbook價格，販賣高質感、反應速度即快的iPad2，對於許多未曾接觸Pad產品的消費者而言，此價格以近幾乎至引爆點，且對於Kindle DX絕對是一大競爭者，類似的價格卻可享有更多功能，電池的使用時間也較iPad增添不少，再加上app store高度的黏著力，實在相當可怕。

        不過，在真正高速無線網路(4G或更先進技術)普及前，筆者認為Android陣營，甚至是Windows(Nokia)陣營，還有許多分進合擊的方式，使更多未曾使用過相關產品的使用者或挖apple陣營的牆角，來添增市場的佔有率。其中可以觀察的方向有：1. 由電信服務商客製化產品切入，強制與電信商形成夥伴關係。 2. 與內容業者合作，如亞馬遜(Amazon)取得平台共享機制。 3. 與社群網站服務商合作， 設計更專屬的使用專案。4. 制定更嚴謹的自由聯盟規則，降低多版本與多系統帶來的混亂，並於硬體商合作，使運算或傳輸核心更貼近系統。

        目前所謂四螢一雲的雲端運算模式，主要是由電信服務商出發，整合固網、3G、電視線路(Cable)的整合性服務，而大多整合性的機上盒多是簡單的swtich功能，真正要多功能的機上盒，目前只有MS media center 系統、apple TV、及目前規劃中的Google TV，MS系統非基於雲端運算設計的系統，以系統的設計而言，太過笨重使用遠端計算的部份更是缺乏。apple TV的功能過於簡單，硬體間連結性不夠廣泛。而Google TV的部份則是功能過於分歧，陷入無法收斂的地步。未來Android Pad相關產品，不能只以與iPad競爭的角度切入，而是應該將Pad產品視為Google TV或家用雲端節點(router)的連結其中一個產品。強制將產品與電信商(最好是寬頻、數位電視、3Gor4G)綁在一起，且提供多樣化多廠牌的產品供消費者挑選。但由AT&T併購T-mobile的例子來看，未來電信商為了增加高階技術投資實力，與營運的綜效，固網、無線網路、通訊業者的整併，透過財務併購或業務結盟方式，將會益加頻繁。

        此外，雲端時代最棘手的數位版權問題，必須尋找一個最佳的解決之道，app store所建立打王國，已築起一道相當高的門檻，另Android或MS系統望之末及，因此，與其自建數位內容，倒不如數位內容提供商，建立有效的利潤共享機制，增加更多對於數位內容需求者對Android系統的需求。

         目前apple尚無能力著墨的範圍恐僅剩下社群網站了，其他系統者，應該設法與社群網站(facebook, twitter..)合作，直接取得黏著性最強的使用者，或許也是突破apple的一法。最有能力與apple抗衡的Google陣營，迫切必須解決的問題在於過多版本，與規格制定須統一的麻煩。各家製造Android產品的業者，若無有效達成共識，建立一個規格聯盟，別讓過度自由的設計變成無法收斂的負擔，如此一來，在可見的未來，手持裝置的市場，並不會由apple一直獨領風騷。