Worrying about the next big thing in high-tech may seem otherworldly just now. The world is flirting with recession and it is likely to suffer badly as a result (see page 79). Yet this will not stop a shift that promises to affect everyone (seernour special report this week). Computing is fast becoming a "cloud"-a collection of disembodied services accessible from anywhere and detached from the underlying hardware. The chances are that much of business and everyday computing will one day be mediated by this ethereal cloud.rnThis presents a paradox. On one hand, computing will be a borderless utility. Technically, it need not matter whether your data and programs are stored down the road or on the other side of the world; everything will look as if it is happening on the screen in front of you. On the other, geography still matters. The data centres that contain the cloud, each often the size of several football pitches, cannot be built just anywhere. They need cheap power, fibre-optic cables, a chilly climate and dry air (otherwise you have to remove heat and humidity, which do horrible things to electronics).
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