Harris KhanCloud computing is becoming the new normal when it comes to remote work. Everything we do now cannot be divorced from the Internet. Have we become cyborgs?
I think not. Certainly, though, we have become a society reliant on the cloud–we have inhabited the cloud. Businesses that were unused to distributed work had to start supporting completely remote workforces, due to last year’s worldwide shutdowns.
What is this cloud? It’s the Internet, of course. We use services and software that run on the Internet, through the process of cloud computing, rather than on our desktops. According to a Forbes article, the cloud is becoming the backbone of remote work. Out of 4.3 million people in the world who use cloud computing, 3.9 are remote workers.
But to make sure we don’t float forever on a restless sea of clouds, here are some essential ways that cloud computing can change your life, along with the lives of the 4.3 million people who use it: video conferencing, cloud storage, and cloud-based translation.
Today, we’ll tackle what makes us people of the cloud–how we communicate via the cloud, how we store parts of our minds via cloud storage, and we translate our different tongues through cloud-based translation. We’ll see how cloud computing has changed the way we live in 2021.
How the Inhabitants of the Cloud Use Webinars and Video Conferencing
The inhabitants of the cloud use it to see each other and communicate with one another, using a tool named Zoom.
Cloud computing, the process of delivering services through the Internet for faster innovation and flexibility, has changed the lives of remote workers, with Zoom becoming commonplace. There have been more innovations in the cloud in the one year of the pandemic than in the last 25 years of technology, says Nicholas Bloom, a Stanford University professor who studies remote work in a Vox article.
Zoom, which is one of the most used by 300 million people worldwide, is probably the most effective cloud-computing platform for video conferencing. San-Francisco-based company Zoom boomed during the pandemic due to cities shutting down and remote workforces turning to online regimens.
Video conference tools like Zoom facilitate the use of webinars, too. Webinars are a great way to connect with an audience, for remote work or business-related video conferencing. Since so many people all over the world are now using video conferencing tools, webinars are also increasing in popularity.
In a TechRepublic interview with Zoom CIO Harry Moseley, he said ”Zoom changes the culture of a company by enabling people to meet locally, nationally, and globally on any device, anywhere, at any time. The true magic called Zoom is our ability to produce high-quality, high-definition video as well as high-quality audio, all-encompassing with things like recording, easy content shared from a mobile device, from your laptop, or in a room.”
Since we cannot meet face-to-face even now in 2021, millions of employees are embracing Zoom, Skype, Google Meet, Slack, or any other video conferencing platforms for work.
Some video conferencing software is easier to use than others or has a special purpose behind them. For example, Zoom is used widely for video, but Skype, Slack, and Google Hangouts Meet support both video and chat. In Zoom, you can only chat while within a video conference.
Some use Facebook Messenger for work as well, while some feel it blurs the balance between work and life. Cisco’s Webex and Blue Jeans are made for a corporate set-up, while Meet, Zoom, and Skype are used widely not just for business.
There are challenges to video conferencing software:
- How to create an account – With these video conferencing softwares, you have to create an account first before you use it, so that process may be tedious depending on the software. Businesses may also have to pay for these platforms. For one, Zoom only allows you 40 minutes of video conferencing sessions for free accounts.
- How to schedule a meeting – On Google Meet, Webex, and Zoom, you have to find out the various ways to schedule a meeting. Once you do, it’s convenient because it syncs to your calendars and reminds you of when you’ll have your next meeting.
- How to dial-in – Zoom is equipped with dial-in services but these technicalities like how to do dial-in are challenging for some. In Zoom, you can dial in using your phone, then enter your meeting id, then enter your participant id, then enter the password. It’s a bit tedious, but it also adds a level of security to the video conferencing system.
It’s difficult to adjust to a remote working situation when you’re at home. So knowing when to mute yourself, or other participants when you’re the host is good to note. There are also social norms starting to appear with the use of social platforms like muting oneself when there’s a speaker present, making sure you’re wearing pants for when you stand up, etc.
Another challenge popping up is people are starting to spend additional time at work–for a total of 10 hours–connected to their devices than pre-pandemic. According to the company, the amount of time actively communicating saw a 30% increase.
As video conferencing is making it easier to communicate (with body language) via the cloud, they’re also changing how much time we spend in the cloud.
How Cloud Storage Stores Our Minds In The Cloud
The inhabitants of the cloud use cloud storage to store files and files of information from their collective minds in the cloud.
As dramatic as that may sound, cloud storage is a method that is very familiar to us by now. We write on Google Docs, we upload music on SoundCloud, we chat over Skype, Messenger, and Instagram, to name a few. All of our information is stored on the internet, and we can pull it up as many times as we need to. We can help remember emails we shared decades ago, through cloud storage, which runs on cloud computing.
Cloud storage is becoming more and more needed, as bigger and bigger data is being stored on the cloud. Data for data analysts, marketers, and almost every industry you can think of needs unlimited storage for their companies.
Especially now that everyone has gone online–gone to the cloud, so to speak–cloud storage is making lives easier. But with that, comes more responsibility. Remote workers who need to juggle multiple responsibilities at once can work on the go, and come back knowing that it’s automatically saved and its location is the same as when they left it. A good cloud storage system can facilitate working anywhere at any time.
The ability to collaborate with one another is also extremely important for a remote work culture of teamwork. Cloud storage, run on cloud computing, can allow for collaboration between different employees on the documents they’re working on.
Increased security with cloud computing is also a key aspect of cloud computing. It prevents files from being lost, with redundant files built into its data center. It also protects from hackers and data breaches. Increased security means increased productivity, too, as you can jump between files quickly and seamlessly.
Cloud storage like GDrive is used by over 1 billion people. From 2018 data, it has stored trillions of files and has more than 800 million users each day. That’s a lot of inhabitants in this cloud.
How The Inhabitants of the Cloud Communicate in Translation
The inhabitants of the cloud translate their languages to understand each other around the world, using the floating cloud.
How can 4.3 million people communicate with each other when they all speak different languages? Cloud-based translation, through a verified translation company like Tomedes, is helping to solve that problem.
Through machine translation and language services being available at all times, 24/7, 4.3 million people may be able to communicate efficiently and effectively through the cloud.
And it’s not just translation that they need. With the pandemic still rampant, 15,000-17,000 medical interpreters are providing high-demand quality services, often through the use of professional services. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, employed translators and interpreters will increase by 22 percent this next decade. And how are interpreters providing the services? Through the cloud–through video-conferencing software, cloud-based data services, and cloud-based chat apps.
Meanwhile, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) processes 2,500 applications per day and more than 150,000 service requests online. Green card applications hit a 1.2 million surge in 2020. Many of those applicants may be needing language services, which allows them to find a translator for their legal needs. All translations can be performed by translation companies remotely, through the cloud.
Many businesses also use professional services for localizing their web pages, creating multilingual content, and building multilingual websites. These complicated processes allow for countless businesses to use local languages as their medium of communication in many regions.
Without the cloud, a translation company would not be able to provide translation of this scale. And without cloud-based language services, businesses would not be able to communicate naturally with their very specific multilingual, multiregional consumers.
Translation being available where and when people need it is the primary role of language services, Ofer Tirosh of Tomedes translation company says. “Communication is essential in a world that functions on the cloud, so fast and accurate translation becomes vital to so many people today“.
He says in a Medium article, “Real communication only occurs when two people understand the situations and assumptions behind the words spoken. And this could only happen if both parties possess a deep sense of each other’s culture, social customs and hierarchy, and thought patterns.”
Meanwhile, machine translation like Google Translate supports more than 100 languages and can be used to communicate. Cloud-based machine translation like this through a translation company allows for the users talking in different languages to talk to each other seamlessly via their phones using either voice or text.
Machine post-editing meanwhile allows human supervision and correction while using machine translation. Paired with machine translation and machine post-editing, cloud translation by translation companies becomes an easier option for remote workers.
Cloud-based translation allows individuals and businesses to communicate effectively through cloud computing. Translators are available through the cloud, all day, every day, through language services.
The People of the Cloud Will Continue to Innovate
Cloud computing, the process of storing or sending through the cloud, is here to stay.
Cloud automation is already a huge trend, automating manual tasks and refreshing them every few seconds. So is pay-as-you-go, on-demand, Infrastructure as a Services (IaaS) like Amazon Web Services.
Transitioning our lives from the physical to the virtual cloud is already part and parcel of our daily lives. And the cloud will only continue to innovate through the inventions of the human mind.
