Sailing on a Cloud into Google's Future

I have mentioned frequently the notion of the cloud, although, I admit, mostly as it pertains to Google (GOOG). Several companies, Amazon (AMZN) included, make the attempt to move various services and applications to the Internet (the cloud) from their traditional home, your desktop computer. Only a handful of the companies that pursue this goal will reap the benefits of their own, and everyone else's, efforts.

This article, Google's Developer Strategy Rests On The Cloud, is a fascinating, albeit too brief, look at Google's new era of software development that includes Gears, Android, App Engine, Web Toolkit, and OpenSocial API. Arguably, it all (the future, natch) belongs to Google, as the article's author notes in his conclusion...

 

In a landscape littered with potential Google rivals, it seems premature to declare victory. But as Google and the Web become ever more interdependent, it becomes harder and harder to bet on another horse.

Do not allow that closing paragraph to keep you from reading the entire article; it is well worth your time. And then, the next time someone captions Google as "the Internet search giant" (yawn), you will be prepared to fill them in with who Google becomes, not who the company once was.

The people who pigeon-hole Google are likely the same people who misuse the word "titan" -- you know, as in business titan. They forget, if they even ever knew, just who were the Titans. And if they did know, or could recall, they would not misuse the term as they do, casually tossing it about. Unless its use were explicitly accurate.

Hmm, how did this post, too, become about language?

Full Disclosure: Long Google.