New Reports From Pew Internet & American Life Project

Four New Reports From Pew

Technology experts and stakeholders say they expect they will ‘live mostly in the cloud’ in 2020 and not on the desktop, working mostly through cyberspace-based applications accessed through networked devices. This will substantially advance mobile connectivity through smartphones and other internet appliances. Many say there will be a cloud-desktop hybrid. Still, cloud computing has many difficult hurdles to overcome, including concerns tied to the availability of broadband spectrum, the ability of diverse systems to work together, security, privacy, and quality of service.   Here is the link to this report about the future of cloud computing:
http://pewinternet.org/Reports/2010/The-future-of-cloud-computing.aspx

It reports extensively on the views of the experts that cloud functions will be replacing desktop functions, especially as smart phones and other portable devices proliferate. Many think that in the coming decade there will be a hybrid desktop-cloud computing model where some functions remain on desktops and some migrate to the cloud for most users. The report will also cover a range of their concerns about the cloud, including: concerns tied to the availability of broadband spectrum, the ability of diverse systems to work together, security vulnerabilities, privacy sensitivities, and issues of quality of service for all the devices that will connect to the cloud.

Pew also recently issued a small report on how people use the internet to stay in touch with their neighbors on community issues:  http://pewinternet.org/Reports/2010/Neighbors-Online.aspx

And another modest report on the state of online video: http://pewinternet.org/Reports/2010/State-of-Online-Video.aspx

Finally, at the end of May, Pew put out a large, sweeping report that looked at how people manage their reputations online: http://pewinternet.org/Reports/2010/Reputation-Management.aspx

(Beth Yoke, Executive Director  - American Library Association/Young Adult Library Services Association)