Utility computing

Nick Carr is comparing grid wars old and new in today's Guardian - What Google wants is to condemn Microsoft to the electric chair

"This time, it's computing that's turning into a utility service supplied over a grid.

Until recently, software had to be run privately, on the hard drives of PCs or in the data centres maintained by corporations. But as the fibre-optic internet has grown in capacity, it has become possible to run software in central plants and distribute it to users over the network. As with electricity, the central supply of computing is in many cases proving more efficient, and cheaper, than private supply."

It was once electricity, now it's information. Google vs Microsoft? Here's a hint or two on who is winning.