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The “apps” and the “cloud”

Internet users are service users. But a service is the conjunction of:

  • information processing,
  • shared storage space.
In the past, both processing and storage were server-side, and the clients were just displaying:
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Since all browsers support JavaScript (a programming language that allows to perform information processing in the web page) and mobile devices are democratized, the processing of information is done more and more, and sometimes exclusively client side, ie on users’ devices:

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The servers ensure almost only (and sometimes only) storage. This storage includes public data (web pages), applications (in JavaScript or native for mobile), and personal data of users.

In the 70’s we talked about “client-server” architecture with “heavy clients”. Nowadays we call it “apps” and “the cloud”. Be aware that these are just marketing terms.

And this design of the network and services is the opposite of the dream of the founders of the Internet … and has many disadvantages.