Will the Google Phone kickstart the cloud computer revolution?

Since it was published on 19 October, this article at GigaOM on 'cloud computers' is a bit old by now, but it still makes for interesting reading -- particularly given the latest news about the 'Google Phone'.

Cloud computing is the idea that you can access all the processing power you need on someone else's server over the internet, using a lightweight tablet device. In other words, it's essentially the old 'thin client' concept but with clients now looking like the Apple iPhone and Nokia N810, it's a concept that might actually gain some traction with consumers.

Google already offers a fully functional online office suite and now offers IMAP access to Gmail (which was also recently upgraded to 4.5Gb of storage), plus there are online image editors, RSS readers, web clipping services, and just about everything else. So, you no longer need to carry around a device with enough storage to hold all this stuff - you can access it online with a simple portable device and a Wi-Fi connection.

Eric Schmidt, the CEO of Google, recently joined Apple's board and when Wired asked why, he replied:

Google's architectural model around broadband and services and so forth plays very well to the powerful devices and services Apple is doing. We're a perfect back end to the problems that they're trying to solve. And they have very good judgment on user interface and people. They don't have this supercomputer I'm talking about, which is the data centers.

With Google rumoured to be talking with hardware manufacturers about Google-powered handsets, it looks like cloud computing will be the next big revolution with handheld devices.

Update: I've just stumbled on Mozilla Labs Prism - a project that lets you start web applications from a Desktop or Start menu shortcut and run them in a clutter-free window that looks more like a program window than a web browser. Just the thing for cloud computers...

[ GigaOM]