By Hemdeep Patel
“First to mind when asked what ‘the Cloud’ is, a majority respond it’s either an actual cloud, the sky, or something related to weather.” ~ Citrix Cloud Survey Guide (August 2012)
Though this is possibly true when the topic of cloud computing comes up in everyday conversation, “the Cloud” has revolutionized nearly every aspect of our lives. Though the Cloud might seem a far away and unrelated subject when it comes to the jewellery industry, I would suggest the power of this non-weather related technology is starting to push CAD into a new phase of commerce.
The Cloud is more accurately defined as cloud computing, which loosely describes any type of computing or digital storage used or accessed using the Internet. The actual computing and storage takes place in large computer server facilities which may be located kilometres or even an ocean away.
For a vast number of jewellers, the Cloud serves as the perfect partner when trying to store large amounts of data in a safe and easily accessible place. For this reason, cloud computing has caught the imagination of software providers and engineers. When software is placed in the Cloud, it can be accessed by a wider audience of users without the need to download or store a copy of the program on a computer. This is a powerful shift in computer technology because users can access this program on mobile phones, laptops, or desktop computers without needing to worry the technology they are using to interact with the software won’t be powerful enough since all of the heavy-lifting computation is done by the Cloud.
Now, how does this fit into the jewellery industry, and more specifically, how does this relate to CAD?
Simply, it will start to change the way designers create models and how they monetize the files they have built.
