With cloud computing, software or other data is accessed from a web page and your files are stored on your system, on the Internet or both. In other words, it aims to deliver supercomputing power over the Internet.

In August Cult of Mac said that Apple's upcoming data center in North Carolina will be among the biggest in the world and may involve the company's entry into cloud computing. The Apple facility to be based in North Carolina will be located in Catawba County on the outskirts of Maiden. Maiden and Catawba County have agreed US$7.3 million in incentives for Apple. The company is expected to build a 500,000-square-foot facility along U.S. Highway 321.

So why does Cult of Mac think Apple is interested in cloud computing? An interview with Rich Miller, editor of Data Center Knowledge, says that:

° Apple's existing Newark, Calfornia data center is around 109,000 square fee. So the new data center is a major scaling up of existing services -- or a scaling up for future offerings.

° Apple could be planning "cloud" versions of its iLife and iWork apps.

° Data centers the size of the one Apple is building "are designed to support an enormous volume of data, and reflect the acceleration of the transition to a digital economy." All those digital assets -- email, images, video and now virtual machines -- drive demand for more and larger data centers, Miller told Cult of Mac.

All good points, but I, for one, will never want to depend entirely on having my data "in the cloud," whether it's my songs or documents for my work. I want physical copies -- or at least digital copies on a hard drive (or, preferably two, in different locations).

Security expert Bruce Schneier said this to say to The Guardian: "You don't want your critical data to be on some cloud computer that abruptly disappears because its owner goes bankrupt. You don't want the company you're using to be sold to your direct competitor. You don't want the company to cut corners, without warning, because times are tight. Or raise its prices and then refuse to let you have your data back. These things can happen with software vendors, but the results aren't as drastic."