When I look at all the apps riding the “cloud” bandwagon, I get the feeling they won't go very far with their current pricing model, which for almost all is a revamped version of the pricing for non-cloud software – charging for software. To get off the ground, they either have to be very big to offer amazing capability at very low prices like Amazon EC2 or they have to innovate.
I'm no Einstein, but I figure if they have to offer low price and still stay alive 1 year on, they should charge the one aspect of their product that's most used. Say for example, usage time.
If a cloud app allows secure access to remote files, subscribe users freely. Then either charge for space usage, which only works if users keep lots of data and the cloud app devs have a good deal with the actual space provider.
Or, they could charge for the amount of time the cloud service was invoked, much like ISPs back in dial-up days, charging for time rather than bytes downloaded.
This might not be a good example, since it brings one huge variable into the equation – transfer speeds. But it might work for music – which in turn has a “tracking-usage” issue.
Anyways, the point is, if cloud computing ever results in a downpour of cheap affordable services, it'll be because of an adventurous p
