Survey Indicates Most Americans are Confused by Cloud Computing
By Karla Robinson
September 4, 2012
September 4, 2012
- “A majority of Americans (54 percent) claim to never use cloud computing. However, 95 percent of this group actually does use the cloud,” reports Citrix per a national survey they commissioned.
- The survey results show that many Americans acknowledge the significance of cloud computing, that they even use it for a variety of purposes, and yet they have almost no clue what it is.
- “When asked what ‘the cloud’ is, a majority responded it’s either an actual cloud (specifically a ‘fluffy white thing’), the sky or something related to the weather (29 percent). Only 16 percent said they think of a computer network to store, access and share data from Internet-connected devices,” the press release states, adding that other responses varied from “toilet paper” to “outerspace” to “oh goody, a hacker’s dream.”
- Despite this confusion, 22 percent of the 1,000 surveyed by Wakefield Research admitted to acting as if they knew what the cloud is or how it works. Also, 56 percent of respondents said they’ve had cloud conversations with others who didn’t really know what they were talking about.
- Even though they may be unaware the services are cloud based, many people reported using online banking, shopping, social networking, online gaming and online storage or file-sharing.
- “Even though many Americans don’t know exactly what the cloud does, they see its silver lining,” the release states. “Most Americans (68 percent) recognize the economic benefits after learning more about the cloud. The most recognized benefits are that the cloud helps consumers by lowering costs (35 percent), spurs small business growth (32 percent) and boosts customer engagement for businesses (35 percent). Millennials are most likely to believe that the cloud generates jobs (26 percent Millennials, 19 percent Boomers).”
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