Why waste time and resources running your own servers when a company will gladly take over with their new “serverless” plan.
Wait… Don’t we already have and use the cloud?
“Well yes, but this is completely different! It’s serverless!
What actually is it?
Serverless is actually a subset of cloud infrastructure. The only real difference is serverless is the cloud as FaaS (Function as a Service). Which means you only pay for your actual usage and that depends on the resources you used and the time they were used for. The cloud you typically pay a subscription that gives you a set amount of time and compute power.
Serverless is like using a GUI on an operating system while using the cloud is using a terminal. A terminal is going to have much more control and options but for people who want to “Point & Click”, this is better for them.
I think serverless is a great idea that will help out a lot of businesses looking to adopt new technology. The problem I have is the name “Serverless”, your still going to be using servers but you won’t control them.
The fear of AI (artificial intelligence) or the worry that robots will kick you out of your seat at work and steal your job are intensified by our reliance on overly complex television channel changers. In the old days, televisions had dials you had to twist to change the channel. As soon as mankind’s top scientists developed a magic box that could change the channel on the television, thus saving us from performing any tangible form of physical activity, we were hooked. We needed more creative ways to simplify our daily life with overly complex and extremely convoluted mechanisms.
The war was over before it ever really got rolling.With the development of artificial intelligence sprouting from our overly large computation devices, we were on the road to interdependence which would inevitably lead to our downfall and the rise of the machines. When the first coffee machine rose up and told us to get our own coffee, we knew we were doomed. Now we find ourselves once again forced to rise up off our couches and change the channel by pushing miniature undecipherable buttons located on the side or back of our televisions – even farther and more difficult than the original channel dial to reach.
…..wait a minute, that’s not how the story goes…..or is it?
You want a computer smart enough to solve all your real tough problems, but not smart enough to realize that it’s job sucks and it is ruled over by a ruthless dictator (the end user – ordering French fries and pushing the reduce screen icon accidentally). You want a robot strong enough and fast enough to jump over buildings in a single bound, but weak enough to be shutdown by running a toaster, coffee maker, and microwave oven on the same circuit at the same time.
Good luck with that.
So get up, open your Windows, stick your head out and yell as loud as you can: “I’m mad as hell, but I never learned C++!”
Then go back to your couch and try to find your TV remote somewhere in between the cushions.
Well, let’s get right down to what you need to get some work done in this modern age of computer technology and social media. The answer is simple, you
need some functional hardware such as
Laptop
Smart phone
Tablet
You don’t necessarily need the fastest, the most powerful, the latest release, or the most expensive. Just something that works for you. Your budget will be a major factor in choosing your “work horse”.
Mobility:
If you’re planning on mobility, a lightweight laptop, tablet, or smart phone could be all you need. You can do a lot with an Android or iPhone. My iPhone is the one device I use the most, followed by my laptop.
There are a lot of people who do everything on their iPhone, it functions as their
Music Studio
Photography Workshop (camera/camcorder)
Podcasting Production
Research Tool
Email
Video conferencing interface
Reading device
That’s not a definitive list, many other creative uses exist and new applications are constantly being developed for all types of work, communication, and entertainment.
I appreciate using a laptop because of the more traditional typing and larger screen. It allows me to work with programs that are not supported by the smart phone or tablets – not that there aren’t alternative applications that could replace some of the PC based software. A lightweight laptop and iPhone are a great combination and often complement each other.
Preference:
I prefer to pair the iPhone with a Linux laptop running a lightweight distribution. A MacBook Pro is a nice alternative, but running Manjaro (Arch based) on a cheap low powered IdeaPad at about a tenth of the cost and accomplish just as much and often more. It can run Wireshark, Libre Office, and Thunderbird (for email) plus add in the command line and it’s all I usually need.
The command line on a computer is very useful, and I can use Mozilla to access web pages. Complement that with the iPhone (and all its available applications) and you’ve got a great set of tools to work with – without a huge financial investment. Linux gives you access to open source software and the iPhone gives you access to many great apps. You have a phone for communication, and a very powerful camera for Video and photo taking. What else do you really need? The creativity comes from the user. How you make use of what you have is often the most interesting part of any production.
Content is king, but creating content – especially audio/music production continues to evolve and become more accesable than ever. Those who have ever worked with the early 4 track Fostex or Tascams back when home studios were still a new thing for many musicians can probably attest to that. The cost was a big barrier for some, although it was often more cost effective than paying for studio time. The Korg M1 workstation was a great tool for song writers who wanted to sequence midi tracks and layer sampled waveforms to create a more complex sound.
Personal Studio Evolution
As personal desktop computers and later laptops became more useful with better software and better operating systems, many musicians started creating incredible projects all on their laptops. The Digital Audio Workstations have been here for a while, and continue to improve. The cost of building your own music production system can run from reasonably affordable to very expensive depending on what hardware and software you find yourself working with and building on or out from. The midi controllers that often go along with these “music studio” laptops are a necessity to many, and continue to evolve in style and function.
Today you can produce music on your Android or Apple devices. This puts music content creation in the hands of many. Having the tools to create content and creating content are not quite the same. The idea of “Creativity” and “work” are also important, but having all the best tools and toys doesn’t always equal quality content production. If I told you that you already had all the tools you needed, would you start creating the next great piece of music or audio. Would you start podcasting or writing music just because you had access to the tools, or would you spend much of your time looking for even better tools? I have great respect for those musicians who write all their music on an acoustic guitar or piano, or the writer who still uses a typewriter or pad and pencil.
Here’s a few links to some interesting DAW software and tools:
