[progman]

Dejavu:

> Early 2010s: Cloud computing

1960s: Client/Server Architecture. Big servers and small clients.

> Mid 2010s: Quantum computing

before 1950s: Analog Computers

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Analog_computer

There is nothing new under the sun. Analog computers passed away because they were not usable. Ok, quantum computing may be different but their practical use is also questionable.

[wsy]

> Dejavu: [...] 1960s: Client/Server Architecture. Big servers and small clients.

This is right and wrong at the same time. Right, because the Cloud reuses some basic concepts from the mainframe era (e.g., virtualization), which had been neglected for some time. Wrong, because writing your application to run efficiently on a mainframe is totally different from writing your application to run efficiently on Cloud infrastructure. Also, there is no thing such as small clients anymore, mobile apps and Web frontends are nowadays as complex as the usual 1980s fat-client software.

IMHO this is a very good example for technology not making circles, but evolving in spirals.

[progman]

> there is no thing such as small clients anymore

This is also right and wrong :-) Right regarding your perception, wrong regarding relative power. 1960s clients were small compared to today's small clients. However, 60s server were also small in relation to cloud servers. Today our small clients provide browsers and stuff like that but they aren't useful without servers. They can't run top-notch 3D games without high-end servers. The third wave of C/S will be in the area of A.I. with (small) clients which will possibly as powerful as today's cloud servers.