[capableweb]

Yes, "edge computing" can refer to both computing done as close to the user as possible geographically, or even on the device itself. If someone says "I wanna do edge computing" it's not clear enough to know if they just want to have servers they control as close to the user as possible, or do the computing on the device itself. I think Apple would say "edge computing" is on the actual device while CloudFlare would say "edge computing" is on their infrastructure, but distributed to be physically closer to the end user.

[iamerroragent]

I guess I've been out of the loop for a bit and didn't realize that "edge computing" became a term since cloud computing took off.

It is kind of cyclical then is not?

By that I mean computers used to be shared and to log into it through a terminal.

Then the PC came around.

Then about 15 years ago Cloud computing became the rage (really an extension or more sophisticated system than the first time shared computers)

Now we're back to local computing. I even see more self hosting and moving away from cloud due to costs.

All that rant is to say is it's interesting.

Side note, getting this AI to be localized as much as possible I imagine will be really useful in the medical industry because it helps alleviate HIPAA requirements.

[nordsieck]

> It is kind of cyclical then is not?

> By that I mean computers used to be shared and to log into it through a terminal.

> Then the PC came around.

> Then about 15 years ago Cloud computing became the rage (really an extension or more sophisticated system than the first time shared computers)

There's a really neat article called "The Eternal Mainframe"[1] that you might be interested. It explores this idea in greater depth.

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1. http://www.winestockwebdesign.com/Essays/Eternal_Mainframe.h...

[iamerroragent]

Thanks, that was an interesting read!

I wonder if the author's perspective has changed with regards to freedom to compute.

Social Media is often used as an example of privacy invasion though I've failed to see why concerns over Facebook handling your private data is worrying when they don't have a product you need to have.

Email on the other hand, is pretty much a necessity today so privacy concerns are vital there imo. Of course you can host your own server whereas you can't host your own Facebook.