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Heavy metal cloud
April 18, 2008
I've looked at clouds from both sides now, and they're really freaking expensive. Google's capital expenditures, the lion's share of which go to building and outfitting data centers, soared to a record high of $842 million in the first quarter of this year, up from $678 million in the fourth quarter of '07, notes Data Center Knowledge. Should the company maintain its current pace of investment, its spending on data centers and related infrastructure will surpass $3 billion this year, a remarkable total.
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Comments
google's world is turning to real material, from virtual to concrete housing. Isn't that the straight way?
Posted by: irmgardartig ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.roughtype.com/nav-commenters.gif)
at April 18, 2008 11:10 AM
As Google uses the "cloud" more for services that aren't related to generating online ad revenue (Google Apps, etc.), will their spending on data centers start eating into their profits?
Posted by: Colin at April 18, 2008 12:18 PM
It's not totally unexpected; the increase could just be a blip due to Google Apps Engine outlay
Posted by: Philippe Bradley at April 18, 2008 01:26 PM
Would I be wrong to compare that firgure to the total IT expenditure?
Provided it makes sense, this investement should power cloud computing well enough to avoid most peope to invest in more powerful computer. That is not saving any computing power now — but couldn't is balance out and leverage these investment a great deal one day?
Posted by: Bertil at April 19, 2008 02:54 AM
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