"Cloud computing" is a buzzword that's tossed around a lot these days to describe the direction in which information infrastructure seems to be moving. The concept, quite simply, is that vast computing resources will reside somewhere out there in the ether (rather than in your computer room) and we'll connect to them and use them as needed.

Google, naturally, is a big promoter of this idea, as its business is already based on owning a massive computer infrastructure (or cloud) that people tap into from their homes or offices. Recently Google even joined with IBM to promote cloud computing – and for anyone familiar with the history of information technology, that should be a bright red flag.

There's nothing wrong with the idea of cloud computing. In fact, it's sufficiently compelling that in large measure it already exists. My company doesn't own any servers, and for the most part we have only basic productivity software on our personal computers, with everything else off in a cloud.

Our website lives on a server at our hosting company, a local firm called Modwest. Our sales management system is on computers owned by Salesforce.com. We have subscriber and survey data on machines run by Survey Monkey. And yes, we use Google, for search and for analytics and for document sharing, among other things. I could go on.

This is all good from our standpoint; we have no desire to buy and maintain lots of computers and software. If we can let someone else worry about the basic technology, we can focus on the publishing. Any businessperson can see the logic of that.

The flip side, though, is that you're dependent on someone else for your technology, and that can limit your flexibility and even your creativity. In fact, the personal computer itself arose because the old model of business computing, in which companies had big mainframes (aka clouds) and everyone connected to them via "dumb" terminals, was enormously frustrating for the people sitting at those dumb terminals.

They could only do what they were authorised to do. They were dependent on the computer administrators to give them permission or fix problems. They had no way of staying up on the latest innovations. The personal computer was a rebellion against the tyranny of centralised computing operations – and of the IBM mainframe world in particular.

With cloud computing, we have come full circle: the efficiencies of a centralised computing infrastructure that can be easily accessed via the internet are just too compelling to ignore.

But I would argue that a centralised computing infrastructure run by Google and IBM is anything but an optimal scenario for most companies and individuals.

On the one hand, such a cloud would likely have even more killer services at very low prices; Google has certainly proven its ability to deliver value in that regard.

On the other hand, over the long run the lack of flexibility inherent in someone else running your tech will become a problem again. You'll be able to get any kind of software or service you like for a very low price – as long as it's a piece of software or service that Google and IBM think is appropriate. (Since economies of scale are at the heart of the cloud computing advantage, there is every reason to believe that Google and IBM together could achieve a very dominant position.)

When Google talks up the benefits of cloud computing, what the company is really saying is, use our cloud rather than the various ones you're using now. Let us host your applications, let us host your website, let us take all those different services you use and simplify them and make them cheaper and better. It's not a bad argument.

Personally, though, I like having a website hosted around the corner by people I know and can call personally if there is a problem. Maybe it’s a few bucks extra a month, but I like at least having the option.

Indeed, what's best for the customer in the end is having plenty of choices. Cloud computing can be a great thing, but I hope there continue to be plenty of clouds to choose from, and not all of them run by Google.

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Jonathan Weber is the founder and editor in chief of NewWest.Net, a regional news service focused on the Rocky Mountain West in the United States. He was previously the co-founder and editor in chief of the Industry Standard

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