m the predinner conference that have direct relevance to the topic of this chapter, server software. Two data points sourced from the Ericsson presentation4 highlighted some of the issues. Every two years the number of voice and data sessions doubles. In 2009, more than exabytes (four billion gigabytes) of unique information were created. This information has to be stored somewhere and only has value if it can be accessed efficiently and effectively. It has been suggested that information and the applications that interact with that information are best accessed when needed rather than locally stored. This is commonly referred to as 'the cloud'. Information and applications and our relationships with other people and other things in the physical world around us will be mediated through what is in effect a virtual network. At the time of writing there are somewhere between 300 000 and 400 000 applications (Apps) available for the iPhone. In fact, there are SO many to choose from doing SO many 1 http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/onlinestuff/stories/amy_johnson.aspx 2 http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A2654822. 3 http://www.cambridgewireless.co.uk/cellular25/. 4http://www.cambridgewireless.co.uk/docs/John%20Cunliffe%20-%20Ericsson%20Ltd%20You%20Tube%20 Link.pdf. Making Telecoms Work: From Technical Innovation to Commercial Success, First Edition. Geoff Varrall. © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Published 2012 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Making Telecoms Work things that there are apps about apps rather like metadata tags that offer to help you choose what apps to download. 5 20.1 The Wisdom of the Cloud? The argument for or against centralised or distributed information is of course not new - the cloud is just a way of describing well-understood mechanisms for sharing and remotely accessing common resources. This means that 'the cloud' combines a mix of familiar benefits and risks. Realisable benefits apart from the assumed cost savings of shared tenancy could theoretically include an improvement in social efficiency, social m