tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502193732299119611.post1802645464321386433..comments2008-09-02T01:56:50.535-07:00The App Engine Fanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14769199738243128956noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502193732299119611.post-35130904112544234492008-09-02T01:56:00.000-07:002008-09-02T01:56:00.000-07:00Hi, again. I'm sorry to monopolize your comment threads, but I also found that topic interesting. I have a few thoughts:<BR/><BR/>1. "Cloud" services are not all-or-nothing deals. As you have pointed out before, using App Engine with Amazon S3 is perfectly fine.<BR/><BR/>2. If App Engine gets traction, I think it's a matter of time until there is a decent software platform (quite possibly completely open source) to host your own app engine-compatible site. The APIs are few, simple, and often (de-facto) standards. As I mentioned in the <A HREF="http://blog.appenginefan.com/2008/08/app-engine-and-sqlite.html" REL="nofollow">first SQLite post</A>, when there is a solid datastore option that is API-compatible, we will be nearly there.<BR/><BR/>3. I doubt that Google even minds if competition springs up. They are in a good position to compete on their strengths: scalability, availability, simplicity, integration.<BR/><BR/>4. On technology: Amazon offers a variety of services, with good documentation, and with a simple upgrade path (plain Linux box; nothing new to learn; what could be easier?). In particular, S3 and EC2 are very easy to dip your toes into and slowly ease into it as you get comfortable. Google offers a totally different technology. It is an API, with a special database and a (for most people) special programming language. So in principle, Google vs. Amazon are apples and oranges; it should be straightforward to look at your resources and needs and decide which one to use.<BR/><BR/>5. On customer service: Google comes from a technology background, and Amazon comes from a customer service background, and they do appear far more serious than Google about this stuff. Maybe Google is serious too but they aren't showing it. For better or worse, Google has the reputation of being woefully understaffed in the customer service department, and for being very aloof and un-engaged with its users. Bug reports, feature requests, and even patches languish in the SDK googlecode site, without so much as acknowledgment of receipt on Google's part. This is worrying if you bet the farm on a technology where the only shop in town has a famously opaque, uncompromising billing structure, and with complaints in the air about unfair quota measurements. (Honestly, I think this will all be sorted out eventually but it cannot be ignored.)<BR/><BR/>So that's about everything that I can think of concerning this debate.Jason Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15751411273444768568noreply@blogger.com