I'm a bit confused why everyone is using the term "cloud" in descriptions of Logos4. I've used the program for about a week now and I just don't see how the "cloud" label can be applied to Logos4.
Having online license verification and resource files hosted on servers is not much different than what we had in Logos3 though I will say that it's much more streamlined in 4. Sermon file sharing and reading list sharing is cool but it's not all that "cloudish" and it's not central to the program.
When I hear the term "the cloud" I think of software and data being located on a remote server. The cloud is catching on as computers are becoming smaller with less processing power for longer battery life. If I wanted to crop an image on my phone I would upload the image file to a sharing site and edit the image which is now located on that site's servers using my web browser or a similar application. Only a UI exists on my phone. The processing of the image and the storage of the image all happen remotely.
This is not what we see happening with Logos4. All processing is done entirely on the client's computer. Resource files are stored on the client's computer. Even the index is created and stored on and by the client's computer. This covers the core functionality of the program and none of it relies on a Logos server. The updated items featured on the homepage, note/sermon file syncing and sharing doesn't involve processing or software located remotely. Think of the difference between creating and sharing a document in Word and creating and sharing a document in Google Docs (or this forum even).
The reason Logos4 doesn't run as well on netbooks is precisely because it is NOT cloud-based. The lightweight CPUs and GPUs of netbooks don't handle Logos4 as well as a newish desktop because the program relies entirely on the client's computer. That's okay though, we are used to software running slower on our netbooks and gladly give up a few seconds of load time or search time to gain many hours of battery life, great portability, and cheap equipment costs.
I would actually welcome Logos to start implementing some cloud computing into the program, like giving us the option of processing index files remotely rather than on the client computer and even using Logos4 as a client-side UI for the searching and manipulation of resources located on Logos (or Amazon AWS) servers rather than on the client's computer.
Until that happens, Logos4 and "cloud" really don't belong in the same sentence.
