以下哪項已經普及：電腦、轎車、空床還是家庭主婦？云計算讓他們忙個不停。下一個就是我們。
電腦服務器虛擬化是云計算開發中的一個核心因素，可以使原來使用率為20%的PC達到80%的使用率。軟件可以監視工作負荷，識別機器閑置時間并安排工作使它發揮原有功能不停運轉。
現在，多虧云計算能夠輕而易舉地在多個設備之間連接人和信息，經濟領域正在推行一種相似的空間資源的用法。一個名為Uber的公司把那些待業狀態的私家車主與一時興起要搭車的人（喝的酩酊大醉或是深夜下班的人）聯系起來。這項服務給人們提供了比賓館便宜的場所，有時喜憂參半。
我們可以把這種趨勢看作是云計算本身的功能，因為通知、尋找和安排空間需要從許多地點到公用數據庫的訪問。理論上，往往在待業狀態出租房屋收取費用是沒問題的，但現在可以通過共用系統輕而易取的完成了。
此趨勢另一個實例就是LiveOps，它是一個云呼叫中心服務。像Pizza Hut, NationsHealth和Kodak這樣的公司，通常每分鐘向LiveOps支付25分來接受訂單、處理用戶問題以及銷售產品。 LiveOps招收2000人承包工作，這些人通過家中的云互相聯系。雇傭按周計算，然而他們通常只想按每半小時計算，他們會填寫空閑時間。
LiveOp行政總裁Marty Beard說：“ 云中的電腦在我們的代理人中找出合適的人，然后給他們的家中打電話。這些人通常是學生、父母、正在找工作的老兵——沒有空閑時間的人。”除了電話外，公司還回應Twitter 和Facebook關于與 LiveOps有交往的公司的帖子。
Mr. Beard說，人們一般每周工作25至30小時，通過銷售產品、或經過許可銷售保險來賺取工資。“如果你很優秀，那么每年可賺得四萬五千美元或五萬美元，也許還要翻倍。”
實際上，他們正在填充自己的空閑時間，就像Uber的豪華轎車和系統中的服務器一樣，這多虧了云就算系統。
這種千篇一律的救急情況會進入更多領域。我們的大部分工作都與Uber 或LiveOps模式相似，共享的日歷和文件加上位置感知設備使我們有了更多的時間和空間。
What do the following have in common: Computers, limousines, empty beds and stay-at-home moms?The cloud keeps them busy.The rest of us are next.
Virtualization of computer servers, a core element in the development of cloud computing, made it possible for a single PC that was used 20 percent of the time to be used 80 percent or more. Software monitored workloads, spotted when a machine was free, and assigned it a workload that would keep it busy without distracting it from the original function.
Now, thanks to the cloud’s ability to cheaply connect a lot of people and information over a broad array of devices, a similar use of spare resources is going on elsewhere in the economy. A company called Uber connects limousines that are between jobs with people who want a ride on the spur of the moment – after a boozy dinner, say, or a late night at work. The service Airbnbturns people’s spare rooms into a cheap alternative to hotels, sometimes with with mixed results.
It is possible to see this trend as a function of the cloud itself, since announcing, finding and occupying vacancies on the fly requires access from a lot of locations to common databases. It was always theoretically possible to rent out your room or pick up a fare in between jobs, but now it can be done cheaply and through a common system.
Another example of this trend is LiveOps, a cloud-based call center service. Companies like Pizza Hut, NationsHealth, and Kodak typically pay LiveOps 25 cents a minute to do things like take orders, field customer problems, and sell products. LiveOps farms the work out to 20,000 people who connect via the cloud from their homes. They sign on weekly for however many half-hour sessions they want, filling out what would otherwise be vacant time.
“The computers in the cloud find the right person among our agents, then routes the call to their house,” says Marty Beard, LiveOp’s chief executive. “They’re mostly students, parents, veterans looking for work – people with a little extra time.” In addition to phone calls, he is gearing the company up to respond to people’s Twitter and Facebook postings about the companies that have contracted with LiveOps.
Typically people work 25 hours to 30 hours a week, Mr. Beard says, gaining income by selling products, or getting licensed to sell insurance products. “If you’re really good, you can make $45,000 or $50,000 a year,” he says. “More likely, it’s half that.”
In effect, they are filling out their free time, like a limo on Uber or a server in a system, thanks to a cloud system.
This kind of machine-made urgency to utilize everything, creating lower prices (and for many, lower wages) will very likely find a lot more areas to attack. Much of our work may come to resemble a Uber or LiveOps model, as shared calendars and documents, along with location-aware devices, make work possible from more times and locations.
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