Welcome to the grid: unlimited PC power at your fingertips

This article explores trends related to the next generation of web technology: "the grid". The advancement apparently promises to be "the biggest development in global communication" since the Internet. This technology will allow users to access the programmes, processing power, and storage capacity of entire computing centres, which is said to make the power of the individual user's machine irrelevant. A small handheld computer, for instance, could become a supercomputer when connected by mobile phone to the Internet. Other potential applications of the technology include e-business, architectural modeling, and firefighting.

Insiders say that it will be a while before such commercial uses of the grid impact consumers. Currently, the grid is being developed to advance scientific research in 10 laboratories around the world. The grid will be used to analyse, filter, and share data produced by the large hadron collider (LHC), which accelerates protons and smashes them together. Bob Jones, a grid project manager, says of the technology, "It'll be like the web. When you have it you'll wonder how you ever got by without it."

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