Cloud computing is revolutionizing how we work and play, yet it's not all good for the vendors competiting for users as they're now embroiled in what the tech industry is calling the "race to zero."
The phrase reflects the trend of increasing competition that is driving competitors to slash prices while offering more and more storage.
Luckily for the players, computer storage is getting cheaper so the price cuts aren't killing bottom lines. For example, one gigabyte's worth of storage in 1993 cost around $9,000. In 2013, that same storage space cost 4 cents.
Cloud storage competition started heating up when Google began offering a free gigabyte of storage for Gmail users. We have come a long way since then, with Box and Dropbox now offering business customers unlimited storage. Not only that, but Microsoft now offers unlimited storage to its Office 365 subscribers through OneDrive and Amazon now offers unlimited photo storage to Prime customers.
Microsoft and Google have both vowed to match Amazon's offerings while offering better services, meaning that as time goes on the cloud industry will continue cutting prices. Eventually it is very likely that unlimited cloud storage will be completely free.
Many are suggesting Microsoft is poised to "win" the cloud war while Google and Amazon battle it out. This is because Microsoft is aiming its services largely toward businesses. Microsoft continues to pour billions of dollars into its cloud storage business in an effort to build capacity.
Yet that doesn't mean Microsoft has won the race to zero. Users still have to subscribe to Office 365, meaning there is a price on storage. The real winner of the race to zero will be the company that offers users something unique.
Because of this, companies are really working to offer better value to businesses and developers in the form of more efficient software and developing tools. For example, both Microsoft and Google have put office apps in the cloud, with storage simply being an extra part of that.
Essentially, cloud computing is well on its way to being free for everyone. The company that wins, however, is the company that can do better than just offering storage. For the general consumer, this might mean an easy-to-use interface with tools that allow for everyday activities to be done easily. For other groups, this might mean something else.
