In 
theory, the cloud is great. It simplifies actions, such as billing. It lets businesses reduce their information technology costs. And it claims to be infinitely scalable.
In the real world, though, it doesn’t always work as well as advertised. Several major sites — including Reddit, Foursquare and Common Sense Media — found that out last month when Amazon’s East Coast cloud servers suffered what the company called “performance issues.”
The skies are getting cloudy 
in the virtual world.
As cloud storage options grow, the technology is edging closer and closer to the mainstream—and that’s creating some confusion. The abundance of options, combined with the general lack of mainstream education about the advantages and disadvantages of the technology, has a lot of people scratching their head.
While there’s a lot of general confusion about what, 
exactly, cloud computing is, identifying the industry’s big players isn’t too difficult.
Some have very public faces. Others operate in the background. But they all play a key part in this emerging field, which is just as important to less-than-thrilling business necessities as it is to your home entertainment. And a fair number of players have a foot in both ponds.
After months of speculation and 
expectation, Apple has confirmed plans to enter the cloud music space.
The company, in a press release issued Tuesday, said it would reveal iCloud at its Worldwide Developer’s Conference on June 6.
Amazon is one-upping Apple.
The retail giant has launched a streaming service, allowing users to store their digital music (and other files) online and play them anywhere via the Web or an Android smartphone or tablet.
Chris Morris: Journalist 