Special Words

I just read this group of sentences:

"GRID enables the streaming of very "heavy" software programs to various machines. That means a design house can stream "SolidWorks" to all of the designers' computing devices, which can prevent the need for the company to purchase many expensive end devices. All of the heavy computations are done in the cloud and the image is streamed over the cloud to the device."

While I don't pretend to understand it very well today, had you shown this quotation to any of us a few years ago, it would have been gibberish. These sentences are made up of English words that have special meanings, special meanings that are beyond my ken. There are several of these special words in each sentence, and they make up the bulk of the meaning conveyed--what do I know about "GRID," "streaming," "heavy software," SolidWorks," and "done in the cloud?" How about "streamed over the cloud?"

The changes in the personal computing world go far beyond the decline in the PC market, the crash of Blackberry (five years ago, market cap of $83 billion, today--$3 billion), the migration of personal picture-taking from cameras to phones and a variety of other changes.

It is happening fast. The impact of social media on our lives, and particularly the lives of our youngsters, will be seen down the road...and it won't be that far.