Cloud computing has finally arrived for the general public.

Amazon provided the proof-of-concept with Amazon Web Services (AWS).

Spencer Reiss interviewed Jeff Bezos about the journey.

And there’s the real disruption. Instead of building cute apps and ladling them out to the masses — the Google and Microsoft model — Amazon is delivering silicon power to the people. Bezos is fueling a flotilla of nimble, aggressive entrepreneurs, including frontier types chafing inside gilded prisons like the Googleplex. For them, AWS is a launch pad, not just for the next million Facebook apps, but also for personal live TV channels, virtual desktops, pay-by-the-mile auto insurance, and no doubt plenty of things no one has thought of yet.

A number of competitors are gearing up to enter this space.

IBM are expected to release Blue Cloud this quarter.

Microsoft and Google along with others have projects in the works.

An exciting 18 months lies ahead within this emerging service sector.

TED2008 was held in Monterey, CA last week.

Many people come to TED seeking something out of the ordinary. A chance to mentally recharge. A chance to step back and consider the really big stuff that’s happening. A chance to understand life in a richer way.

TED2008 will be our most ambitious attempt yet to deliver on that agenda. We’re building our program around the biggest questions there are. And because it’s TED, we’ll be seeking answers not just from the sources you might expect, but by bringing together multiple voices from very different disciplines. The “Aha” moments often come from the most unexpected connections. The questions below will give you a flavor of the incredibly rich vein of possibility in this approach. Plenty of Profundity and Challenge, for sure … but also plenty of room for Cool, Exciting and Whimsical

For the first time all sessions were streamed live over the web.

Congratulations to Chris Anderson and the TED team for choosing to do so.

This years program brought together another great lineup.

50 main speakers shared their worldviews with the 1,100 attendees.

Full coverage of all sessions will be available over on the TED blog.

FASTforward 08 was held in Orlando this week.

This years theme was The User Revolution.

Building on last year’s high-energy discussion of the 2.0 world, FASTforward ‘08 takes that topic to the next level to examine how search-driven innovation is fueling the User Revolution, a critical shift that is placing users in all markets increasingly at the center of the information universe.

Our highlight of the sessions was John Hagel’s keynote.

With The User Revolution upon us, it increasingly becomes critical to be able to measure the potential impact of this powerful change trend on the future of your business and its role in the industry. Unfortunately, the value of many of the intangibles that power The User Revolution – skills, information, social capital, etc. – cannot be captured and measured with traditional metrics such as Return on Investment (ROI). In this session, John Hagel, widely respected author and business strategy guru, introduces us to a new set of leading indicators that can be used to measure and predict the impact of The User Revolution on your company.

Video interviews with participants and commentary are available here.

Recommended viewing, reading and food for thought.

Demo 08 was held last month in Palm Desert, CA.

DEMO was there when the seeds of Web 2.0 were planted in a platform called .NET, exploring some of the first Web services before we even had buzz words to describe them. We have stayed true to our mission: to find great innovation wherever it occurs, identify market trends through the lens of the products coming to market, and expose you to new ideas and opportunities.

The pool of talent was so deep this year we expanded the show. Our 77 demonstrating companies foretold the next generation of real-time, rich applications and use cases, dependent on keystone technologies and conceptual changes in every layer of the stack, from foundational protocols that deliver performance and reliability to design shifts that bring usability to new levels. Click on the buttons below to check them out!

Our pick of this years 77 elevator pitches was Sprout.

Video archives of all presentations are now available here.