I’m typing this from my iPad. I’m in the Red Carpet lounge in Chicago waiting for my flight to Brazil. I wanted to get off a post while on my flight from Denver. I also wanted to do some client work and finish 2012 budgeting. I couldn’t do any of these things because there was no Internet service on my flight. I needed the Internet to do those things.

Now that I’m in the airport, there is no free Internet in the lounge or the airport. There is Boingo and a T-Mobile hotspot, neither of which I have an account for. Therefore, my only access now is through my phone and my iPad using 3G. (I could pay for the hotspots, but I’m too lazy to go through the sign in process.)

I don’t know if my flight to Brazil is going to have Internet service, so I’m scrambling to get as much done as possible before we take off.

I am increasingly reliant on the cloud. For those of you non-techie community members, the cloud is a geeky term for applications that run on the Internet and not on your computer. Salesforce.com is an example of a “cloud” application.

I use Dropbox for my files. My CRM is in the cloud. I use Qucikbooks Online for my accounting. I don’t buy much music anymore, because I use Pandora. Almost everything I do now is in the cloud and therefore when I don’t have an Internet connection, it’s a bitch.

The cloud is amazing. It makes software that much more efficient to build and manage. It makes data and information accessible regardless of device. The cloud has changed the “access” game. The cloud is here to stay. I’m a huge fan . . . but, it can be a bitch!!!

The cloud relies on connectivity and when there isn’t a connection, it’s a bitch! The cloud ecosystem is developing faster than the connectivity ecosystem. I’m not talking about connectivity technology. I think the technology, the speeds, etc. is doing just fine. WiFi, 3G, 4G, LTE, etc are all adequate for now. It’s the ubiquity of coverage that isn’t keeping up. A ubiquitous cloud world requires ubiquitous connectivity. That means planes, hotels, airports, side roads, ski resorts and more. It’s becoming less and less “OK” to not be able to be connected. Not being connected in a cloud world increasingly means being disconnected from your life and your business. More and more of our personal and business data is in the cloud. More and more of our personal and business processes rely on the cloud. As this reliance increases, the consequences of NOT having a connection grows.

For most, the lack of a connection is a mild inconvenience. For me, it’s past that. The lack of a connection affects my productivity. Soon, the lack of connectivity could completely grind us to a halt, effecting our ability to do even the simplest of things.

I’m hoping ubiquity of coverage comes faster than it is now. Because without it, the cloud is a bitch!

Update: I just found this. They gave it to me when I checked into the Red Carpet club and I was too dense to take a look.

Double update: there is Internet on my flight. Maybe the connectivity gods have heard me.

Triple update: United “juked” me.  There was no Internet on my flight. That means I spent 10 plus hours unconnected. That was 10 hours of perfectly good work time tossed.

Damn!  I hate when that happens.