What is cloud technology?

She is an artist, doesn't like computer too much but asked me what is cloud technology days ago, it is really not easy to answer it in plain.

For me cloud computing is same thing as distributed computing or grid computing over a network and means the ability to run a program on many connected computers at the same time. I worked in one of leading grid computing company before, saw it services changed to cloud computing few years ago since word Cloud is so attractive today.

But how to explain the meaning of cloud tech in couple or sentence or examples?

What is 'the cloud'?

"The cloud is a collection of interconnected IT services and infrastructures that are accessible via a network."
From a user's point of view, anything that backs up and syncs data that's accessible on multiple devices can be said to be a cloud service.

Where is the cloud?

Stored in office blocks or warehouses, the world's major data storage centres are primarily in the US and Europe, though there's growth in Asia and Australia.

How does the cloud work?

Take store 'n' sync service Dropbox as an example. Its software is installed on 250 million devices, with its 50 million users saving one billion files every couple of days on its cloud servers.

What is cloud computing?

Cloud computing offers both data hosting and applications, so consumers are free to access this from anywhere.

http://www.techradar.com/news/internet/cloud-computing-explained-1105688 for more clear explanation of cloud tech.