What is an essential characteristic of cloud computing as seen in Google Slides and PowerPoint?

An essential characteristic of cloud computing, as demonstrated by tools like Google Slides and PowerPoint, is that these services are located on the Internet. This means that users can access the applications and the documents they create from any device with internet connectivity, facilitating collaboration and flexibility.

Cloud computing employs a model where computing resources, such as storage and applications, are hosted on remote servers rather than being installed and run on individual devices. This allows multiple users to work on the same files in real-time, share information effortlessly, and benefit from automatic updates and backups without the need for manual intervention.

In contrast, local storage and standalone software involve the installation of applications on specific devices and storing files locally, which limits accessibility and collaboration. Self-hosted applications are typically maintained on a user's own servers, which would not provide the scalability and accessibility offered by cloud services. Thus, the presence of these tools on the internet is what fundamentally defines their cloud computing nature.