What is the cloud? Can it be explained in terms that a non-technical person can understand?

Answer 1

The "cloud" is just a buzzword meaning "the internet". Every website on the internet is just a computer or computers connected to the internet. So when someone says something is in "the cloud" it means that it is on some other computer somewhere connected to the internet. For example, when I take a picture using my Android phone the picture is physically stored on my phone. But my phone has an app that backs up all my pictures to "the cloud". What is actually happening is the backup software is copying my pictures to the Google servers(computers) connected to the internet. My pictures are now stored in "the cloud".