Playing with SQL Azure; part 1

For my own amusement and edification I've decided to learn about cloud computing by playing with SQL Azure. Within the last year, I've moved my personal information into the cloud (from Palm Pilot to a Nexus One Android phone with Google Docs, Remember the Milk, Google Contacts, etc) and am curious to see how that same switch could happen with databases.

Also, I just read the book The Big Switch: Rewiring the World, from Edison to Google. It's basically about how there's a very strong analogy between the move to cloud computing today and what happened about 100 years ago, when factories, instead of generating their own electricity, converted to buying their power from electrical plants. Interesting stuff. And I do believe that the movement to cloud computing is just as inevitable as the movement to buying power from dedicated electrical plants.

For my first step, I've set up a SQL Azure account (had to provide a credit card number, but they say they won't charge anything for three months). I've set up a database, and will be experimenting with it (downloading tools to access it, etc). My first task will probably be to go through the tutorials for SQL Azure.