IBM's Watson may be yours for a fraction of the cost + two times the power via the Internet

Today IBM will announce a version of Watson that’s cloud-based and twice as powerful at a cheaper cost, the New York Times reports. Not only will small businesses, academics and software developers be able to beat their friends to the answers while watching Jeopardy, it could have a significant impact on the future of healthcare.

Watson could play Dr. House, examining electronic medical records at the push of a button and suggesting tests and possible diagnoses. It can even give the doctor a list of potentially fruitful clinical trials for a patient. (See video below.)

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NYT is quick to point out the timing of this announcement is no coincidence, with Amazon’s announcement of Amazon Web Services earlier this week. Watson is IBM’s stab at controlling a big portion of cloud computing. And it has some stiff competition: Amazon, sure, but also Google and Microsoft.

IBM isn’t even really sure what the payment structure for such a service will be.

The company is experimenting with charging for data storage, or selling computing on a metered basis, like water or electricity. “There is no question the model will change,” Mr. Gold said. “You have to have flexibility to handle the breadth of cases we expect to see.”

Stephen Gold, VP of the Watson project, told the New York Times 2013 will be seen as “the start of a shift in the way people interact with computers.” It’s cheaper and faster, but the true question is how long it will take for healthcare to step up and adopt such technology.