crapple whycloud

[Sean]

Originally Posted by bryantm3

the only downsides are this: first, if your internet goes out you're screwed. second, privacy rights. you don't have any choice in whether to update or not, so using an older version is out, and also and you're kind of at the whims of the cloud when it comes to whether they want to copy down those files you're making with those applications, your keystrokes, etc. the privacy issue is kind of scary and i'm curious to see how and if they're going to pull this off without taking everyone's privacy and tossing it out the window.

Yeah, it's the privacy side of it that has me absolutely uninterested in utilizing this service. I want my stuff on my computer - not sitting on the hard drive of some mega-corporation. That's a huge deal in my opinion.

[Deckard]

Yeah I'm inclined to agree with that. Obviously I see the benefits of cloud computing in general. But relying on an internet connection is quite a mental leap from knowing I can access XYZ, regardless of whether I'm online or offline - not just music, but docs, images, videos, applications, whatever. I saw a demo of Google's chromebook yesterday and the same thing struck me then. With no internet.......

But I'm willing to bet we're on the wrong side of history on this one. People may eventually just assume the internet is always available to them, and attitudes to privacy appear to be changing too with a clear generational gap opening up.

I wonder if the idea of local file storage will one day become a distant memory?

[//\/\/]

"I wonder if the idea of local file storage will one day become a distant memory?"

Only if everybody's willing to accept that clouds are hackable.

Local storage is just too cheap to die off, surely? I bought half a terabyte for under £40 - fits in my hand and sits on my desk until needed.

[Deckard]

Yeah I'm not talking next year or anything. Local storage is cheap now because there's a huge demand for it and will be for a while to come. But further down the line, I can kind of envisage a time when choosing local storage could be deemed not only odd and inconvenient, but even greeted with some suspicion from some quarters.

Originally Posted by //\/\/

I bought half a terabyte for under £40 - fits in my hand and sits on my desk until needed.

Not a WD My Passport by any chance, was it? (I only ask because I got one a fortnight ago for about the same price!)

[Sean]

Originally Posted by Deckard

I wonder if the idea of local file storage will one day become a distant memory?

My guess is no, it won't. Take where I work for example. We make animated films, which means security is a huge concern. That security is fundamentally achieved through storing everything on our massive, internal servers. I can't imagine any internet-based storage system that would be as hack-proof as a simple offline storage system, and no studio I know of will be willing to switch until they are. And as long as businesses need secure offline storage, there will likely be a personal market for it as well. But really, who the hell knows what the future holds?

[Strangelet]

my take is the cloud as a personal storage solution won't be viable until one is comfortable to upload dirty pictures of their gf/wife/husband/bf. Until that happens its merely a cleaner solution to megaupload.com

[Deckard]

Introducing the Apple iCandy®.

Cumming this fall.

[bas_I_am]

The kicker is. . they are using windows azure as their platform.

now that's hilarious (and typical) !!!!