Is the 'Cloud' the new Hard Drive?

[RobinInOR]

I live 30 miles from a mid size city and am rural without cell service or cable. I'll never trade my 15 acres to live in a city.

Those last DdoS attacks on the east coast and part of the west coast affected us - that was the first time we couldn't access the internet when our power was up.

I think reliance on the cloud is also changing based on the age of the person. Younger people are more used to using the 'cloud' - older people knew external networks before they were called the 'cloud' and learned to distrust them.

Me, we lose power enough that we will never be able to depend on the cloud. Internet down for 48 hours? Happens to us at least 2-3 times a year.

This is the usual urban vs rural scenarios that affect everything from technology to politics.

 

[Eric5273]

For those who say "what if the internet goes down for a long period of time?", I would ask "what if your house or office burns down?". Or "what if there is a flood and your computer and USB backup drive are destroyed?"

For me I'd actually prefer to have my information up in the cloud where it is backed up and is immune to such issues. I consider that more safe.

And if the Internet goes down for a long period of time, then my business files will be irrelevant since my business is internet related itself.

 

[Shirasaki]

For those who say "what if the internet goes down for a long period of time?", I would ask "what if your house or office burns down?". Or "what if there is a flood and your computer and USB backup drive are destroyed?"

For me I'd actually prefer to have my information up in the cloud where it is backed up and is immune to such issues. I consider that more safe.

And if the Internet goes down for a long period of time, then my business files will be irrelevant since my business is internet related itself.

Sure, low possibly, but once happen, the consequence could be destructive. That is why I generally don't trust cloud solution.

And you say your business is internet based right? Once internet is down, your business will be out of businesses. I may guess you will lose your current job after that.

 

[Traverse]

There are many reasons why I don't buy into this idea:

• Even in urban areas, heavy usage of cloud storage slows down your network. The capacity just isn't there for large-scale constant use.
• Internet is not reliable worldwide.
• I want to have backups of my data. One reason I don't like streaming services is that Netflix can remove a show or an album can be pulled from Spotify. If I have a copy on my hard drive that I ripped from a disk or bought via iTunes I *own* it for most purposes. I can always enjoy it even 30 years from now.

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But many times, what was written in fiction becomes real matters.
Plus, the crisis of wide area internet down is not something only reachable in science fiction. There are real threats capable of even temporarily disable the entire internet.

Look at hurricane Sandy. Even sometimes my IP will have a "technical issue" and I can be without internet for an hour or two. That can be annoying if I am actively working on a project and need the data.

For those who say "what if the internet goes down for a long period of time?", I would ask "what if your house or office burns down?". Or "what if there is a flood and your computer and USB backup drive are destroyed?"

For me I'd actually prefer to have my information up in the cloud where it is backed up and is immune to such issues. I consider that more safe.

And if the Internet goes down for a long period of time, then my business files will be irrelevant since my business is internet related itself.

This is true. This is why you use the Cloud as *one* backup method. It's not sufficient on it's own as you can't back up the cloud servers themselves.

1. Data on MacBook Pro
2. External hard drive in home with backup data
3. External hard drive at work with backup data
4. Critical and important files (some of them anyway) on a cloud network.

 

[pika2000]

The ones holding the key are the telecom companies. The extend of reach of cloud services relies solely with them, and they know it. Since the tech companies are shifting to cloud in droves, the key holders are making so much money that they are not in a hurry to do anything more.

It also shows the bubble of Silicon Valley/Redmond, the likes of Microsoft, Google, and every body else. They are living in a bubble, designing products based on their bias (constant electricity, full speed broadband, etc). And then they were baffled when the emerging markets are not so keen in adopting some of their products.

 

[Altis]

If you want, or have to, live like it's 1995, you're in luck: Apple still makes Macs.

I see you're still preaching your gospel on how anyone who doesn't want to use the iPad and cloud exclusively is a dinosaur.

As for Internet connection, mobile data is capped and expensive here, wifi is unreliable outside of residential or workplace. We've had interrupts at home for a week while they fixed up a problem. It happens.

Of course none of this is nearly as much of an inconvenience as something like selecting text on the iPad.

 

[M. Gustave]

I see you're still preaching your gospel on how anyone who doesn't want to use the iPad and cloud exclusively is a dinosaur.

If you're storing all your stuff on a big old local hard drive, then yes, you are a metaphorical 'dinosaur'.

And I see you're still preaching your gospel of iPad hate.

 

[gnasher729]

When is the internet "down"?? You mean when you lose cellular coverage, like in a subway tunnel... which is like .1% of your life if you live in an urban environment.

I realize some people live in rural areas, but they are a tiny fraction of the population today.

I think your maths is off. If you live in London, you are quite likely to spend quite a while underground. Considerably more than 0.1% = 10 minutes a week. And that's exactly the time where everybody would want to use their devices at least to listen to music. 3G only means no music when you travel to and from work.

 

[M. Gustave]

I think your maths is off. If you live in London, you are quite likely to spend quite a while underground. Considerably more than 0.1% = 10 minutes a week. And that's exactly the time where everybody would want to use their devices at least to listen to music. 3G only means no music when you travel to and from work.

You're nitpicking. Five hours a week of commuting is 3% of your time. Still very small, ok?

And every music streaming service offers offline content for just those circumstances, so that's a straw man.

 

[Kostas3000]

You're nitpicking. Five hours a week of commuting is 3% of your time. Still very small, ok?

And every music streaming service offers offline content for just those circumstances, so that's a straw man.

I spend 10 hours per week inside the subway with interrupted internet connection. In my case these 10 hours/week represent more than 60% of the time I spend using a portable device...

Imagine now not having a local storage and having to wait for data to be downloaded when you will get the interrupted cellular connection... complete loss of productivity with a bonus of unnecessary frustration

 

[frankgrimes]

If you're storing all your stuff on a big old local hard drive, then yes, you are a metaphorical 'dinosaur'.

And I see you're still preaching your gospel of iPad hate.

Sometimes being a dinosour is better than being a tech hippie. Guys that don't question the pros and cons of new technology...I don't want my stuff in the cloud period I have sd cards, external drives and blue rays for backup stuff that's good enough for me.

Not everybody wants to be limited to internet stuff only and some people value privacy.

 

[Altis]

If you're storing all your stuff on a big old local hard drive, then yes, you are a metaphorical 'dinosaur'.

And I see you're still preaching your gospel of iPad hate.

I'm rarely in this subforum. It isn't hate to realize the iPad is good at certain things while a MacBook is far better at other things.

What's wrong with storing stuff locally?

You didn't address anything I said about the issues of Internet on the go, and even reliability in other places sometimes. Here in Canada, most data caps for mobiles is 1GB per month.

 

[joeblow7777]

You didn't address anything I said about the issues of Internet on the go, and even reliability in other places sometimes. Here in Canada, most data caps for mobiles is 1GB per month.

It's true, data is expensive here in Canada! I got on a corporate plan 3 years ago that is no longer offered. I get 5 GB of data for less than most of the current plans offering 1GB. I'll be holding onto this plan for as long as I can! Even though this is actually more data than I need because I practically always have access to reliable wifi, I still would not want to depend solely on the cloud, and therefore an internet connection, in order to access my own files. The cloud is great for sharing files between devices and as a backup, but I don't think that it beats local options that I have physical access to and control of, for primary storage purposes.

 

[jeremiah256]

Guys and gals, in this case, you can (and should) have both your cake and eat it, too. I believe the recommendation to follow the 3-2-1 rule is still in effect, regardless of what type of device you are using:

3 copies of all your important files
2 copies locally
- one on your iPad or MacBook whichever is your main device
- one on an external drive
1 copy offsite (the cloud)

Edit: There's nothing stopping you from changing it to two copies offsite (iCloud and Dropbox, for example), and one copy locally (external wireless hard drive) if using an iPad with minimum storage, or even three copies offline.