Wary of the Cloud? Maybe you should be?

[CrashX]

Does anyone else think it's kinda weird that we have ridiculously cheap, incredibly fast massive storage options - yet all of the tech companies are duking it out in their competing clouds?

I don't even get how it's that helpful in an "enterprise" setting. It would drive me nuts if I was working on a "team" project - and I couldn't even sneak anything good into the works anymore because a "manager" could just send me a quick "markup" edit... I just don't get it. Yeah, meetings sucks - but the reason they suck is because of morons "adding value". In the cloud, it's like the meeting that NEVER EVER ends. That would absolutely drive me insane.

So whatever - I don't get it. I have no use for it, so I won't be participating.

Then, there's this fictional family of 6 people who care to share everything with each other and all use the same credit card. WHO ARE THESE PEOPLE!?! Stop rebelling, Junior, come join the family on the cloud - we're ALL THE SAME. Isn't that right, dear? Awww... now you stop marking up peni all over your brother's face - that isn't NICE!!!!

Anyway, someone please explain how these clouds aren't big scary borgs? Why should I pay a company a fee so they can have access to my stuff and trickle-charge me to death for it so I can trickle access it on my trickle connection?

What, they screwed up and made everything too big, too fast, and too cheap? So now they're just making up things that are incredibly inconvenient, so they can "compete" on the basis of who has the bestest fastest of the slowest new big proprietary thing?

And who is on a message THREAD? This is a big HUGE public forum. I just started a THREAD. WHO THE ****** EXACTLY is on an SMS thread? Again, is it the meeting from Hell that NEVER ends? Or is the annoying drunk girl still texting - or did she pass out yet? And who ended up banging her? Is that the thread?

Anyway, I'm obviously not the target market. I like my privacy - I like having things that are my own private things. I don't like Facebook or Twitter - I'm just not a very social person unless I'm forced into it.

I liked my iPhone when I first got it - it was really cool. Now it's annoying - and if AT&T hadn't dropped my charges, I'd be back to a flip phone. Angry Birds was an addictive little game there for a bit.

But, to be completely honest, all the horrible invention has done is make ME more accessible - which I never wished to be in the first place.

I can't say, "Oh yeah... I was away from my computer - sorry didn't catch your email and respond immediately" - because NOW my freakin' email is ON MY PHONE!!!!!!! And all of my clients know that now. So guess who gets to answer a TON more freakin' emails?

So, before we all jet off into the cloud, trusting our favorite corporation with pretty much ALL of our personal information...

WHO needs it? Who wants it? Who benefits?

Apparently, once you're up in the clouds, you're not coming back - and how many of you voting in favor of the cloud have unlimited cellular data plans, and how much do you pay for THAT every month?

I'm luckily stuck out in BFE with 3G - thank you, kind urban overlords for sparing me - seriously, THANK YOU - so "the cloud" is completely fn useless to me. Even my connection at home has pretty much zero "upload" speed INTO the cloud...

So that's my rant. Not only do I not "get" the cloud concept - I don't truly have access to it anyway. All I can do is HOPE the big city folk might stop and think about the implications before they all adopt it and it ends up out here. Because I am extremely wary of it.

If you understand the implication of the term "adding value" - then I think you know who will be driving you insane on the cloud, why it is you loathe "meetings" with these idiots.. and how every last ounce of creativity will eventually be squashed by the cloud. These people are very very VERY busy ALL of the time... Imagine having them constantly looking over your shoulder, making their "suggestions" - THAT is who lurks in the "cloud".

Okay, end rant. Adopt it or not - it's up to you until it absolutely isn't anymore.

 

[ZombiePete]

One of the nice side benefits of getting out into the world and socializing is learning to see things from other people's perspectives and coming to the realization that the way you perceive and interact with the world isn't right for everyone.

While you may loathe "the cloud" and the features that come with online collaboration/socialization, there are clearly many more who do want these features and benefit from them. Personally, I like always being connected and being able to socialize with family and friends even when we're not in the same geographic area. I get to see my nephews growing up even though they live several states away, and I know my parents are doing well. The cloud keeps my data backed up off-site, so even though I have Time Machine backing up my Macs at home on one of those large storage options you mentioned, if disaster ever struck and my home or that drive was lost, the pictures of my little girl that I've been collecting all her life are secure somewhere else. The convenience of logging in to a new phone and having all my data "magically" appear without having to connect to a computer is definitely something I have come to appreciate as well.

At work, online collaboration is a hugely beneficial tool. When I'm working with a team on a suite of documents, having them in a centralized location and being able to work off of the same copy so we're not passing eight different versions around via email is a great time saver and keeps us on the same page (no pun intended). It's so much more convenient to keep one piece of data in a central location that can be updated as needed and is always accessible to the field. You perhaps have never worked with a team that is geographically diverse; where I work, cloud tools are more essential than ever.

Some people don't like where the internet is taking us, but that's purely a personal problem as far as I'm concerned. This is the natural evolution of our society as communications technology becomes more advanced, from my perspective, and closer collaboration and online lifestyles are inevitable for future generations.

 

[thejadedmonkey]

Microsoft is huge in the cloud, because that's what business wants. Same with google. Microsoft also has the ability to "mute" SMS threads. This is just apple playing catch up, nothing more.

What's more worrying is how apple gimps on storage space, pushing you towards the cloud. But that's a different discussion.

 

[ZombiePete]

What's more worrying is how apple gimps on storage space, pushing you towards the cloud. But that's a different discussion.

Google does the exact same thing. There's a reason Chromebooks only come with 16GB of storage standard.

 

[CrashX]

I'm guessing you've never fallen victim to "adding value"?

I'll explain how it works. Someone has a job as a supervisor - so it's their job to oversee a project. What ABSOLUTELY happens EVERY time that supervisor is "engaged" is that something is changed. WHY? Because it's THEIR JOB.

As a "creative professional", my job was to get my best work into the final project. So that meant I became very chummy with my supervisor's supervisor to overcome the super-revisioning. It was a HUGE PITA.

I can't imagine surviving that in the cloud. Certain designers have a particular design approach - certain writers have their own voice - and, in the "middle" of this chain, you have idiots trying to prove that they can more effectively manage those "below" them... It's a freakin' mess.

Anyway, when someone finally gets to the top - they realize that the best way to manage the talent "below" them is to allow that talent to shine through. But meanwhile, there are the idiots who haven't yet learned that lesson and just redesign or rewrite pretty much everything to reflect their "talent". It's not really their fault - they just haven't learned how to manage talent yet.

So that's just a problem inherent to the creative team itself. The "meetings" also involved "the other side" - the Account Management group of people who (for whatever reason) THINK they have great ideas (that always suck - which is why they're in Account Management)...

I swear to God - hell, I haven't even seen a decent Superbowl ad in years - maybe it's this fn "cloud" thing?

Anyway, I'm sure the "cloud" might be of some use to a geographically diverse field team taking their orders from the "cloud". But there is NO WAY IN HELL it could EVER produce the best creative. Just the overly-collaborative nature of it would be sheer Hell.

When I first heard about Adobe's Creative Cloud - that's an oxymoron if there ever was. It's just not possible.

What can be produced with a "cloud" is Jony Ive's "flat interface". There's nothing creative to it - as he described it, it's meant to be bland and not interfere.

But, at some point, there has to be something that DOES capture your attention - the focal point. Whatever THAT is wasn't over-shadowed by the "cloud". Nothing but sunshine, open air, and freedom to create.

So you're right. Given the mass collective just does as the mass collective is told - then the Cloud reigns supreme. The collective stupidity of the masses made Facebook a fortune.

Anyway - when I saw the new "markup" tools, I literally cringed. I just imagined myself starting out, dealing with my then ACD "directing" me... he was such a freakin' tool. But I got around him - which wouldn't have been likely should I have been under the "cloud". I would have either learned to adapt my work to his particular style, or I would have lost my job.

And, fwiw, that's obviously just my opinion. Everyone's got one - which is the problem inherent to the cloud.

Everyone starts at the bottom. If that creative never sees the light of day, then... welcome to THE CLOUD.

 

[BrianBaughn]

iCloud for Business with Domain Hosting!

Wasn't announced.

A lot of funny stuff in your posts!

It seems to me that Apple's version of the cloud is a personal one. They haven't yet joined in on, for business, what you loathe.

The family iCloud sharing stuff may sell some units but in the end I'd bet that most families don't bother with it or won't be able to figure out how to make it work properly. I'm still explaining to folks that PhotoStream isn't a backup.

 

[mmomega]

Then, there's this fictional family of 6 people who care to share everything with each other and all use the same credit card. WHO ARE THESE PEOPLE!?! Stop rebelling, Junior, come join the family on the cloud - we're ALL THE SAME. Isn't that right, dear? Awww... now you stop marking up peni all over your brother's face - that isn't NICE!!!!

I'm not in the fictional family of 6 but I do have 5.

In regards to iTunes purchases, which is what Apple is talking about here, My wife, My step son, my son, my daughter and myself all share the same iTunes account across all of our devices?

Why? If we did not share then the scenario goes like this. I buy an app ($0.99) and show it to my wife, now my wife wants it ($0.99) a week later my daughter sees it and says thats cool ($0.99) and then shows her brothers who also want to give it a try ($0.99 + $0.99).
Now I've has spent $4.95 on a 99 cent app because my kids are old enough to have a phone or iPad but don't have their own bank accounts yet.

As we have it now, you pay once, now everyone on that account gets it for free.
The only new thing Apple is doing is allowing each person in the family to have their individual iTunes account yet share purchases so everyone doesn't have the main account information. Everything is still tied to the same CC though.

I would have totally done this sooner if it was an option. As it is now everyone has to remember 2 individual AppleID's per device. Your own + the iTunes account.

As for sharing documents or what not in the cloud, I am all for it.
My reason?
I have multiple clinic locations and growing. Prior to any "cloud storage" let's say one of my doctors wants a training guide so that he can give to an intern.
Previously, I would either write up the guide and print it out let's say 3 copies, drive to location #1 hand it to the doc, drive to location #2, hand to the doc, drive to location #3 hand to the doc.
Or... email the guide to all 3 doctors, they print it out, package it together then give to intern.

If I need to revise the guide, now I have to email to each of the doctors again, they print it out, remove/replace.

Now, I create a guide, publish it and since my docs already have iPads they use for X Rays and the practice software, they just open the guide on the iPad and always have my updated version at all times.

Just 1 example how the cloud has saved me time and a little money at the same time.

It definitely isn't for everyone but it does work for others.