MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - Very disappointed with the way the tech is developing.

brecklundin · 09-08-2010, 10:57 PM

I keep going back an forth about remote online storage. In my eye it only makes sense for those with either symmetric broadband connections or FIOS. Sadly most folks are at best around 768k upstream but most are as low as 128k upstream still today.

If I were to sign up and use one of these services for all my photos my systems would run 24/7 for a month or more before getting it all backed up to the server (yeah that is all the "cloud" is...a return to the old client-server model...well, ok, in theory "the cloud" is supposed to be a distributed environment...but who knows...) I dunno but I get the feeling I have no idea of who my data is being handed to. I don't care about my stuff being snooped in on, I mean that's nuts to even think is likely to happen. But it's where is my data, what country or who owns the company that stores my data, for all you know it's some company with it's servers in China. And even if today it's all US based, tomorrow might be different company swallows your "trusted" cloud-provider service.

I stick to external HDD's because for $50/TB I can store my stuff locally...messy, yeah but as attractive as the cloud seems even at $50/yr for unlimited storage I can just grab a new drive to use for the year. Of course I don't travel at all anymore so I don't need access to my data everywhere I go...

But for sure this is the direction things are moving...and funny how so many who think that this is secure and private storage...yeah, good luck with that one...any one of these service providers will roll over and give it up to anyone with a memo on {insert your favorite PITA legal organization here} letterhead. And all it takes is one person to get shafted...just ask the guys who had their case of torture by the CIA tossed out by the 9th District Court under the guise of "official secrets act"...odds if that happening to you or me? Likely zero...then again, someone always wins the Lottery, right?

But this is the way things will move, even Google is headed that way...have been since the advent of GMAIL.

Actually, if I ever get a cloud account I want the servers in some country with super strong privacy laws, say like Germany, seriously they have some tough privacy laws which more countries should emulate...I don't think I would even want it in the US anymore. So, I guess part of me still worries about security after all.

09-08-2010, 10:57 PM	#121
brecklundin Banned Posts: 1,906 Karma: 15348 Join Date: Jun 2007 Device: mine	I keep going back an forth about remote online storage. In my eye it only makes sense for those with either symmetric broadband connections or FIOS. Sadly most folks are at best around 768k upstream but most are as low as 128k upstream still today. If I were to sign up and use one of these services for all my photos my systems would run 24/7 for a month or more before getting it all backed up to the server (yeah that is all the "cloud" is...a return to the old client-server model...well, ok, in theory "the cloud" is supposed to be a distributed environment...but who knows...) I dunno but I get the feeling I have no idea of who my data is being handed to. I don't care about my stuff being snooped in on, I mean that's nuts to even think is likely to happen. But it's where is my data, what country or who owns the company that stores my data, for all you know it's some company with it's servers in China. And even if today it's all US based, tomorrow might be different company swallows your "trusted" cloud-provider service. I stick to external HDD's because for $50/TB I can store my stuff locally...messy, yeah but as attractive as the cloud seems even at $50/yr for unlimited storage I can just grab a new drive to use for the year. Of course I don't travel at all anymore so I don't need access to my data everywhere I go... But for sure this is the direction things are moving...and funny how so many who think that this is secure and private storage...yeah, good luck with that one...any one of these service providers will roll over and give it up to anyone with a memo on {insert your favorite PITA legal organization here} letterhead. And all it takes is one person to get shafted...just ask the guys who had their case of torture by the CIA tossed out by the 9th District Court under the guise of "official secrets act"...odds if that happening to you or me? Likely zero...then again, someone always wins the Lottery, right? But this is the way things will move, even Google is headed that way...have been since the advent of GMAIL. Actually, if I ever get a cloud account I want the servers in some country with super strong privacy laws, say like Germany, seriously they have some tough privacy laws which more countries should emulate...I don't think I would even want it in the US anymore. So, I guess part of me still worries about security after all.