cheineck Loc: Hobe Sound, FL

THE FOLLOWING IS BY ROBERT FISHER FROM HIS NEW BOOK ‘THE DIGITAL ZONE SYSTEM’

Cloud computing is a popular topic right now. It is being heralded as the panacea for everyone’s computing needs (cloud based software) and storage needs (cloud based storage services). Perhaps it will be in the future, but it isn’t really at present. Cloud storage is not inexpensive. Some services will provide you with a small amount of free space to get you to sign up, but the costs begin to climb when you exceed the free limit. Uploading to the cloud via standard high-speed DSL or cable internet connection is not very fast. You may have a 20mBps or a 30mBPS connection to your internet service provider, but that’s the download speed. Upload speeds are typically about a tenth of that. Uploading large volumes of files will take an inordinate amount of time. On top of that, you’re trusting the security of your images to a third party. A third party you really know nothing about. A third party that may go out of business without a trace and leave you no way to access or recover your data. Cloud storage is not something I would consider or recommend. At least not at this point in time.

hfb Loc: Northwestern Louisiana

It is SURE not for me!

cheineck Loc: Hobe Sound, FL

That makes two of us so far!

PrairieSeasons Loc: Red River of the North

I think the term "cloud" makes the concept scarier than it needs to be - particularly for the over XX crowd. (I used to think the over XX crowd meant over 30, it seems to have crept up over the years.)

In any case, do you use Carbonite for backup? It's "the cloud" just as much as any other cloud service, they have just developed their branding over the years. Carbonite has saved me from a crashed disc twice, and I wouldn't be without it or some similar service.

Samuraiz Loc: Central Florida

How a person secures their data is a personal choice. I and many like me, use inexpensive external hard drives for PC backup. A windows based system can be configured to perform a backup using the user supplied criteria (when/how often) and a 2 terabyte drive is now under a hundred dollars. Often these hard drives can be placed in Fire resistant safes or off site when not connected. A new drive can be purchased every year for the same price of a carbonite subscription. ($99 per year per computer if an external drive is connected)

Acountry330 Loc: Dothan,Ala USA

With external hard drives so cheap, I do not think I will be using the Cloud any time soon.

cheineck Loc: Hobe Sound, FL

You make a point, but the sentence "A third party that may go out of business without a trace and leave you no way to access or recover your data. " scares the heck out of me. I vote for backup drives---I have 2 so far with the identical info on both.

tramsey Loc: Texas

I have used Carbonite for years without any problems at all. Before I went to Carbonite I had two external hard drives. My house got hit by lighting and fire was coming out of the electrical outlets, fried everything that was plugged in anywhere. That included the fridge, television, and the entire computer system. Insurance replaced it all except the data on the computer system. I got two more hard drives with the thought of what's the chances of getting hit again, pretty slim. My neighbor and took everything of his. I had unplugged most of my stuff. Nothing was taken. About a year later I was burglarized, television, stereo etc and the whole computer system, even the mouse. That's when I went with Carbonite. I haven't had a problem since.

It's the clouds for me, along with my head. :lol: :lol:

selmslie Loc: Fernandina Beach, FL, USA

As one of the over XX crowd, scary is not the issue.

I have been in the software business for over 40 years and even write software for the cloud. I would not trust my precious possessions to someone with a short track record. Besides the inconvenience of having to send all of the information to some unknown secure (?) storage location, I would be worried that some day without warning it might not be retrievable.

What you need is redundant off-site storage. You can achieve this easily and inexpensively with a couple of portable hard drives and a safe deposit box (where you keep all of your other irreplaceable treasures). Keep one actively backed up and the other at the bank and swap them on a regular schedule – once every week, month or quarter.

Under XX can learn a lot from over XX.

tramsey Loc: Texas

That's way too much hassle for me when Carbonite does it automatically. I would do it once or maybe twice and then forget to do it again.

G Brown Loc: Sunny Bognor Regis West Sussex UK

Perhaps one plus for using the 'cloud' is your ability to show your pictures on someone else's computer away from home or office. Having a small free download limit is not necessarily a bad thing considering how many free sites there are. (eggs in baskets)

Renting programmes from the cloud is a far more pernicious move, considering the number of people who hardly ever upgrade things till they break, and the download limits of some internet providers. Backward compatibility issues may also become faster and more frequent the more profit from the cloud becomes apparent to program hosts.

selmslie Loc: Fernandina Beach, FL, USA

If not the bank, how about the glove compartment of your car. If your computer and car get broken into on the same day you are really unlucky.

selmslie Loc: Fernandina Beach, FL, USA

Here is some more food for thought.

Where do you think your photos are kept? They are not in Fort Knox and we know that even downtown Manhattan may not be safe. They are probably in two or more undisclosed locations anywhere in the world (Europe, China, etc.) with security over which you have no control.

Now let’s assume that your photos are good enough for someone to steal. I’m not being facetious, let’s hope they are. How would you like to wake up some day to see one of your images being used for commercial purposes by someone you cannot trace because the source does not even use this alphabet?

cgchief Loc: Jarrettsville

I know nothing about 'cloud storage' or how to access it.
However, Abobe informed me last week that they sent my photos to 'cloud'; they did not ask me for permission.
I will have to check if they are still on my hard drive.
Adobe is wearing out its welcome with me.

FilmFanatic Loc: Waikato, New Zealand

Adobe did not steal your photos, relax