It’s All in The Cloud, and Maybe Statistical Databases

Two years ago, I bought into the fantasy of Chromebooks. They were going to take over the computing world. I went (almost) all out, lots of memory, folds into a tablet. Thinking about the good things coming down the pipeline, it would be a great investment.

My Chromebook was going to replace one of my Desktops which were beginning to show their age. Just a few more programs or applications, some with local storage, and I would be all set. Two years later and this bubble has burst. I have a very expensive limited laptop or an overloaded tablet, depending on your view.

Apps missing local storage is the problem for me. Everything goes to the Cloud. I ask, what exactly is the Cloud? Why is my data safe, and why does every business and program want to store in the Cloud?

The Cloud is probably the same as one of my local hard drives, only tens of thousands of people are saving their files on it too. It is managed by thousands of people, some brilliant, some not so much. All prone to human error.

As with Application or game, nothing is for free. Buy a game and if you fail to spend money buying things for it, some algorithm(s) will filter you out, and is going to kick in and kill you off in one form or another.

Cloud Storage doesn’t always mean safe and secret storage










Is the Cloud any different? Why are all these mega Companies so willing to keep my personal secrets, my family photos, my password listing, my favorite collections text files. I am of the opinion, just like paid game apps, nothing is for free?

It must cost a lot of money keeping thousands if not tens of thousands of programmers working on keeping data in the Cloud is millions of users can put their stuff in the cloud? This money is not coming from a Cloud Company’s good will. Cloud Storage, Cloud Computing, anything Cloud is a Business. Business needs to make a profit to survive.

Sure, I can manage local storage, but it’s not as simple and painless as Cloud storage. Why is this? Because someone has access to our files, our personal information, and someone is studying us using our data for profit. Nothing is free.

I use my overpriced Chromebook for basic things. I have an email account on the Cloud. I have some documents on the Cloud. I play my few basic games. I do not have anything sensitive, private, or important on my Chromebook, or in the Cloud.

With all that being said, the Cloud is not a guarantee of data safety and security. Hundreds of people around the world are trying to hack Cloud storage somewhere, every day and night. No one hosting free Cloud storage guarantees your pics, documents, and other files will still safely be there tomorrow.

And back to my biggest issue with the Cloud, “If you don’t want anyone to know, don’t write it down.” Sometimes we have to write it down. We don’t have to send it to the Cloud though, encrypted or not. Do you know anything about your Cloud Storage? Who really runs it, what happens to your files? Apple’s recent Siri problem is a good example. Siri listens while you _______?

I think someday the Cloud will burst, and if we wish to have Cloud storage, we will pay real money for it. The data being sucked out of the pictures and files stored in the Cloud, will be the same types of information stored in the Cloud a decade from now. People are people, and we haven’t changed much in the last x thousand years.

In the meantime, I have an overpriced tablet with an attached keyboard.