Walking around with your head in the cloud
Do you work in the cloud? There is no question about the rise of importance in keeping your information in the cloud and some folks are embracing working in the cloud. The ramp up of Google Apps fits with the philosophy of keeping your documents in the cloud so that you can work on them wherever you might be. There are some advantages to working in the cloud that can’t be overlooked but there are concerns too.
Kevin has been embracing the cloud in large part due to the differentdevices he uses regularly which is where working in the cloud shines.Using web-based applications for working with documents like wordprocessing documents, spreadsheets and even presentations can beliberating for those who regularly use different devices to do so.Keeping your stuff in the cloud is not only device independent,it can also be platform independent which is gaining more importancewith the rise in Linux-based devices. Kevin happily works with hisdocuments whether he is on the Mac, Windows, his iPhone and now Linuxwith his EEE PC. That can no doubt be pretty liberating as he canalways work with his stuff as the mood strikes him. I can see the drawin such a system which is pretty powerful as the web-based applicationslike those from Google have gained functionality over time. I’m notentirely convinced that would work for me though.
I am in a unique position where I regularly use a number of differentdevices like Kevin does so you would think I would be a perfectcandidate for working in the cloud but I have some valid concerns abouthow that would work for me. Currently I am like most everybody, Icreate and reference a lot of information through the desktop withMicrosoft Office which works well for me. Having all my stuff in thecloud would expose me to the inability to get to that information inall situations, and that could be very bad if it happened at the wrongtime. I can’t imagine what I would do if I was on a plane for instanceand the lack of connectivity prevented me from working with myinformation when I needed to do so. Sure there are now some utilitiesfor syncing your cloud information with your local data stores but thatadds a layer of complexity I don’t have now. I have used varioussyncing technologies for years and they seem to at some point developdifficulties getting the job done, especially with no interaction on mypart which I believe would be essential to rely on the cloud completely. Noaccess = no getting things done = major problems for me. There is noquestion that connectivity is pretty prevalent these days and in factthe system I have put in place is geared toward having it virtuallyeverywhere but still occasionally glitches happen. I just can’timagine what I would do if I couldn’t tap the cloud when I needed to orif I discovered my local data store was not a true mirror of my stuffin the cloud. That would be a killer for me and the way I work.
I also have to share information regularly with colleagues and whiledocument formats are more universal now than in years past the morecomplex your documents are the more likely you will run into problemssharing them. I confidently share Word, Excel and PowerPoint documentswith virtually everybody with no problems and I fear that wouldn’t bethe case if I created those documents with cloud-based applications.Maybe that is less of a problem than I think but it’s a big concernof mine. My whole productivity system is designed to minimizeduplication of effort and this is a big exposure for me should I haveto convert information for sharing with others who aren’t living in thecloud. We will probably see this to be less of a problem down the roadbut I’m not convinced we are there yet.
I also have concerns about someone other than me controlling myinformation long-term. What happens if a couple of years from now theentity that has all of my documents decides to make major changes oreven goes away? The thought of having to recover tons of documents andinformation scares the Bejesus out of me quite frankly. Sure Googleseems like they will be around forever but lets not forget they are avery young company and meeting shareholder expectations will always betheir number one goal. There could easily be a time in the future whenthose goals don’t include keeping my information forever and what wouldhappen then? That’s pretty scary to think about if you put all yourstuff in their cloud. Very scary.
Maybe I am just being paranoid, I admit that could be the case here butafter all it is my stuff. I put a lot of effort in creating andworking with my stuff and ultimately it is my responsibility for it,not the cloud’s. Can anyone give me valid reasons for working in thecloud exclusively? I am interested in hearing them. When I think of working exclusively in the cloud I can’t help having the thought that sometimes a cloud becomes a raging thunderhead waiting to strike. I just can’t getout of my head the feeling that the cloud is too high yet for atrusting relationship and we all know that if the cloud comes down toearth to close that distance then it is just fog.
Any cloud only solution will always rely on constant connectivity. Without some kind of syncing/cache-ing solution, there’s no way you can avoid that.
As for not wanting a third party controlling your important files, I can definitely agree, and would suggest a better solution to be networked attached storage with a wap/html interface you can use on any mobile device with a browser, like a business-oriented Orb.
The only cloud solution I like is build-your-own. Right now, I have an Internet-accessible network drive. Works as a standard network drive at home, but also enables me to access it from anywhere. Any files on it can be downloaded, but it also has built-in MP3 streaming, and I built galleries for my photos using Picasa and some simple coding. Had I the need, I’d set up a system to connect to it via ftp as a mapped network drive and sync my active files with it.
I don’t understand the cloud either. I suppose it’s the difference between those who want an internet tablet and those who pay extra for the PC in UMPC. With an OQO, an 8gb USB drive, and SyncToy (one of Microsoft’s power toys), I don’t need or want the cloud.
I think it has more to do with people that 3 or 4 devices they may want to all work from. If I had my druthers, I’d have at least 3 comps (home and work mobiles and a home desktop) and a smartphone. I would want to be able to access all of my data from any of them at any time without having to worry about syncing.
Even now I’m just working with a work desktop and home laptop, and using my PDA of all things as the syncing device (and my home files are probably 2 weeks old!).
I think there is always going to be a bit of uncertainty with something like this, and each individual will find various degrees of utility or even necessity from services in the Cloud.
If corporations and individuals start to take privacy more seriously (the default is opted out), and if we ever get to a point where we can always be connected, having services in the cloud will make more sense.
But right now, everything is stacked against privacy and security, and we are nowhere near being ubiquitously connected, especially not by one device.
Woadan
Free storage in the cloud has some trade-offs. Typically for free and easy storage in the cloud you give up a significant amount of control. Once that information goes into the cloud it remains there potentially forever, backed up on disk or tape, and beyond your control. Deleting the information on the drive doesn’t remove it from these other storage systems.
The idea of access anywhere is great, but in terms of reasonably priced “always on” connectivity we aren’t there yet.
I make my living as an information security professional for a financial institution, and maybe that makes me overly paranoid, but I don’t trust someone to make sure my data is protected unless I’ve got a contract with them that meets my idea of how they should hanle my data. Since I personally don’t have the type of clout to make them meet my requirements as opposed to their agreement they want me to sign I’ll just protect my own data and worry about how to keep it synchronized across my own devices.
This is a rather timely topic for me. I have just recently begun to embrace this concept as I jump into GAFYD with both feet now that Google has IMAP (while at the same time trying to “consolidate” the dozen or so email boxes I currently have to keep track of — Gmail Manager for FF is your friend!). Like others, I have tended to be more paranoid than not about the security of my data. However, over time I have gotten used to having my data stored and available somewhere other than on one of the (half dozen and growing!) hard drives I use locally for storage and backups. Also, I’ve started to realize that much of my data originated in the “cloud” (primarily as email), so from a privacy standpoint, well, that’s already a moot issue — the data was already in the “cloud” before I got it.
It’s comforting to know that there is another external (presumably encrypted) backup of my critical data, but I still make local backup copies of everything whether or not it is stored online. And I still use local apps because the online versions don’t have the functionality I rely on. I guess only time will tell whether or not this changes, but I think the writing’s on the wall. And I’m definitely starting to warm to the idea.