Well, actually, I do - I just thought that was a catchy title. Most of us who use the internet use cloud computing, whether we know it or not. I haven't used online "OS" and probably won't in the near future, but it is useful for those who need it. I use flickr, google docs occasionally, library thing occasionally, I've saved pictures on facebook, I listen to music and various programs online, email, delicious, etc. etc.
I save important things like pictures to flashdrives, as a backup to online storage and the card in the camera. I hate it when I lose pictures, so I stash them in more than one place. But it's so convenient to be able to log onto one of my accounts to show someone pictures., or to use a document when I'm not at "my" computer. One of our fellow "thingers" commented that some schools are encouraging the use of Google docs so the "my printer stopped working" excuse will be obsolete. The student could just log onto google docs and print the document - but of course, the "printer broke" excuse usually meant the student hadn't done the work. :-)
There can be problems - security can be an issue, and there are always trolls. Even when something is set to private, there are ways around it. I wouldn't be comfortable having private data stored in the cloud - it's too easy to get to if someone is determined. I'm also a bit concerned about ownership issues - (in fact, facebook just started using creative commons.) Some sites claim any content stored becomes their property rather than yours, so user beware. :-) What if the "cloud" you're using starts charging - will you be able to retrieve your data?
But for some things, the convenience of using cloud computing is unbeatable.
No comments:
Post a Comment