Why Cloud Computing Scares Me

The 'big new thing' nowadays in the computing world is cloud computing. For those who are unfamiliar with the term, cloud computing is the idea of computers doing most of their 'work' in 'the cloud' (AKA, the internet) as opposed to doing it on their own memory and time.

The proponents of cloud computing say that it will improve the ability for computers to access info and centralize data storage in large servers which can be accessed anywhere, at any time. I don't disagree there, having accessible data is fine. I think that part's snazzy. But there are snags in the grand plan.

First, storage costs money.

True, the average gigabyte of storage has decreased from about $228 in 1998, to 10 cents today. Pretty big drop, really. But that's for internal drives. Server farms could house anywhere from a couple terabytes of data to a couple petabytes (a thousand terabytes, which are in turn a thousand gigabytes apiece), which is a bit of money.

But the other thing a cloud server needs is the cloud itself. And internet fees require bandwidth, and bandwidth is expensive. So in order for cloud computing to work, they need to generate some form of income. In other words, you are paying for storage.

Paying for storage that you could get locally for ridiculously less. I dislike subscription fees, and if those subscription fees are tied into my data, my personal data, then I see a problem. I'm all for internet storage, but cloud computing is all about making money, something that I have a problem with, partially because I am broke beyond fuck. And I don't want to spend my nonexistent money on a computer age con man.

I like my data, I like it on my computer. What's so wrong with internal data storage? I understand the idea of universal access to your information and files, but if there's a cost involved then I'm out. I'm not paying for a stupid and backwards new idea.

Okay, yeah, most cloud storage services have a free option. But most often this is more for enticing new customers and less for actual use. I'm totally fine with HDDs and SSDs over here, so I really don't care for them.

The whole idea seems somewhat... fishy.