The world of technology is becoming increasingly cloudy. A large percentage of software companies have integrated cloud features into their software, adding features that to some vastly improve the way we do business. There are many users out there who are hesitant about the cloud, some of whom are people with great influence in the tech industry.
Mike Daisey is an American monologist who did a show about Apple’s production plant (FOXCONN) in Shenzhen China that turned out to contain false facts. In August he updated his show and even brought on a special guest, Steve Wozniak (Woz), Co-founder of Apple.
On the show, Woz talked about many things, but one of the topics resonated with the tech crowd. The topic was the security of the cloud and ownership of data and files within it. Woz stated, in no uncertain terms, that, “there are going to be a lot of horrible problems in the next five years.”
He went on to explain that the reason he felt the next few years will be tough is due to ownership of information stored in the cloud. He explained, “a lot of people feel, ‘oh, everything is really on my computer’, but I say the more we transfer everything onto the web, onto the cloud, the less we’re going to have control over it…I really worry about everything going to the cloud.”
Woz and other critics of the cloud are worried about who really owns your personal information in the cloud, and how much actual control you have over data stored on a cloud provider’s servers – aka. the cloud. The underlying issue around this reservation is the question of what will happen to all of your data if there is a massive breakdown at remote storage locations. Some users had a recent glimpse into this possibility when Amazon’s data center was struck by lightning causing cloud services like Pinterest and Instagram to be unavailable for hours. Despite the fact that the issue was fairly small, groups of people were mad at not being able to access their data.
Users may be reserved in fully trusting cloud solutions and the companies offering them but the cloud is quickly becoming a backbone to many business oriented solutions. Chances are, you are using at least one cloud service right now. Many IT companies believe that the cloud is the way to go and strive to take steps to ensure ownership of stored information is as clear as possible.
What are your thoughts on this issue? Are you worried about cloud solutions or do you embrace them? Let us know.
Published on 4th October 2012 by Jeanne DeWitt.
