Any downside to using the cloud?

I keep seeing things that tout synching my iPad to my desktop.  There's also quite an emphasis on using 'the cloud'.  Both of these are free so why would apple make such a push?  Is there any down side to either?   Alternatives?

Thanks.

For the cloud-There is little downside unless you store naked pictures of yourself and choose a comically easy to guess password. It's a remote storage solution, essentially. 

The auto backup feature is nice in case you lose your iPad or wreck it. It will, if you want it to, automatically back up your device every few days whenever you are on a trusted (likely your own) wifi network. No intervention by you needed.

They'll monetize you by getting your cash when you want/need more storage. 

For the sync, it can make it so that all your info is backed up locally on your computer. If you have the cloud you can get away with not doing it, but there is no reason not to.

Jackson_Fusion said:

For the cloud-There is little downside unless you store naked pictures of yourself and choose a comically easy to guess password. It's a remote storage solution, essentially.

^^^This is a bad idea no matter who you are... ^^^

marylago said:

Jackson_Fusion said:

For the cloud-There is little downside unless you store naked pictures of yourself and choose a comically easy to guess password. It's a remote storage solution, essentially.

^^^This is a bad idea no matter who you are... ^^^

The cloud generally, or protecting naked pictures with a crappy password?

Jackson_Fusion said:

marylago said:

Jackson_Fusion said:

For the cloud-There is little downside unless you store naked pictures of yourself and choose a comically easy to guess password. It's a remote storage solution, essentially.

^^^This is a bad idea no matter who you are... ^^^

The cloud generally, or protecting naked pictures with a crappy password?

1) taking naked pictures with your cellphone; and 2) then protecting them with a crappy password.

I have no problem with cloud-based products. I've used dropbox to collaborate on some things.

So let's see if I got this right

marylago said:

Jackson_Fusion said:

The cloud generally, or protecting naked pictures with a crappy password?

1) taking naked pictures with your cellphone;
I use my dslr for this.  So I'm OK here.  Right?  In fact my iPhone 4 isn't even plugged into anything; it just sits there.  Why is everybody so gaga over these, lady?

2) then protecting them with a crappy password.  
Ot1441tO is my password for everything- I'm dyxlesic.  Mixing letters & #s like this pretty robust-so I'm OK here two.  Right?

I have no problem with cloud-based products. I've used dropbox to collaborate on some things.

I guess if your box doesn't break when you drop it- that's OK.  I don't think I'll be having that problem.

ICloud storage = 10gb while dropbox = 5 gb; so using the cloud is better.  Then, as JF suggests, Apple will try to sell me more storage space.  I assume dropbox is pretty much the same-- they'll try to get me to pay to use a bigger box.

JF also said, "For the sync, it can make it so that all your info is backed up locally on your computer. If you have the cloud you can get away with not doing it, but there is no reason not to."(emphasis is mine)  This basically is the sentiment about all the foregoing.  Right?

@Apollo_T: I'm pretty sure your iCloud storage figure is incorrect. Unless it has changed in the last week or so (when I last looked into it for a friend), the free tier for iCloud space is 5GB, not 10GB. 

I pay $2.99/mo. for 200GB of iCloud space, and about the only thing I don't store in the cloud are my bank account numbers. (Naked pics are not a concern; absolutely nobody wants to see me naked.)

Also, just as a matter of semantics as you try to sort this out for yourself, "the cloud" is a blanket term for all online storage solutions. The word "iCloud" is what Apple calls their version of "the cloud." That is to say, Dropbox (as mentioned above), Microsoft 365, Box, Google Drive, etc., are all "the cloud," but they are not "iCloud." You may already realize this, but the way some of your previous comments were phrased read to me as if you were under the impression that "the cloud" was synonymous with "iCloud."

The online storage companies are like drug dealers. They'll give you the first quantity for free. Then you get addicted and you need a continuously increasing amount to be satisfied so you buy more and more as time goes on. This can be fine, depending on your situation. Basically, it means you should be aware of how much space each type of thing occupies and how much it is worth to you to keep safe and convenient. Pictures can be bulky but not nearly as bad as videos. If you put your whole collection up and it's huge, the bill may be more than you're willing to pay. Then again, if you put up only the keepers, it can be well worth it.

Apollo, I appreciate someone who won't settle for iPhone quality photos.

Also, if the main issue is indeed photos, Amazon Prime comes with unlimited photo storage and SOME free video storage. 

icloud in my view is mostly useful for backing up your phone so you can just restore if you lose or trash it. 

Your overall assessment seems right to me.

Brickpig, I have 22.4gb available that they gave me for free, of which I've used less than 5. 

I don't want anything on there, mainly because I don't like the terms and conditions I have to agree to before I get any apps worth having: everyone wants access to all my private stuff or they reckon they own my private stuff. And that's without the metadata snooping going on. Forget it, I'm not giving them the chance.

Oh, and I've seen those pix of his. Sigh. *shakes her head sadly and walks away from this discussion*

Just to be clear, I'm not advocating for cloud storage. Nor am I advocating against it. My only intent was to try to explain certain aspects of it. 

I personally love the iPhone/iPad/MacBook integration that iCloud provides and, contrary to Jackson_Fusion's assessment, I find iCloud to be useful for much more than simple phone backup. (I have almost nothing stored locally on any of my devices.) But I also understand any person's reluctance to partake. Everyone has different wants and needs.

Yep, I get that. I was just commenting on the space. (And for some reason I thought I had more but now see that I was seriously misreading what you'd written!)

I love the cloud.  Nothing gives me the feeling of security that giving all my most important information, my pictures, my memories, and my financials to for-profit companies to do with essentially whatever they like.

Here, lurking stranger, hold my bag of money while I look away.

max_weisenfeld said:

I love the cloud.  Nothing gives me the feeling of security that giving all my most important information, my pictures, my memories, and my financials to for-profit companies to do with essentially whatever they like.




Here, lurking stranger, hold my bag of money while I look away.

It's easy to imagine the risk you're describing, but it could be helpful to contrast that with the risk of NOT using the cloud for some essential data. The security of the cloud is superior to your tatty hard drives or your paper notebooks strewn about your not-particularly-secure home in several ways. There are strong encryption, redundant power, redundant network connections, reliable cooling, and strong physical security. Yes, you do have to trust the people who run the systems and their ethics and their skills, but often, they're pretty good. No, they're not perfect, and when they mess up, it's newsworthy, but saying you refuse to use internet based services will eventually prove to be as backwards and impractical as saying you wouldn't use telephones a hundred years ago.

max_weisenfeld said:

I love the cloud.  Nothing gives me the feeling of security that giving all my most important information, my pictures, my memories, and my financials to for-profit companies to do with essentially whatever they like.




Here, lurking stranger, hold my bag of money while I look away.

If the cloud files are not encrypted, then don't expect your files to be private. I did know one cloud developer who showed cloud files to others, a big funny. He even did it at a party.

This may help

http://www.nextofwindows.com/top-3-free-encryption-tools-to-protect-your-data-stored-in-the-cloud

I don't use the cloud. My documents are zipped encrypted files and then copied and updated monthly to a USB drive, a BD disk, and a My Passport. They hold my cumulative data from the last 8 years, when I first started keeping my records on the PC.

Every 6 months, the USB drive is swapped into a safe deposit with the BD latest BD disk added. A six month period starts right after my taxes are done and accepted, where the results (forms, 1099's, etc.) are stored on my computer. I no longer keep hard copy tax records. I shred them.

For me to lose data, I would have to have house damage that destroys my PC and my backup media. Then I would retrieve my safe deposit backup and be able to rebuild most of what is needed like the financial records.

after the occasional hard drive failure and then server failure - went all cloud.

Wish I'd done it years ago

That said, it's awful easy to ignore what and how much stuff is "in the cloud"  -  probably not worth my time to delete obsolete files.  And since cloud storage gets cheaper and cheaper, the trend will continue 

BG9 said:
If the cloud files are not encrypted, then don't expect your files to be private. I did know one cloud developer who showed cloud files to others, a big funny. He even did it at a party.

That's super uncool. What company was that?

As I said, it's not the cloud I object to, it's the ownership rules before I even get there. 

I actually read all those pages of fine print agreement the big name companies blithely issue with every update. I grow increasingly concerned about how reliant on this tech we are, and am very glad I rarely use a camera, or send a text that's more than 3 meaningful words let alone receive them. 

Metadata is one thing. Privacy is another. Copyright is a separate matter that normally wouldn't enter the realm of most of our lives yet according to the software agreements, anything produced or stored through the use of the apps is part-owned by those companies, and there goes your ownership of your everyday life. 

Of course, there are also different ways of using the cloud.  I admit to using cloud backup (Crashplan) in addition to an external hard drive.  I would never use the cloud for my primary drive, especially with physical storage costs so low.

max_weisenfeld said:

...I would never use the cloud for my primary drive, especially with physical storage costs so low.

To be a little more specific about my own setup:

I use two external hard drives for regular computer backup and long term data storage. I keep every piece of data I have backed up on these drives. Then I use iCloud for automatic iPhone and iPad backup, as well as for what I think of as my 'active' information; documents, files, photos, etc., that I work with on a more or less regular basis. I assume this is what you mean by "primary drive." I understand the risk, but as Tom says, I suspect in real terms the drives in my computer and in my home are likely much less secure than Apple's iCloud servers.

If I'm doing any sort of heavy-lifting computing tasks, like web building, extensive Photoshopping, or GarageBand, I store those files locally while working on them. But otherwise I pretty much live my digital life in iCloud. And Evernote. Evernote is awesome.