Infinitely more with less
For several months I’ve been thinking about storage space for files and media, backups, and the cloud. Dropbox has changed the way I backup and synchronize documents between my MacBook Pro and iMac, and it’s companion iOS app means my files are always with me… even when they aren’t actually with me. This has rendered my need for a thumb drive useless.
As online storage and bandwidth has become cheaper, and internet connections have become faster, it’s become much easier to store most of my important documents online. With online photo sharing, streaming video, and services like Pandora, Rdio and Spotify, I no longer need to carry gigabytes upon gigabytes of media around with me. This will even be more the case if and when iTunes moves to the cloud.
So here’s what I think: in the next three years we’re going to see the trend of bigger and bigger storage on mobile devices, laptops and home computers transition to smaller and smaller storage. Instead of running out of hard drive space and needing to upgrade or worrying if your next iPhone will have enough memory, your device will access your online storage so all of your files are always at your fingertips.
Do I need access to every file all the time? No. Do I need to be watching every movie or listening to every MP3 at the exact same time? No. Should I have to figure out which files I’ll take with me or which ones I’ll need to sync to another computer? No.
But what happens if “the cloud” crashes? What if the server tanks or AT&T explodes and I don’t have any internet? As the cloud becomes our primary file system, the inverse is going to happen with our backups. Instead of backup up our computers’ files to the cloud, we’ll start backing up the cloud to our backup drives sitting quietly in the closet. What happens if one of these bites the dust? No problem. Just get a replacement and plug it in. A new backup is downloaded. And, when the apocalypse occurs, you’ll have all of your data safe and sound in the comfort of your own home.
