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  1. #21
    Kiltpin
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    In my experience, the Cloud is a very good thing and at the same time is a very bad thing.

    The first thing to remember is that the Cloud is not one thing, but rather many smaller things, owned by many different people. It is spread all over the world, in fact anywhere access can be had cheaply. One part of it used to be in the Crimea. The building is still there, the servers are still there, in fact everything is still there - except for the data. That was wiped within minutes of the Russian takeover. Because of triple redundancy, this was not a problem as there were another two copies of all the data in other parts of the world. The data owners suffered no loss and their lives carried on as normal. Should we be worried - no. Should we be aware - yes.

    Getting back. If Cloud storage is free (and for as long as it stays free), it is a very, very good thing. With digital photography, we can capture all the parts of a person's life forever. When the grandchildren ask about our grand parents, we can say "Here, see for yourself." and show them a whole life.

    But if the owners of the cloud start charging, it becomes a bad thing. Many of us are on a fixed income. A sudden extra bill could ruin us.

    Software on the Cloud is not a good thing. Maybe for business, but not for the private individual. I own the complete Adobe CS2 range of products (and all the products that link in to them), also Microsoft Office 2003 and 2007. All of these bought, paid and registered - and not cheap I might add. Why would I want to rent a product that does exactly the same?

    An easy half hour walk from where I am sitting now will take me to a spot with no wifi, no phone signal and no radio. It is also a graveyard where many of my wife's relatives are buried. If I want to manipulate any pictures, or make notes, or write a story, I need the tools there on my laptop. It is no good having the world's most powerful software if I can't access it!

    So, the Cloud is both a good thing and a bad thing. If we use it within its capabilities and acknowledge its limitations, it is a good thing. Expect too much of it, it soon becomes a bad thing.

    Regards

    Kiltpin

  2. #22

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    All good points, Kiltpin.

    I see the Cloud as a convenient backup to significant documents among my backups which are on external drives in my home and office, and a simple way to move stuff between my pc and my iPad.

    It's more useful where you want to share documents with others - for example, when I was working on a book with 6 other authors, there was only 1 meeting when we were all in the same room. Pretty much everything was produced via a shared folder on Dropbox.

  3. #23
    Valued member of Brit-Gen MrsPoppy's Avatar
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    I agree Kiltpin. You have made some good points.

    It's funny that I've got boxes & boxes of family photographs, & had a lot of them for decades but I don't tie myself up in knots worrying about losing them, some have faded a bit. They would be at risk of course in the sense of anything happening to the house.

    I think technology brings with it different problems, we have all the ease yet all the worry about security & digital storage.

    Mrs P

  4. #24
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    Interesting discussion, thank you.

    The basic premise is to know who your service provider is. Know where the servers are located. Kiltpin mentioned triple redundancy and that means just another layer of protection.

    Many use Ancestry.com as their online, goto family tree repository. Ancestry store the data in the Cloud. So it's not something we are not familiar with. Having it stored in the cloud lets us use mobiles and smart phones to access the information.

    In regard to Adobe Creative Cloud products, you don't need internet access to use it. It is installed locally on your computer, you only need the internet to initially install and then once every 30 days to keep your account current. When you do get internet connection, the programme synchronises so in effect you have a copy in the cloud and a local copy.

    Cheers, John W.
    Last edited by Jamwood; 08-02-2016 at 12:07 AM. Reason: Missed bit

  5. #25

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    Quote Originally Posted by Kiltpin View Post
    I own the complete Adobe CS2 range of products (and all the products that link in to them), also Microsoft Office 2003 and 2007. All of these bought, paid and registered - and not cheap I might add. Why would I want to rent a product that does exactly the same?
    Unfortunately you don't own them - you only own a license to use them - but that's a subject for another thread.

  6. #26
    Valued member of Brit-Gen MrsPoppy's Avatar
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    So Adobe creative cloud is a data uploader whenever you connect to internet, hence creating a current backup/copy.

    I have had a preliminary chat to computer man. He said it's a new hard drive with everything re loaded onto it which is possible. However he said CD/DVD drive is faulty, which I suspected & a couple of other issues. I'm seriously thinking about saving up & getting a cheaper new laptop which will still do all I need it to do, re-think my storage and security & have a fresh start.

    Thank you to everyone who has posted such valuable information & insights.

    Mrs P

  7. #27
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    Good luch with that Mrs Poppy.

    Cheers,

    John W.

  8. #28
    Valued member of Brit-Gen MrsPoppy's Avatar
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    Thank you John & thank you for your advice.

    Hope you've got the place in lockdown, Doberman by the door.

    Mrs P

  9. #29
    Valued member of Brit-Gen MrsPoppy's Avatar
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    Hello All.

    Just to let everyone know that after being told my laptop was irreparable - a kind person took it to have a look at a fortnight ago and 'fingers crossed' they have managed to get it working again. I've been on a borrowed laptop for a while. I was very reluctant to give up on an expensive hi tech laptop & buy another one. I am hoping to get it back in the next fortnight. So a very big thank you to the kind hearted person who has taken the time to sort it out.

    Mrs P

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