[OSX-Users] Re: iCloud

[Christopher Gutteridge]

I can see some damn good reasons for storing research data in a local 
cloud.

Mischa Tuffield wrote:
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> I have been using MobileMe for a while now, and it is a great service - i.e. it is actually super useful -syncing and all. One thing that strikes me about Apple's move is that it will be user feature driven, and like Steve said below, Apple users pay for their services unlike Google users. I hate the thought of all my data being in the iCloud, but am sure that Apple will make my experience as a user both seamless and enjoyable. 
>
> We went to the launch of the Chrome App store in London a while back, where they also gave a talk about Google's new Chrome OS. What stood out for me there, was when someone asked "why, do you think users will want to upload all their data to the cloud", Google's response was to the tune that, they didn't think individuals would want to do, but companies will end up forcing their staff to use such cloud based solutions. This would enable the employer to mine what you are doing, which they believed to be the selling point which would make their OS popular - business intelligence and all....
>
> At least Apple's awesome designness will probably make me feel like I get some benefit when I hand over all my data, and yes, would love to be charged to not have it mined, contrary to Google's "free" model.
>
> Mischa 
> On 10 Jun 2011, at 09:49, Steve Harris wrote:
>
>   
>> There's another aspect to this argument, that arrives at a similar conclusion:
>>
>> Google don't make any money from their cloud storage directly, so they have to mine your data in order to cover costs. Apple are only offering iCloud to people that have bought things from them, so they don't /have/ to mine the data, they can regard it as a user lock-in / service enhancement feature.
>>
>> Of course, that's a long way from a guarantee that Apple won't do something unethical, but they're not required to.
>>
>> Personally, I'm quite selective about what I'm prepared to commit to 3rd party cloud storage - things like music I don't care about, but commercial email or documents? Absolutely not.
>>
>> A year or two ago I would have said photos were pretty harmless too, but the availability of cheap face-recgonition tech (c.f. Facebook) makes that a bit questionable.
>>
>> At least theoretically it's possible to provide cloud storage where the user holds the decryption keys, so the host cannot do any mining - I think that iDisk is believed to work that way but it's very hard to verify, and companies have lied about it in the past. I doubt Apple could do many of the things they're proposing if they encrypted data with a user-held key in iCloud though.
>>
>> - Steve
>>
>> On 2011-06-09, at 17:27, Chris Andrews wrote:
>>
>>     
>>> I've already put data on Google's servers. As in Google the world class data miners. Am I worried about putting data on Apple's servers? Not really.
>>>
>>> Chris
>>>
>>> On 9 Jun 2011, at 15:44, mc schraefel <mc at ecs.soton.ac.uk> wrote:
>>>
>>>       
>>>> so, putting one's data in the cloud
>>>>
>>>> - one's personal data into a company's fileshare, with security back doors,
>>>> rather than one's own backups where one holds the keys to the encryption
>>>>
>>>> am i the only person feeling a little dubious about the price of all this
>>>> convenience?
>>>> or the assumption that one is always on? will always be on? 
>>>>
>>>> it's an amazing techno shift = has there been much discussion about this
>>>> transition?
>>>>
>>>> apparently apple's stock of timecapsules has gotten very parched. with
>>>> iCloud, why would they refresh that? 
>>>>
>>>> i have a feeling of foreboding.
>>>>
>>>> anyone??
>>>>
>>>> mc
>>>>         
>>     
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-- 
Christopher Gutteridge -- http://id.ecs.soton.ac.uk/person/1248

You should read the ECS Web Team blog: http://blogs.ecs.soton.ac.uk/webteam/

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