Khoi Vihn at Subtraction brings up some interesting points regarding the ever-more pervasive “cloud computing” services in light of the current financial crisis. While Google and some of these other services look steady now, the recent stock plunges have shown how vulnerable some formerly invulnerable-looking institutions and companies might actually be. When it comes to cloud services, we are oftentimes without very good methods of getting our data off should we have to. If the services closed, or even if we just decide to go somewhere else, there may not always be a good way of getting our data back.

This is perhaps hyperbolic at this point — Google probably won’t be closing anytime soon, and some of the best cloud services do allow you to get your data off — but the point does have some merit. I want to have my digital documents, emails, videos, and photos for the rest of my life. Gmail will be around in 5 years, but will it be there in 50?

I have almost always favoured services that let me control my own data in some way. I have used an email client during a time where it seems most people are moving to gmail. I’m using a NAS instead of Amazon S3’s online storage. I use a privately-hosted WordPress because I can walk away with my data at any time.

The sweet-spot for me seem to be pieces of software that bridge the two. They let me keep a hold of my data locally while letting backing-it-up and letting me access it from elsewhere. Apple’s Mobile Me is going in the right direction, but is unfortunately marred by spotty implementation. Along with giving me more control of my data, I also get the advantage of generally having quicker interfaces, more things like drag and drop, and a standard mac-like interface consistency that makes it easier to move from application to application.

Tags: Design, Long Term Thinking