Sean Redmond (2/6/2014)
I'm not a fan of the Cloud.Ever since Edward Snowden confirmed my suspicions that the NSA and other spy agencies are trawling and capturing as much data as they possibly can, I do not trust the security or privacy of the Cloud. My contents may be innocuous but I'd rather that they remain private.
And since government has close links to big business, I feel that it is only a matter of time before insurance companies and the like get their hands on information about me that they'd like to know. Maybe I'm being paranoid, but even up to last year for one to air the suspicions that Edward Snowden revealed, would have one declared paranoid and ridiculed as one who believes in all of the conspiracy theories that go around. xkcd is a case in point.
My second worry about the Cloud is the return of the rented mainframe. I'm just about old enough to remember how unloved these were and how much sysadmins couldn't wait to get their own servers. My fear is that once we've got our stuff, especially our servers, on the Cloud, then our data will be held hostage — lock-in so to speak. Once lock-in has occured, Cloud companies can charge what they like. Mainframes were never especially reasonably priced, do I expect Cloud companies to remian so?
My third worry is about the importance of connection. One's Internet connection becomes a lot more vital when one's data and servers are remote. I am too accustomed to greedy telecoms' companies, contention and often less-than-perfect line quality to have to rely on it.
I am a fan of the cloud when applied appropriately.
1) I believed, and still do, that ALL forms of communication are monitored, however, due to the large volume of communications that there is little that a government (pick any one - yours is guilty, mine too) will be able to achieve if they tried snooping everything. They would struggle to filter it all let alone process it so I truly believe that they have to work REALLY hard to target specific individuals. If they looked at every communication with "bomb" in it, for example, then they would be inundated as it even this case I can think up dozens of reasons in one second of valid uses.
2) I think that in a more open world any company can host on Linux boxes and there are a lot of open source alternatives which I believe will force the market to be reasonably competitive. Remember it is a global market now!!!
3) Here is a serious issue. However, I do feel that it will lead to a simpler solution for remote workers.
Gaz
-- Stop your grinnin' and drop your linen...they're everywhere!!!