Wozniak Criticizes Cloud Dependence In Light of NSA

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Even though he's kind of eccentric, even goofy at times, you just can't help liking Steve Wozniak. :cool:

Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak says he has sympathy for companies at odds with the NSA and its surveillance tactics, but that their own dependence on server farms is part of the problem. "I think most companies, just like Apple, start out young and idealistic," Wozniak said at the Apps World North America convention here. "But now all these companies are going to the cloud. And with the cloud you don't have any control."
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Wow who would have thought it, find it more economical to farm out your work to someone else but you do so at the cost of having your work secure. Kind of like sending all your stuff to China to be manufactured then get surprised there's an exact knockoff of your product coming out after it becomes popular.
 
OR ... and I know this is a shocker ... we could try and improve the security of services so we can get the benefits of emerging technologies like the Cloud rather than avoiding promising technologies because we are too lazy to make them work the way they're supposed to :D
 
OR...
Create your own "cloud" and keep everything under your control. Individuals and companies would probably save money in the long run.
 
kbrickley said:
OR ... and I know this is a shocker ... we could try and improve the security of services so we can get the benefits of emerging technologies like the Cloud rather than avoiding promising technologies because we are too lazy to make them work the way they're supposed to :D
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Or just keep the shit in local storage and forget about cloud. There is no benefit to going cloud, NONE! Local storage needs to be improved, not going cloud.

You have no idea what companies are doing with your data. You can't improve on that.
 
Clouds. Because SD cards and flash drives doesn't exist. /end sarcasm+
 
Lies! Be one with the cloud. Embrace the cloud. Share with the cloud. It loves you. Till its down and you're screwed because you don't have a local backup. Oh hey, yeah you're credit card didnt go through, says its denied/cancelled, you can't access your work. By the way, did we mention that our database got hacked last month and they stole our customer credit card database? Yeah, ok, just thought we'd let you know. Just fill out that TPS report and we'll get right back to ya.
 
I will never use cloud storage willingly. And I work in IT.

Then again, the NSA already has all of your data.
 
Ashbringer said:
Or just keep the shit in local storage and forget about cloud. There is no benefit to going cloud, NONE! Local storage needs to be improved, not going cloud.

You have no idea what companies are doing with your data. You can't improve on that.
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steam automatically backs up my save games, so if I find myself at another machine, I can pick up right where I left off. that's beneficial. :cool:
 
Ashbringer said:
Is that considered cloud?
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Personal data, although not necessarily that confidential, stored on servers own doesn't own or control. That's what the issue is for most with the cloud so from that perspective it's the cloud.
 
heatlesssun said:
Personal data, although not necessarily that confidential, stored on servers own doesn't own or control. That's what the issue is for most with the cloud so from that perspective it's the cloud.
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yep, thank you :D
 
Every time I hear the word "cloud" in reference to remote Internet based data storage I want to kill a kitten. People use the term "cloud" like it's new. Hey f-wad, Internet based data storage has been around for decades.
 
The cloud has it's uses, but like many technologies in their infancy, it is used where it really should not be, or provides little to no benefit while increasing risk. Because it is new and "cool", director moron decides that everything should be in the cloud whether it makes sense from a financial, useability, or security stand point, or not.
 
rflcptr said:
steam automatically backs up my save games, so if I find myself at another machine, I can pick up right where I left off. that's beneficial. :cool:
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That sounds all well and good but I don't game on other computers, oh and did I mention that Steam cloud has twice deleted all my saves for a game(cloud and local saves). It's also annoying that it defaults to being on and they make it more difficult than it needs to be to turn off, disabling it globally doesn't work and actually makes it more difficult because you have to re-enable it globally before you can turn it off for a specific game.

I think this is a good example of how the cloud might sound good to some(those that game on multiple PCs in this case) but is just an annoying headache for many. Game saves obviously don't contain sensitive information but many companies and individuals do store sensitive information "in the cloud"(on remote servers they don't control) and they should be concerned about how secure it is.
 
CookieFactory said:
IIT the "old people" of the internet generation.
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im 24 working in IT and I hate everything about the cloud,and how people act like its some new tech when all it is, is a fancy name for data center. Local storage is ideal.
 
BBA said:
I will never use cloud storage willingly. And I work in IT.

Then again, the NSA already has all of your data.
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Wow, Woz is so far ahead of the curve.

Just like those of us who were saying this shit about cloud technology years ago when everyone else was collectively orgasming at the thought of giving up physical access to their data.
 
Ashbringer said:
Or just keep the shit in local storage and forget about cloud. There is no benefit to going cloud, NONE! Local storage needs to be improved, not going cloud.

You have no idea what companies are doing with your data. You can't improve on that.
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I'd rather trust the cloud to store my mother's or grandfather's or my aunt's cat's data than they calling me saying their computers have been compromised for the one thousandth time. Datacenter storage technicians are a little more knowledgeable than 99% of the people out there where data management is concerned.

NSA notwithstanding.
 
This is one of the main reasons I feel Cloud Computing is headed for one big fiery crash and burn.
 
Ashbringer said:
Or run a ftp server. That's super easy to do.
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A few years ago, before I abandoned spyphones and went back to full dumb ones, I searched for FTP in the google spystore. Man, about 90% of the hits were for FTP SERVERS. On phones.

Humanity is doomed.

I agree, though. Own cloud or better yet, FTP at your home or secure location.
 
Ebernanut said:
That sounds all well and good but I don't game on other computers, oh and did I mention that Steam cloud has twice deleted all my saves for a game(cloud and local saves). It's also annoying that it defaults to being on and they make it more difficult than it needs to be to turn off, disabling it globally doesn't work and actually makes it more difficult because you have to re-enable it globally before you can turn it off for a specific game.

I think this is a good example of how the cloud might sound good to some(those that game on multiple PCs in this case) but is just an annoying headache for many. Game saves obviously don't contain sensitive information but many companies and individuals do store sensitive information "in the cloud"(on remote servers they don't control) and they should be concerned about how secure it is.
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the problem here is that you've extrapolated your experience to many people :p
 
Azhar said:
I'd rather trust the cloud to store my mother's or grandfather's or my aunt's cat's data than they calling me saying their computers have been compromised for the one thousandth time. Datacenter storage technicians are a little more knowledgeable than 99% of the people out there where data management is concerned.

NSA notwithstanding.
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I really don't care if my aunts cat pictures get lost but I'm the one who gets called to do fixes. so I keep an image of their drives and keep it updated every now and then so they won't lose everything and it is easy for me to get the computer up and running. Yep, a network drive on my desktop gamer/ folding@home computer.
 
Or just keep the shit in local storage and forget about cloud. There is no benefit to going cloud, NONE! Local storage needs to be improved, not going cloud.

You have no idea what companies are doing with your data. You can't improve on that.
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You might be right from an individual "Joe Sixpack" point of view. But there are other points of view, small business, big business, universities, the military, small local governments and large federal Agencies.

I think some of them do see benefits to the cloud even if you don't.
 
Too many people think of cloud computing as nothing but data-centers and this is just not true. That is not cloud computing, that is companies trying to capitalize on the "new" tech sounding name. In the mean time, the real cloud is running along doing it's thing while millions don't even understand what it is.

Buy a Google Chrome Book, use Google Docs where the app and the data are all accessed via a browser from a $250 dollar cheapo net-book wanabe and then you will know what cloud computing is about. The app AND the data, not just data. And if I can boot a box to a thinb drive, why not to another bootable image that's online? Why can't I boot my Chromebook to a network address so that I have a Linux or a Windows box whenever I want it?

Then Mom and Pop can sign up for a service "package" from their ISP and they are rocking and they don't have to worry about breaking it or anything else. It's Cable TV for the computer world.
 
BTW guys, what is a browser based game if it isn't cloud computing?
 
lcpiper said:
You might be right from an individual "Joe Sixpack" point of view. But there are other points of view, small business, big business, universities, the military, small local governments and large federal Agencies.

I think some of them do see benefits to the cloud even if you don't.
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Critics of this cloud computing have claimed that it is not secure for the user as it leaves him with little control over his data, creating the potential for abuse in various ways.

However, CEOs, marketeers, and salesman take a more positive outlook, stating the data is secure in their hands as it leaves users with little control over their data, creating the potential for abuse in various ways.

stole that from /.

lcpiper said:
BTW guys, what is a browser based game if it isn't cloud computing?
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not necessarily
 
Critics of this cloud computing have claimed that it is not secure for the user as it leaves him with little control over his data, creating the potential for abuse in various ways.
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There are always critics, but if your app and your data are both hosted off of your local machine, then it is only vulnerable in a few ways and there are professionals (we hope) running that show at the company end. There are good companies and bad, but good ones get a rep just like the bad.

Who looses out are the developers who love selling their apps to millions of customers some of whom rarely need them. Some of these critics could very well be motivated by loss of sales and not because it's bad for us.
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by lcpiper View Post
BTW guys, what is a browser based game if it isn't cloud computing?
not necessarily
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Well if the app software isn't resident on your local machine, then it is cloud computing.
 
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