Cloud computing and the Internet. I am not a fan of some of this.
I like and enjoy the convenience of something like Box or DropBox, where I can access my own files from any computer. This I get.
But, having software run on the cloud and I have to connect to the Internet to get it? This I do not like. This I do not want.
Why? Few reasons. First, there are still a lot of people out there who don’t have high speed Internet, or any Internet at all. Take a breath – let that process. Areas where there is no cable tend to have no high speed Internet either. DSL? Urban areas only. Ever been in the mountains or a really rural area and see all those satellite dishes? Ever made a joke about a satellite dish on a piece of shit double-wide? Well – those folks don’t have access to high speed Internet, or cable, or DSL. Cuz the lines don’t exist there (yet). So making them go online to get or access software? Not gonna work.
Another reason is that I don’t want to have to pay recurring fees on top of recurring fees. When I wanted a DVR, I got a TiVo. Yes, it was a fee on top of my cable but it was well worth it. I loved my TiVo and found it very convenient to own and operate. When I moved away from my TiVo, one of the things I lost was Netflix on the big tv. I had an XBOX 360, though, and figured I would just use that. Wrong. I had to have an XBOX Live membership – and specifically, Gold, in order to access Netflix. Fuck that noise – I bought a cheap BluRay player and bam! Netflix on the big tv.
The idea of the XBOX One makes me want to barf. The ‘always on’ thing that was so talked about completely turned me off. I just won’t do it. Microsoft’s 365? No thanks.
And what I think is HILARIOUS, is all of these folks who are excited about software moving to the cloud. Um – can you say EA? Remember the debacle of them selling a ONE PLAYER GAME which REQUIRED YOU CONNECT TO A SERVER in order to play your ONE PLAYER GAME? People were sitting in queue. To play by themselves.
That kind of shit is only gonna get worse.
And what about the ISP’s? Comcast has already slowed Netflix streams. Netflix got up off the ground, wiped their bloody nose and turned out their pockets so Comcast could take their lunch money in exchange for Comcast not slowing the streams. But who is to say that this time next year, Comcast won’t gank Netflix again, take more lunch money? (Yes, I’m using a bully analogy) Or do the same to XBOX? Or Playstation? Or Roku?
The more things move to the cloud, the more opportunities the ISP’s have to fuck with us.
Sigh.
/End rant
(For now)
