Long-Term Cloud Storage
Problems of archiving are being “solved” because you can ship your pictures and movies to “the Cloud.” What precisely is “the Cloud”? It’s a vast network of servers that are spinning continuously somewhere in farms, each consuming the same amount of electricity as a whole town.
Why should we worry? “The Cloud” has become the suggested solution of the problem of archiving the vast amount of digital information that accumulates in our computers, laptops and smartphones on a daily basis.
It’s a very bad solution since every single picture of our Aunt Frieda, no matter when we might want to look at it again (perhaps in 5 years if at all) is being kept spinning on these servers for immediate access. Vast amounts of energy are being spent for absolutely nothing.
What incensed me was seeing that the new operating systems now give cloud storage of any document as a default option.
Given the existing deplorable state of our environment, the decision to use the Cloud for long-term storage (not short-term storage) is immoral, just as immoral as Trump’s insistence to keep coal as a number one energy source.
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