Cloud based storage

Over the last 5 years f so there has been quite a bit of talk of "Cloud computing". Initially practical applications seemed a bit vague to me. You could do "stuff" in the cloud instead of on your local device. This implication was that at least one aspect of this service was to outsource the CPU load. Web based spreadsheets and word processors were also offered but are just not as responsive as the local version. Cloud web service resources are offered from providers such as google - but there are not that many commercial adopters of this service.

But now I am seeing a big uptake in cloud computing, not for the generic processing, but for the central data storage. This is going mainstream, millions of people are starting to entrust what once was personally managed data locally to the Internet.

Last year I made the (what I thought at the time) big step of entrusting all of my mail archive to Google. It was a great move and I have not looked back. I could work on a cached copy of my mail with my PC client, or my phone. Filing and reading it from anywhere, gone was the preview on one device but filing and archiving on another.

Earlier this month I got sick of partially loosing some of my contact information from my mobile phone as I reset it yet again. So I made the step of putting my contacts in google too. Now I sync them with my phone and my outlook at work. No problems and I haven't looked back.

With the trend emerging, I have now made another step adding "Evernote" to my list of cloud based storage. I have a copy of the client on my phone and on all the PCs that I use. Now I have notes happily replicated everywhere. I am even now starting to eye up "Dropbox" a personal file storage utility of the same elk. My copy has been dormant from use since the last time I could only transfer a file via the Internet for a server I was needing to work on.

I think it would be a good time to be in the online backup storage business. I think it is going to boom.

Comparing MySky HDi and Tivo

I love DVR technology. I rarely watch TV, and now I practically never watch live TV. Since my family has both mySky HDi and a Tivo unit unit I thought I would write up a small comparison.

In my view DVR's are a revolution they enable not only scheduled recording, but live pause, and convenient and rapid selection for playback.

I don't think the online content is a draw card for either right now because there just isn't enough content available to bother searching it for something to download.


The facts:

The subjective stuff:

Pros for the Tivo:

• The Tivo is cheaper (but you don't get the content)
• The Tivo is better for fast forwarding ads (once you get used to it)
• The Tivo interface is better to browse your content because it groups programs together by series
• The Tivo Network  software is cool, it can transfer material off the Tivo and back on again. It transfers about twice the normal play rate and you can watch the content while it is transferring. It will also automatically convert to portable format in the background. Sky content is encrypted and cannot be extracted off the unit.
• If you ever need to replace your box the Tivo content can be transferred off and then back on the new one via the network (I think this is the reason for the high retention Sky have on there units - customers don't want to loose their recorded content).
• If you are with Telecom (and most people are) The download content is free
• There is a free iphone/ipod app that controls the Tivo over the wifi (an Internet remote control)
• The rating system is intelligent and learns from what you choose to record
• You own the unit whereas with mySky it belongs to sky.
• You can upgrade the harddrive, or plug in an external one if you need more space locally.

Pros for the Sky Box:

• Sky has the best content and it is best consumed by the mysky box
• I think the sky interface is easier for kids to use (<8 years)
• The dvr box looks nicer and is quieter
• Doesn't need an Internet connection
• The Tivo EPG doesn't list the programing for sky's free channel "prime". Which means you can not conveniently schedule recording of Prime from a Tivo box (I think Sky is deliberately holding this back for commercial advantage).