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Cloud systems are traps..

Techman

Techman

New Member
Itis no secret that I disagree with the "cloud". I also understand that is my insignificant opinion,,,
I posted that the cloud industry is merely redefining what we already do into the latest fad and charging big bucks for it.
My feelings are that once on a cloud you are at the mercy of the cloud owner. You dispute anything and they shut you off.
Your precious critical data... encrypted using software provided by the cloud vendor... uploaded to someone else's computer, somewhere in an part of the universe with operators who can look at it any time they want,, Then hope that third party will preserve and protect your data and your access. There is not a risk in that is there... Ya right.....

Cloud computing is a trap, warns GNU founder Richard Stallman

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/sep/29/cloud.computing.richard.stallman
 
visual800

visual800

Active Member
I for one have to agree. I dont trust others and I dont like not being in control. I dont like all this flexi cloud and adobe online version stuff, I just dont like it. I want my own computer and my own disk. I do realize this will not last forever though and its inevitable I will as we all will be at the mercy of someone elses storage and /or applications.

I also do not believe this is not necessary. I think its another way of "keeping" our information. Call me paranoid but it seems year after year things on the web are more intrusive. Google is the worlds worst. I dont know where this "cloud" will end up but I guess in time we will see.

In the meantime I will keep my disks on my computer to myself. good post!
 
WildWestDesigns

WildWestDesigns

Active Member
Well, there are risks no matter what method you choose to take. With some things I am on the fence about with cloud, some things I like the cloud for and then there are things that I really don't like the cloud for.

In all honesty, there would be some things that I would be more willing to go to the cloud for if some software companies went a certain direction. Now that direction has it's own risks that I wouldn't dispute and say they don't exist, but based on my preferences that would be the way that might actually get me on board more then the method that the went.

Now having said that. When it comes to Adobe and their recent shift to the Creative Cloud (I really think they had a poor choice of words with calling it the Creative Cloud that does bring up some misconceptions about it in some aspects), I have to wonder if they really just needed a hook to make sure that they had customers in the future. To me, I'm curious as to how many major upgrades are there really there for the more "mature" programs like Ps (which this is their flagship program) and Ai that would be beneficial to the workflow of the majority of their customers. Sure they will have some nice "wow" features that they could put in there in future releases, but would they really affect the everyday workflow? Some sure, but how much is "some"? With a lot of people that already try to skip generations (I did upgrade every release though, next to some of my programs Adobe is cheap even to buy new without upgrade discounts), if Adobe doesn't have any major new advancements to get them to buy the next big release, how many will do it? About the only thing that they would have is to make sure you are current to read the most recent file.
 
ddarlak

ddarlak

Go Bills!
like it or not it is here to stay.

it's the ultimate in protecting their product from piracy.

I hate it too, but i'd do the same thing if my product was software...
 
rjssigns

rjssigns

Active Member
ddarlak said:
like it or not it is here to stay.

it's the ultimate in protecting their product from piracy.

I hate it too, but i'd do the same thing if my product was software...
Click to expand...

Until somebody hacks it. And you can bet you're bottom dollar someone is working on it.

I have said this before about "cloud" subscriptions. They are a money grab plain and simple. In my opinion it is an attempt to bolster the bottom line of a failing business model. I'm lazy this morning and don't feel like typing a book regarding market share and prevailing strategies. But you get the gist of where I'm going.
 
Techman

Techman

New Member
it's the ultimate in protecting their product from piracy.
Click to expand...

Pure fiction. It has already been hacked.
If they were truly concerned about piracy they would not distribute (AVL) volume licensing corporate keys for enterprise packages..

Nearly all the version of all software floating around on the download sites are corporate versions using key gens developed from volume licensing corporate CD keys.
 
SightLine

SightLine

║▌║█║▌│║▌║▌█
Good article and yes, I've been another frequent vocal opponent of the cloud model. At least on Adobe's new "cloud" you still have an actual application on your computer and your data is all on your computer. If you lose internet the Adobe cloud applications will still work for up to 30 days at a time without being able to "call home". Flexi's cloud thing is far from being much in the way of an actual cloud application, it's just a sidebar window that has some links to stuff you can buy and a limited amount of online storage you can use if you want. In Flexi, you can totally shut the "cloud" bit off, which I have done.

Pure cloud applications (the program itself is essentially browser based and all data resides on the cloud) and partial cloud application (local application with all data on the cloud) are bad, the first being the worst. What does a business do if the internet goes down, it does happen sometimes and not just land based. Just recently Verizons entire wireless data network went down here for about 6 hours during the middle of the day. We are not out in the sticks here either, we have fiber Uverse services, full 4G wireless coverage, etc.

I guess if you lose internet you just close up shop until it's fixed? Suddenly you cannot create invoices, cannot even access your customer list and contacts, email, etc. That's a brilliant business plan! Nah..... I think we are going to go ahead and get our last couple of Adobe licenses up to CS6 and that's pretty much where I anticipate they will stay for quite a long time. If we get a newer file we will just have to politely ask that it gets downsaved to CS6. I really like the feature set of one of our own merchant members job and invoicing system. I'm not going to touch it with a 10 foot pole. I will spend 10 grand on having a developer build us a killer database app and front end before I put every bit of our data on the web and out of our control. Call me a dinosaur or whatever..... I don't really care.
 
Techman

Techman

New Member
The cloud seems to be an answer to some companies because..
Graphics software is becoming so bloated with features that the limits of using these packages is time. Features cost money to develop. But they use features to get you to buy.
No one has the time to learn and use the features. The results are that many users are seeking out low cost alternatives that do not include unusable features.

Vectric Aspire is a great example. It has all the features that people want at a great price without the bloat..
 
WildWestDesigns

WildWestDesigns

Active Member
Techman said:
The cloud seems to be an answer to some companies because..
Graphics software is becoming so bloated with features that the limits of using these packages is time. Features cost money to develop. But they use features to get you to buy.
Click to expand...

They could have easily gone modular. Embroidery software has been doing it for years. Just create one big program and the s/n would be what unlocks what in your software.
 
peavey123

peavey123

New Member
ah, I wouldn't be so paranoid. The security with cloud computing will be leaps and bounds better than current security and encryption.
 
rjssigns

rjssigns

Active Member
Here is the crux of what I alluded to in an earlier post. Here is an oversimplification: As a business what would you prefer? 2 million clients buying your product on a 1 to 4 year cycle? Or those same 2 million clients forced to pay a set amount every month.

The other half of the equation is the "residuals" factor. When a company derives revenue on the basis of residual income its net value increases exponentially. Compare 2 business models with the same yearly gross. The one based on residual income will sell for 10X to 14X more(on average) than one based on pure sales.

This is pure unadulterated fact.

Disclaimer: 2 million popped into my head so I used it.
 
peavey123

peavey123

New Member
One could argue that your current system is far less secure than a cloud system will be. We're in the infancy stages of cloud computing. I wish I had a link to a MIT article about this very topic. It was about the encryption methods they're working on.
 
Marlene

Marlene

New Member
I guess if you lose internet you just close up shop until it's fixed? Suddenly you cannot create invoices, cannot even access your customer list and contacts, email, etc. That's a brilliant business plan!
Click to expand...

good point. what if you don't have access to the internet for some reason, what then?
 
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