So for the better part of the last 15 years we've been hearing about all this "cloud" stuff. We've got this iCloud thing and all of this syncing is done "in the cloud" and we share files "over the cloud" but like, wtf does any of that actually mean?

[Insert finger guns here]

Where 'The Cloud' Is

Obviously 'The Cloud' is not in the sky, that would be stupid, we know that, but where actually is this stuff? 'The Cloud' is made up of hundreds of data centers that are all open and available on the internet. This article? In the cloud. Netflix? In the cloud. ChatGPT? Yup, in the cloud.

What Made It Cool?

When it was starting out, it was "the new thing". In the IT world, companies were becoming "cloud native" in the same kinds of ways that we're seeing with companies saying they're "AI native". The whole reason that it was cool is that you didn't have to have your own servers anymore.

Business Benefits

Not needing to handle your own servers was a huge cost savings for companies in terms of space, money, maintenance, and the staff required to operate it. If you also put into context the fact that the cloud really started to take off just after The Great Recession, not having to rent all of that office space for computers anymore was a big help. On the other side of the coin, the market crashing like it did meant that buying large swaths of land to build big data centers was rather easy to do.

Benefits For People

Outside of the business benefits, the benefits that became available were incredibly helpful. Think about how much data we've got that's accessible from anywhere. You can check out your photos on your phone, you can look at them on your computer, you can even look at them on your watch if you're so inclined.

"Wait...wouldn't I have been able to do that without companies all moving to the cloud?"

Yup.

Most of the benefits here were in that cost. Servers can cost thousands of dollars, are big and heavy, and make a ton of noise. Moving to the cloud and putting most of the servers in the world in a few different places meant that you could forego all of that and start bringing your content to the internet as a business without dealing with servers.

The Downsides of The Cloud

Well, obviously there's the layoffs that come with companies all moving to the cloud and not needing their own IT staff to run servers anymore. A bunch of people lost their jobs even after The Great Recession as a result of the lack of need for people to run servers anymore. In addition to all of that, we're aware of the issues that are present with large data centers growing quickly. Over the past decade and a half we've really been trying to make these data centers more sustainable, but in times of rapid expansion like this, those ideals kinda go out the window.

What Happens When You Use the Cloud

Very plainly, when you put your data on the cloud, you're putting it on someone else's computer. Chances are it's one of three places: Amazon's computer (this is the most likely), Google's computer, or Microsoft's computer. All of your files, all of your photos, all of your passwords, and all of your messages live in the cloud, aka on a computer owned by Jeff Bezos most likely.

This is another thing that people don't really think about when it comes to the concept of "data ownership". People think about these spaces as "their files" and "their photos" but the reality is that these files are sitting somewhere in a data center run by people you do not know and typically do not trust.

Who Even Cares About Data Ownership Anyway? - What The Function!?

Taking a look at a concept that's been talked a lot over the last few years, especially in the context of social media

Protecting Data in the Cloud

Now, that's not to say that there aren't ways to protect your data from being read. There are tools like encryption to prevent the content from being read, even if someone takes the data, but that's not always foolproof. As technology matures, new encryption processes need to be created to keep up since bad actors (nefarious individuals, organizations, or countries) want to access data. What it really comes down to is that you should have all your important digital keepsakes somewhere you trust.