EDITOR'S NOTE
While we were on "forced vacation" this past week, thanks to the babysitter leaving town, we had a bit of extra time on our hands. Somehow, that resulted in a giant "family budget" spreadsheet project. And of many things it revealed, we realized that our data--and what we're spending on it--is a mess.
Remember the olden days when Gmail offered basically unlimited free storage? Well, that's history. And now that we use Google for photos too, our data needs are immense. I'm on their 100 gigabyte annual plan, already 40% used up, and it costs $20 a year. But that's not all. We also have the iCloud family plan that backs up all the data (including some photos) on our phones. Another 200 gigabytes that adds up to $36 a year.
These aren't huge amounts yet, but it's obvious where this is all going. Google has been cracking down on free storage everywhere, even on Chromebook laptops. (I remember when Netflix was pretty cheap, and analysts were always harping on them to raise prices.) So anyhow, we decided to heck with paying for our own data-as-a-service. We bought a credit card-sized hardware drive for a one-time cost of $70 that offers 2,000 gigabytes of storage--for which Google now charges you $100 a year.
And yes, we've built in redundancy, and hopefully everything won't crash and be gone forever. But also, maybe we should print out a few photos and stop being hoarders who have 24 copies of the exact same image of each baby's monthly milestones. It's a pain to manage your own data, but convenience is how Big Tech gets you to pay them endless cashflows.
And anything else they offer--like facial recognition of your photos--borders on creepy and intrusive anyhow. In fact, while we were sorting this all out, I remembered this tweet from venture capitalist Balaji Srinivasan. "It's now less than $300 to protect yourself" from Big Tech surveillance, he said, linking to a personal server called Helm. Personal server? Oh yes. Turns out the Next Big Thing in tech is everybody taking their data back off the cloud and storing it in their house a la Hillary Clinton.
Helm still seems to require a subscription plan, but proponents say is worth it for privacy's sake (and their security offerings). Which brings us to Apple's announcement on child protection last week. The company that once said it couldn't help the FBI access the San Bernadino shooter's phone without compromising users' privacy has now built in the capability to scan your iCloud photos in order to detect child abuse. "The only thing holding the company back" from broader user surveillance at this point, notes Stratechery's Ben Thompson, "is policy."
Apple's move is especially notable because this is the company which more than any other Big Tech giant prides itself on privacy--hence its recent battle with Facebook over ad tracking. Point being, whether because of future privacy concerns or simply the ever-escalating cost of storing all your data, there's a wave of users now looking to unplug from the Big Tech cloud.
And as a side note, this is all kind of why I tend to see some value in letting monopolies form--because it's only once industries fully mature and consolidate that their true colors show, which then offers an opening for the next generation of start-ups, like Helm, to emerge.
See you at 1 p.m!
Kelly KEY STORIES
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Rabu, 11 Agustus 2021
Hillary Clinton was ahead of her time
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