Few words are being discussed in tech circles more these days than the word “cloud.’ By this,most users of the term are referring to the practice of storing,processing and managing data at a remote location rather than locally. In simpler terms,the cloud puts all your stuff wherever you are,regardless of device. Vast swaths of the corporate world have already been reformed to fit into increasingly cloud-based models,but it is only recently that cloud-based applications are reaching deep into consumer life. The rise of internet-connected mobile devices and streaming video services coupled with the decline of traditional media distribution channels,has formed a landscape ripe with opportunity for companies. Historically,the companies that control the distribution of media and information are able to exercise incredible influence over society while reaping tremendous economic rewards (see the phone companies,cable companies,microsoft,google and others)
Thusly,I feel the time is right to wade into the clouds and begin dissecting the current offerings in cloud-based applications that target consumer media. It is my hope that my next posts in the Silver Linings series will allow me to delve into these services and ask a few very important questions about consumer benefits,ideal use cases and what it will take for cloud-based entertainment to strike gold with the masses.
Already I’ve realized that my evaluations of cloud-based media applications will largely be influenced by which of these services best align with my own media consumption patterns and my current devices of choice for consumption. Therefore,a good place to kick off the series might be to lay out my own personal patterns of media consumption to provide some larger context and a bit of a “before”photo.
Devices I own/use to consume media:
- iPhone 4 (audio &video &photos on the go,with me always)
- HTPC at home (audio,video &photos,windows 7,serves files remotely as well as to my TV)
- iPod Shuffle (audio,gym use only really)
- Kindle 3 (books on trips mostly)
- MacBook Air laptop (photos &work stuff mostly)
Media &Cloud service subscriptions/supplies:
- Netflix streaming
- Hulu+
- TV network websites
- torrent downloads
- Audiogalaxy
- AirVideo
- Dropbox (mostly non-media stuff store here)
- Google Apps (I use this all day every day)
- Google Chrome bookmark sync (getting really exhaustive here)
- PKGBackup (backs up my iphone to Dropbox)
- Picasa (I have 80GB of storage for my photos in the cloud)
- eMusic (just ending this subscription)
- Rdio (recently picked up,review coming)
With each review of new services or devices,I’ll be contrasting my use of each with my current experiences so there’s not much need to delve too deep into what I like/dislike about my current setup. A quick summary of my largest needs are here:
- Gotta get outta the cloud sometimes. Taking the subway to work each day means I’d prefer to have certain things stored locally and not only in the cloud. I’ve already found this is very tricky for a number of reasons (probably deserves its own post)
- I’m on AT&T wireless. Streaming from home (which both Audiogalaxy and AirVideo do from my HTPC) requires not only a decent home upstream connection,but also AT&T had better be having a good day. Some services work around this,while others are more unforgiving about connection quality.
- Juggle my devices without making me do the juggling. I mix operating systems,connection strength and processing power across all my devices. Many services leave me feeling that I have to do all the work to get things sorted properly.
- Share and archive work documents across devices. Gotta pay ‘dem bills somehow and its easier when you can work from anywhere.
- I’m a photographer. In addition to hosting my music and videos in the cloud,I would also like to find a clean solution to consolidate my photo library.
With all that background,I hope to launch our first review and a possible commentary piece in the coming week,so please do stay tuned!