Web "2.0" apps and fate

DEVONthink Scenarios
1

Maybe someone else on the board can let me know if im thinking in the right direction.

On these boards, I have been noticing an interesting trend. Many people use online “repositories” like BackPack and such, to store their clippings. They use social bookmarking sites like Del.icio.us to store their bookmarks. In fact, one could find an “online version” of almost any “hard drive” application on the market. The idea seems plausible and valid, but I dont think its gonna work the way people think.

Now, maybe im “old school” with technology. I do keep offsite backups for my home system, its just good policy. But i cant imagine using a Web 2.0 app for my backups alone. This goes along with most Web 2.0 apps.

The same fear that prompts me to backup my system with OCD gusto is the same fear that keeps me away from the N.W.O. of Web 2.0. To start with, I have never heard of most of these services, and dont have any valid evidence that they will be around and reliable for any length of time to come.

So what happens when all your stuff (backups, clippings, project management, bookmarks, calendar, etc) just dissappears?

Now back to the “old school” part. I love, LOVE buying tech stuff. I just bought a 3rd 19" monitor (i three with desktop spanning) and a 2nd 500GB Lacie HD. And i love buying software that I use and enjoy. Take DTPro, for example.

Its expensive, sure. But i own it. It’s mine. I can use it however i want, wherever i want, and i can make as many backups as I feel I need, with no fear that my content, or the program for that matter, will EVER go away.

The same cannot be said of Web 2.0 apps.

Perhaps my biggest fear is the whole concept of a broadband internet connection being required to function. I use cable, and yes, I love it, and cannot imagine connecting to the internet at a slower speed than what I have now. But let me ask: What would you Web 2.0 uses do if there was a network failure? Perhaps your cable company has an outage. Or perhaps there’s a massive outage in your area. Now you’re stuck, all your info on other servers. That is scary to me. I like to know that I WANT a high speed connection, but i certainly dont NEED a high speed connection to function properly.

Anyone else have any thoughts on this?

2

Well put, I recognize several things from myself :smiley:

3

Dito. I want to own the stuff I use, I like my privacy and I don’t trust any “web” company :wink: Neither the reliability nor the policies are suitable for important stuff.

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I can only say that I have two Mac servers and two linux servers running at home … then add the other computers and all the extra stuff :smiley:

OK, I’m using web apps … but they run on my linux servers.

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I’m with Christian on this one. I might share some information but I do not feel comfortable storing it “out there”, on an external server.

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Same here. That’s why I’ve got over 1.5 terabytes of total hard drive space, including external drives. And I keep really important stuff on more than one drive, just in case.

I want to own my data.

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There’s a lot of solidarity here. Maybe DT 2.0 can brand itself as “web 2.0 proof”. :slight_smile:

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I’m not sure I would see DT and DA as somehow rivals to Backpack et al. I think it will be a long time until a web-based application can rival the deep functionality present in these tools, but at the same time, a fully integrated web interface to DT, in particular, would be very useful, especially if it used .Mac sync technologies.

I would like to be able to access my DT databases from a web interface, personally. Obviously, I can’t host 60Gb or whatever of data on .Mac - at least, not this year - but I could imagine that I might be able to at least have a sort of “web window” on my data…

This is basically what people I trying to do, using AppleScript to sync essential data with Backpack et al… but an out-of-the-box solution would be nicer.

9

davidrm, you are correct, DT is not a rival to backpack. I probably should have been more specific. I am referring to the online storage of information in general, and the storage of backups on backpack and other similar services in particular.

As far as access from any web-enabled computer, Web 2.0 seems to make access to personal information easier for the masses. However, technology does exist already to allow for this (i.e. ssh tunnel/vpn solutions).

What I like about Web 2.0 apps is eye-candy, and easy enough for my grandma to use. Good idea. Especially since it seems a certain segment of the population not only refuses to keep up with technology or have a desire to advance themselves, but they seem to be moving backwards in terms of intuitiveness and general web savvy.

What I dislike about Web 2.0 is simple. I dont want ANYONE to have MY information available to them. It is a constant battle, at least here in America, to keep people from siezing your information in various forms. Anything you do in America requires a valid phone number, address, email address, even social security number.

But when it comes to information that is freely available on the web, information I created, or information I paid for, I would rather keep that to myself.

I know the possibilities of a Web 2.0 company breeching your privacy are slim, but they do exist. I guess it depends on the individual user and what level of trust they are comfortable with granting to a private, for-profit corporation. Me, personally, I was done dolling out trust to corporations about 8 years ago, so I dont want to store information, willingly and knowingly, on anyone’s servers unless i completely trust them. And that doesnt happen too often.

An option that may be feasible, for me at least, would be to create encrypted disk images, then store those on an online backup service. Keeping a backup offsite is generally a good thing.

But the level of “stuff” i NEED to backup with regular dedication is fairly small. I have only a cd full of stuff, compressed and encrypted, stored onsite and offsite, that contains my “red file.”

As an asside, a “red file” , at least how I interpret and implement it, is a file that contains your building blocks. If a major catastrophe were to happen to you locally, be it theft, flood, terrorism, whatever, your building blocks are the ABSOLUTELY essential items that you would need to go from absolutely nothing to a position where you could recover. Note this is not a complete solution. It is only the building blocks to get started, not a complete end-all backup of all your personal data and information.

Anyway, in that regard, I encourage people to use off-site backups, but I am still leery of sharing information with private for-profit corporations, and/or government (and here in the States, this line is very gray).

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The apparently increasing vulnerability of “personal” data to nefarious internet activities just encourages me to continue keeping mine close to home.