What happens when everything is in the cloud

[didymus]

I’m old enough that I’ve gone thru the transition from records to cassette/eight tracks to CDs to MP3s and now streaming services like Pandora.
Likewise, VHS/Betamax, the short-lived laserdisc to DVDs to Netflix and Amazon Movies/Video.

With PCs on the way out (and newer one no longer come with CD/DVD burners) I figure be able to buy music/video, books &c. They will be “in the cloud” for viewing or listening or viewing.
I have a Nook but I only have the “rights” to read the content – I can’t give away an ebook to a friend nor donate it to the library as I used to do. And what happens to my ebooks if Barnes & Noble goes belly up as seems possible?

Last, if everything is digital Orwell’s “memory hole” becomes a real possibility. What if in the near future publishers bow to public pressure and withdraw “homophobic” writers like Orson Scott Card from circulation (and from all devices that already contain his works)?

I’m not a Luddite, I appreciate what tech had brought us. And I’m glad a Netflix-type ebook service has just sprung up – my Nook is filled with mysteries and SF novels that I’ve read once and will probably never reread. Just trying to see where trends will take us.

 

[Nacho45]

Everyone is so busy putting everything in the cloud, they never stopped to see if it was a storm cloud.

I have gotten to point where I have reached the pinnacle of my technology interests and am now beginning to head in the opposite direction.

 

[Jared2914]

As far as entertainment, everyone will pay a subscription. As long as you pay you get on-demand access to anything in the library. Everything is streamed, not downloaded. There will be several competing vendors similar to how cable TV and satellite providers compete. Their libraries will have lots of overlaps with a few exclusives here and there. So an example right now is House of Cards on Netflix would never appear on a rival website like Amazon Instant Video.

I like this because there is low risk for the consumer. You pay for the service for a month. If you don’t like it, you cancel it. I don’t like this because it takes control away from the consumer. Like you said, the publishers can choose to remove stuff from their libraries. There is no way to archive it.

This is already a problem with some digital video games that require access to a game server to play. Once the game is no longer profitable, the company shuts down that server and the game can no longer be played. A little video game history is lost.

 

[mikekle]

Dont worry too much, in the next 10 yrs(if not sooner), Im sure something else will come along to take its place…NOTHING in the realm of computer technology stays the same for too long.

 

[Viki63]

You have a point. Heard of a woman whose whole library of 50-some ebooks disappeared from her Kindle due to a technological glitch; she got it back eventually, but . . .
That’s why my library of 2-300 books is staying on my shelves, for long winter days after retirement when some glitch hits the cloud.
Or maybe when we have to get our SS number tattooed on a hand to qualify for accessing media. Not that I’m a pessimist.

 

[edwest2]

Nothing. I won’t stop buying paper. I would not trust the cloud as a secure delivery method. And I follow all the advancements in the media. They can keep the cloud. I’ve got enough paper and will continue to buy it.

Peace,
Ed

 

[CompSciGuy]

I used a Kindle for a little while but eventually gave it to my sister because I found that it was usually cheaper to get my books from Half Price Books than it was to buy the digital version.