I listen to more music via streaming on YouTube, SoundCloud or some other internet based medium rather than via my stagnant MP3 collection. My CD collection is practically obsolete. Whenever I am connected to the internet it is my preferred way of listening to music, with my music files mainly coming in handy when I do not have internet access or when I am on the go. I hardy watch television anymore either except for the occasional live sports event and I watch TV shows at my convenience via the internet. The better internet speeds and access to the internet have become the more I rely on the cloud not just for work but for entertainment.
I can already store files online to sync them with various devices and to provide backup in case a device is lost or stops working. This trend of movement to the cloud shows no sign of slowing down as online storage prices are dropping and more and more cloud services keep popping up. If you have ever had a hard drive that suddenly stopped working or have lost a phone full of your personal pictures you can appreciate the benefits of having files backed up in a central location.
The movement to storing our files on random servers far away is so easy to do that we sometimes overlook the intricacies of such a system. Who has access to these files and under which circumstances? What if the service is forced to go offline? What happens when there is no access to the internet? The cloud is definitely continuing to grow in popularity and convenience and I am sure many people are like me and have found ways to utilize these conveniences at the expense of old habits. Despite the many benefits the cloud offers it is wise to keep a copy of your files locally in case something goes wrong, especially when an error can be propagated to all your synced devices.
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