Sunday, November 09, 2008

Escape from the Cloud - lessons from my surgeon days

"Surgeon days" you say?

When was John a surgeon?

Well, technically McGill gave me an MD,CM degree, and I think the CM was Latin for master of surgery. More to the point, I assisted with surgeries in the good old days of open abdomens and hands-on anatomy, before scopes made things so dull.

Some surgeries, frankly, are pretty easy. Anyone with a modicum of attention, diligence, and practice could do 'em.

As long as nothing goes wrong.

When the feces fly (inside joke there), that's when those brutal hours in the surgery residency matter.

I thought of that as I contemplated the ruins of my recent iPhone and Cloud experiences. Most of the time I don't miss all those Outlook features.

Except when something goes wrong, and I'm up the creek and paddle-free.

It's the old story. When everyone praises the Cloud, it's time to bail. A lot of Cloud companies are struggling, and when they go ...

So goes your data.

Even if they don't fail, there are too many gotchas. God Help You if you start synchronizing non-trivial data across the Cloud.

I'm ok with Google Calendar, GMail, Picasa and many Google properties. Outside of Google, however, I'm putting a moratorium on storing any data I care about in the Cloud.

It ain't ready for the likes of me.

Ok, so that's only two people. Still, the Canary in the Coal Mine has just keeled over.

Be warned.

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